It’s common for even seasoned media advocates to feel nervous during media interviews. While a little bit of nervousness can help you focus, too much can throw you off track, causing you to forget key points or get stumped by tough questions. To make sure the conversation goes smoothly, plan your messages and practice them in advance.
The first step in preparing to engage with the news media is to decide who the right messengers are, which may or may not include you. Ask yourself, who supports your advocacy goals? What unique perspective can they offer? Who will resonate with your target audience? Preparing a range of potential spokespeople ahead of time will allow you to put forward the person who can most effectively make the case at a particular point in time.
Next, work together with your spokespeople to anticipate reporters’ questions and practice answering them. During this process, brainstorm difficult questions related to your opposition’s arguments, but don’t forget to also practice answering seemingly simple questions like, “Why are you concerned about this issue?”, “Who is the most affected by this issue?”, and “What will happen if nothing is done?”
When the day of the interview arrives, stay on message by keeping your goals in front of you, using clear, plain language and resisting the urge to say everything. Additionally, although consistency is important, spokespeople should not use the exact same, pre-scripted messages each time; rather, they should strive to convey the same meaning, trigger the same frame and evoke the same underlying values, even if the language, spokesperson or political context changes.
To learn more about ways to become an effective spokesperson, common traps to avoid (such as inadvertently reinforcing your opposition’s argument), or to schedule a spokesperson training with the BMSG team, contact us.
Related resources
Engaging reporters to advance health policy [pdf]
This training manual will help advocates learn to anticipate and practice answering the tough questions reporters ask.
Activity: Delivering effective messages [pdf]
It’s one thing to develop a strategic message. It’s an entirely different skill to deliver your message in a strategic way. Use this mock interview activity to help you stay on message and further your policy goals.
Worksheet: Answering hard questions [pdf]
Being strategic means anticipating your opposition’s arguments and preparing for hard questions, whether they’re from a news reporter, your target decision-maker(s), or even a community member who could one day become an ally. Use this worksheet with colleagues or others to brainstorm hard questions and practice your responses.
Are you reinforcing your opposition’s arguments?
Do you ever find yourself bringing up your opposition’s frame before she or he does? By raising the precise frames we intend to counter, even to refute them, we are creating hurdles we now must jump over. And we may be suggesting these arguments to those who had not yet considered them.