Here are three tips for new spokespeople looking to communicate their message through the media
Whether you’re an Executive Director telling the story of your non-profit’s fundraising campaign, a neighbourhood association spokesperson who is promoting an upcoming event, or a communications person defining your company’s position on a recent decision, representing your community on camera is important stuff.
Speaking of which, a few weeks ago I was asked to give an interview about students’ summer job search in a tough job market. You can check out the interview here.
While my sound bite was pretty short, the interview on camera wasn’t. Despite the brevity of it all, I got some good information across to viewers quite well and represented my organization with positivity and accuracy.
Here are my three tips for being a great on-camera ambassador for your community:
Be Authentic and Enthusiastic
Your community wants and needs you to be authentic about your message. Incongruently, the person conducting an on-camera interview might not be looking for such positivity, as conflict and accusations are often seen more interesting in a news story. So, rather than pointing fingers and blaming people and/or organizations for situations, it makes sense to talk about what you and your community is doing to make things better. Be enthusiastic about it because if the viewers at home know and feel that you are solutions-oriented and genuinely care about your ideas they will be more likely to take your advice and take up your cause.
Be Brief. Like Kurt Heinrich.
Editing tools are quick and sophisticated. But just because members of the media can consolidate a 20 minute interview into a 15 second sound bite doesn’t mean that it will always be an accurate representation of your key messages. Organize your thoughts into clear and concise talking points that unfold in 90 seconds or less.
Tell a Good Story
Human beings react really, really well when ideas are communicated through storytelling. So, whatever your message, be sure that you present your information as a narrative that symbolizes the purpose of your organization and its policy or response to a particular situation. For example, when I was talking to CBC about the summer job search, I told a story about Irfhan, a Masters of Civil Engineering student who was doing everything right when it came to looking for work in the Lower Mainland and it underscored all of the talking points that I had previously gotten across to the interviewer.
So there it is. There are plenty of other tips for succeeding during an on camera interview, and being positive, brief and telling a great story are great places to start. Such is the recipe for effectively communicating your ideas on camera.