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To order Winning with the News Media:
Below are excerpts from the Interviews-General chapter of
Winning with the News Media
2005 Edition
Copyright © 2005, 2001, 1999, 1996
By Clarence Jones
Interviews-General
Quotable Quotes
That
Won’t Be Misquoted
When reporters want an interview, the most basic rule is:
Give Yourself Time to Think Before You Talk.
The quotes that people regret are usually said reflexively, in the traumatic surge of anger or shock that follows a rude surprise or sudden loss. If you can stall for even five minutes, you’ll do a better job of speaking for yourself or your organization.
If Your Pulse Races, Pause
The rule is especially critical if the reporter’s first question makes your adrenaline surge or pulse rate jump. You won’t think well in the fight-or-flee mode. You need a little time to get back to normal. To get your thoughts together.
If the reporter shows up unexpectedly, find an excuse to delay for a few minutes. If the reporter calls on the phone, say "I’m really busy." (Which is true. You’ve got a lot to do in the next few minutes.) "Can I call you back in about 10 minutes?"
In that brief conversation, get a grasp of what the story is about. Then hang up and spend 10 minutes getting ready.
Use the time to decide what you really want to say. Boil it down to one sentence you can speak without taking a breath. That one sentence will become the base of the interview. Other thoughts will branch out from it. You’ll want to keep coming back to it. Explaining it. Expanding it.
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The chapter continues with tips for telephone interviews; the recording of phone calls at either end; ambushes by radio talk show hosts who call and tell you when you answer the phone that you're on the air.
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The Pre-Interview-Interview
From the first contact, where you arranged to delay the interview for a few minutes, you know generally what the story is about. When you call back, or the reporter arrives, expand that inquiry. Weave it into the social chat that begins most conversations. While a television photographer is setting up the lights and camera, talk to the reporter about the story at hand.
If you understand what the reporter is after, you can save a lot of time and anxiety. In this conversation before the shorthand pad or recorder is at work, you should learn some basics:
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What exactly is the story assignment, and who thought it up |
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When the story will run, and the deadline for finishing it |
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How much time or space the story will be given |
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Who else the reporter has interviewed |
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Any other research that’s been done |
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The reporter’s knowledge and preconceptions on this subject |
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Some idea of the reporter’s intelligence and experience |
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The chapter continues with detailed explanations and suggestions for each of the bullet points, including when to call for help from staff or other resources; the ethics of reporters telling you what they're going to ask during the interview; more on the FACE Formula and Sony Sandwich (reproduced on this website in the Interviews-Broadcast Chapter); and three pages of feeling words to insert in quotes or sound bites that will guarantee the reporter uses what you way without editing it. It closes by saying the times have changed. Men who do not show their humanity in interviews are considered wooden, stilted, uncaring. Examples of events and media interviews in which famous men showed their feelings to powerful effect.