I have to laugh as I reflect
back on several of my individual meetings with people throughout FPL. Most
started with a very inquisitive, “Why are you here?” question. With such a
high-level of security, I’m certain most rightfully wanted to know exactly what
I was going to do with the information gathered.
For the Plank Center
application process we are asked what one area of expertise do we have to
share. Mine was social media. Additionally, applicants are asked to explain what
one area of expertise he or she would find value in learning more about. Here
was my answer:
I would like
to develop an understanding and gain experience in media relations. I have had
little professional contact with the media, outside of doing a few on-camera
and print interviews. This is important, because I supervise the internships of
all our PR majors. In this capacity I do on-site visits with every student and
their supervisors. Through this, I have
learned how much interaction and experience students are gaining in media
relations. This has been impressive to me, in part because it is very different
than what I can teach out of a textbook.
I believe
media relations is learned best by doing. I know my teaching would benefit from
practical experience in this area. By having direct exposure to public
relations practitioners interacting with the media on a daily basis, I would
have a much stronger grasp and insight into this area of public relations.
Fast forward to today. At 9 a.m. I met with several key
media relations team-members in the pressroom, which is full of flat screens
for imaging, proper company signage and a stage built for press conferences. The
room is amazing and was just a little intimidating!
Over the next several months, the team members present in
the room today with me will meet to practice being on camera. After today’s
half hour presentation of best practices for speaking on camera, I found myself
thinking this is no-brainer stuff, how hard
could it be?
So, like all newbies, they put me in the hot seat so see how
I’d do. Confident in my ability to be drilled with questions, I found myself
sitting down and nervously giggling. Yet I felt powerful, equipped with all the “no-brainer” do’s and don’ts of
media training.
As he was hooking me up to a mic, the veteran reporter
started drilling. I nailed question number one. Stepped up to the second
question, I stumbled a bit but eventually got out the right response. Question
three and four I found myself still thinking about question two and how I
should have addressed the issue, and before I knew it, the interview was over
and I was ushered back to my seat.
Next my interview was played back on the big screen for all
to critique. Wow. Should I say WOW again
so you get a full understanding of how I felt? My non-verbal communication was
what I call an “epic fail.” I bit my
lip, rolled my eyes, and nervously fiddled with the lapel mic. Ugh. This is the type of blooper reel I play
in class to illustrate to students why you have to practice and work with
communicators who will represent your company on-camera. Now, I’m the blooper!
So my key takeaways from my on-camera media training?
- Practice may not make perfect, but sure beats doing it on the fly
- You are ultimately not talking to just the reporter, you are speaking to the entire viewing audience
- Silence is deadly. Don’t feel the need to fill it with mindless babble
- Start and end with your most important message, regardless of how you are asked
- Don’t get caught up in speculating. It can come back to bite you
- Pay attention to your nonverbal communication – relax…or at least pretend!
- Take criticism from professionals seriously – forget your ego
Thinking back to some of the most powerful on-camera interviews I’ve ever seen, I now know how much
training and prep was put into crafting the perfect message and how skillful
those people doing the interviews truly are. I am grateful for the experience
and appreciate the candid (yet, kind)
feedback from the FPL media pros.
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