How To Prepare For A Journalist Interviewing You
A guide for the perplexed: Content Collapse #146
In this issue: Preparing for a journalist to interview you. Being realistic about outcomes/Making things easy for the reporter/Setting/Hooks/Followups.
So you’re a startup founder who just had a journalist email about your new mobile app. Or a writer with a new book receiving a Facebook message from a freelancer. Or you just opened a new retail store and the local newspaper is calling.
What’s next?
Either you have a PR person who can guide you through these things or you don’t.
If you don’t (or even if you do), here’s what’s next.
This post is presented by Ungerleider Works. Ungerleider Works is NOT a PR firm; it’s a communications consulting firm that works with PR/advertising/marketing agencies and in-house communications departments on things like video scripts, white papers and newsletter/podcast strategy. Learn more about working with them here.
First things first: 99% of media interviews are non-adversarial. This post is written from the assumption that you/your company aren’t engaged in wrongdoing, that you haven’t said anything awful on Twitter, that your employees aren’t doing awful things or that your book/music/film isn’t at the center of a media outrage cycle. If that’s the case, call the crisis PR specialist instead of reading this.
But it’s probably not the case.
My CV for talking about this stuff: I run a media consulting firm. Before that, I worked in journalism for 10+ years mostly at Fast Company but also freelancing for the Los Angeles Times Op-Ed section, Wired, Slate, Esquire, Foreign Policy and lots of others. I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews as a journalist in my career for print, digital, podcast and video.
In other words, I interviewed a lot of people as a journalist.
Here’s what to keep in mind:
Be Realistic About Outcomes
A reporter may be interviewing you for a short quote in a longer piece about someone else1. You may be getting interviewed for a larger piece in a smaller publication, or a smaller piece in a larger publication. Very, very rarely you will be getting interviewed for a well-promoted, positive-sentiment New York Times or Wall Street Journal piece.
In other words, don’t be disappointed if you are interviewed for an hour for a very small media mention. Or if the article is shelved for any of a million reasons, as happens frequently in the industry.
But build that relationship with the reporter—today’s phone call for one quote in a trend story may lead to next year’s 1000 word feature article.
Make Things Easy For The Reporter
The journalist interviewing you is most likely overworked, underpaid and lacking researchers and fact-checkers helping them with their output. Even worse, you have no guarantee that they have expertise in the subject they’re writing about.
One of the quickest ways to make sure that you and your company/product are portrayed in the best possible light with no errors or omissions is to make everything as easy as possible for them.
My suggestion is in advance of the interview, ask your interviewer to email you examples of questions they plan to ask you and/or topics they want to ask you about. If they push back, explain that you want to be as prepared as possible for the interview.
In addition, send the reporter background information in advance of the interview. If, say, your book has a media kit or your company has a demo video of your new product, SEND IT! If there are any professional-quality photos or videos you have ready for promotional use that can be included with the article, send those as well.
Setting, Setting, Setting
For in-person interviews:
Post-pandemic, journalists increasingly either work remotely or are only at their office part-time2. I strongly recommend choosing a place for a journalist to meet you, both for home field advantage (somewhere you're comfortable with/know how to get to) and for convenience (so you're not schlepping an hour out of your way).
I actually don’t recommend asking a reporter to meet you at a Starbucks or a similar coffee shop. There’s no guarantee of a good spot to sit, the background noise may be too loud and the risk of disruptiveness like long lines to order may be too high. Instead meet at your office if possible, at a hotel with acceptable lobby seating, at a casual restaurant that does not play music loudly or at a rented conference room at a coworking space3. If at a restaurant or coffee shop, please be aware that many outlets forbid journalists from letting sources buy them meals or coffee--don't take it personally.
For phone interviews:
Use a landline if at all possible; mobiles have a habit of having crappy reception just when you need to be clear. Find a quiet place to speak with no/limited background noise.
If using a mobile phone, make sure you have full bars and a full battery beforehand.
For video interviews:
Be clear ahead of time that your invitation to the interview says whether you’ll be talking via Zoom, Google Meet, Skype or whichever other platform of choice you’ll be connecting on—with a link if possible. Make sure you have that software installed with the latest updates ahead of the interview.
Test your video and audio the day of the interview. Check your lighting and background noise ahead of time; you don’t need a 10/10 on Room Rater, but you want to avoid lighting that makes you look like Nosferatu or using a crummy, muddy mike where the journalist keeps asking you “can you repeat that?” 10x during the call.
Last but not least; pay attention to your surroundings. If you work from an office, make sure it’s clean and presentable in advance. If you work from home, make sure that you check your camera space beforehand for things like open liquor or adult toys. I know, I know… but it is 2022, after all.
Use Hooks
A journalist interview is not a sales pitch or a police interrogation. It’s an interview.
The journalist has their own goals from the story they’re doing; these goals are irrelevant to you. Your goals are to present you/your organization/your products and services in the best possible way. You want to avoid confusing the journalist, you want to avoid gaffes or sharing information you don’t want to share, you want to avoid lying and you want to influence the journalist to write the article in the way that best benefits you.
When you speak with the journalist, make sure to communicate in clear language and avoid industry jargon whenever possible. Remember that you’re really speaking with the journalist’s audience and not the journalist.
If there are any questions you don’t want to answer, just politely deflect. You don’t have to answer every question. If they persist, ask them to ask you about something else. You don’t have to discuss your company’s pricing if you’re not ready or the specifics of your book tour if the logistics are still in the works. Be polite and shift the subject to questions you can answer.
Lastly, I also recommend writing down in advance 3-5 bullet points you want the journalist to include in their article. Use these as talking points for the conversation. An interview is a two-way conversation and you want to make sure your taling points are included.
I often recommend interviewees end their interviews by telling the journalist “Well, there’s one question I wish you had asked. Do you mind if I include it?” Answering that question gives you the change to close the interview in your court and include any talking points you may not have had the chance to include.
Followup
One important thing: No independent publication worth its salt will allow story sources or interviewees to review the contents of an article in advance or have any say over printed quotes. This may vary for advertorial content or in-house publications, of course.
However, I strongly recommend interviewees specifically ask journalists to factcheck with them any statistics and facts included in the article by email. This both gives you a chance to avoid any typos or incorrect information being shared, and gives you a written record in case anything goes awry. When the journalist does send you a factchecking email, try to reply the same business day if at all possible.
Lastly, email the journalist after your meeting thanking them for their time and also offering any additional information you were not able to include in the interview.
Anything else you’d like to add from experience? Let us know at the bottom of this article.
I did this frequently, most often when writing about a larger trend or industry where I needed an outsider to give subject matter expertise. Your mileage will vary.
This was the case even pre-COVID, but the pandemic vastly accelerated a transition in journalists working from home or coworking spaces that was already taking place.
Many coworking spaces let you rent conference rooms by the hour; find your local coworking space and give them a call.