How Economic Development Spokespeople Should Prepare for a Media Interview

Scoring a top tier media interview can be a huge win for organizations of any kind that are looking to amplify their key messaging and industries to new audiences. But that victory can turn sour in a hurry if a spokesperson is not properly prepared for the conversation with the press. This holds especially true when working in economic development, where reporters are expecting a wide breadth of knowledge from the spokespeople they are connected with around the world.

In order to deliver their messages most effectively, it is imperative that these spokespeople prepare appropriately. Below are the five best steps they can take to prepare to put their best possible face forward for the economic development organizations they represent.

Define, and Refine, Key Messages

The first step is to develop and refine key messages for the organization that a spokesperson is representing. These should line up with the organization’s core objectives, and be focused on what is most important to talk through at any given time.

Having these points established should not serve as a script for interviews, but they will provide a foundation for spokespeople to fall back on so they know the most important elements to mention during their discussions, and pivot back to when necessary. With messages clearly defined, they can be tiered to make sure that the most important ones are repeated as much as possible, and the lesser ones are put on the back burner as needed.

Above all else, these messages should be updated regularly to add currency and accuracy to them as the market, policy, contextual, and environmental conditions evolve.

Know the Audience and Tailor the Approach

Once messages are established, examining the recent coverage and audience demographic info of an outlet and the reporter with whom the media interview was scheduled. This type of insight will further tee up these spokespeople for success. This analysis should include a strong look at the audience the outlet caters itself to, aiming to understand the level of background knowledge they may already have on the topic that’s going to be discussed.

This will help establish if the spokesperson should have a more technical interview discussion, or if they should be prepared to keep their messages at a very high level, making the information more digestible for lay-audiences. Knowing who will be spoken to will make the interview process that much smoother.

Practice and Refine Through Mock Interviews

Rehearsal is essential for becoming comfortable with key messages and for refining how they’re delivered. Practicing in ways that simulate the actual interview environment will help to make sure messages are conveyed clearly and succinctly. It will increase comfort and familiarity with the typical interview flow, and provide spokespeople a chance to practice helpful techniques to address tough questions. Additionally, spokespeople can have a chance to refine nuances like body language and identify specific ticks they may struggle with, such as adding “ums” or “exactly” in too many places, making sure each aspect is fine tuned so the quality of the resulting quotes or clips included in coverage will be as high as possible.

Prepare for Difficult Questions with Bridging Techniques

There are also specific tactics that spokespeople can have ready to get around difficult questions they don’t want to, or aren’t ready to, answer during media interviews. One of these is called ‘bridging,’ which is when a spokesperson is able to authentically acknowledge the question and then casually pivot back to delivering a more valuable or comfortable key message. Bridging, when mastered, can be applied to almost any question.

This can help avoid awkward silences or struggles to get messages out when the interview goes into places that a spokesperson is not fully prepared for, and also ensures that key messages are plugged in throughout the discussion. Having tools like bridging in a spokesperson’s toolkit will make them more adaptable and flexible overall, even when reporters are unpredictable with their line of questioning.

In economic development interview scenarios, this tactic is especially valuable when questions arise that ask for a politicized option in response. As a-political organizations, typically, economic development spokespeople will want to bridge away from those questions where their personal political preferences might be revealed.

Reflect and Improve Post-Interview

Once interviews take place, the most important piece will be to self-assess, or review with a communications colleague on your team, reflecting on how they went in terms of achieving messaging goals and identifying where adjustments need to happen in order to deliver better in future interview opportunities. Without this step, if there are faults in interview approaches, they will continue.

More repetition of interviews, on their own, will help to increase comfort, but there are likely other issues that will require reflection and intentional adjustment. Humility is essential here, as even the world’s top executives and company leaders need to be willing to accept where they can find places to improve. Perhaps there are specific types of questions that often confuse them, or they find themselves rambling on too much when they get interested in a technical discussion; no matter what it is, having trusted individuals in your corner to provide gentle feedback is key to improvement over time.

Conclusion

For spokespeople of all kinds, but especially those working in economic development, preparing for a media interview in advance will help to make sure that each opportunity can be best taken advantage of to achieve your organization’s goals. If handled correctly and prepared for adequately, each interview can be an opportunity to not only amplify an organization’s critical storylines, but to establish spokespeople as genuine industry leaders that are highly sought after for follow-up discussions with the press and key influencers of all kinds.

Interested in improving your own media interviewing skills? Join us for an upcoming, free Violet PR webinar on November 12, 2024 at 12 pm ET to dive deeper into these concepts. Click here to sign up.