Spokesperson Training

News media interviews can intimidate even the most seasoned business executive, especially in a crisis situation where pack journalism prevails. As a result, many take great pains to avoid such exposure, or rise to the occasion with great reluctance--which shows on TV screens of millions of consumers. The irony, and tragedy, is that they often have important points which need to be made which can balance out the public perceptions of the crisis that are received via the news media so the damage to the organization's business can be minimized.

What separates those who are comfortable and successful in dealing with the news media and those who are not? In a word, control--control of the media situation. Most of us are not naturally inclined to achieve this kind of control under normal circumstances, and especially not in the chaos of a crisis. But that control of the media under any circumstances can be achieved, if the person has been trained to gain and maintain it, knowing he or she has the information the media needs to develop its stories.

ICM's Crisis Interview and Response Training is custom tailored for the participants, with the planning process beginning long before the actual session. The program will deal with the various types of print and broadcast news organizations the participants are likely to encounter in a crisis and will give practical tips for responding to each type of media as well as to people who may contact the participants by phone.

The television interview and response segment includes at least two on-camera exercises. Our intent is to give the participants sufficient practice and experience on camera so they will know how to respond to any questions that may be asked by a reporter. By the time of the background briefing in the afternoon, they will have the confidence they need to handle any type of interview, print or broadcast.

Participants will not be subjected to demeaning interviews by obnoxious "reporters", since that is unprodutive in a training program. However, participants will learn how to defer in a courteous manner any questions or interviews that they are not prepared to handle at the time.

Journalists, rather than PR people, conduct and analyze the on-camera interviews. Based on his years of experience in broadcast journalism, Larry Smith knows how to ask the kinds of questions that the participants are likely to encounter in a real interview. He also will show videotape examples and relate news room war stories that will help the participants grasp what to do, and not do, to make their points convincingly during the interview.

The training is conducted several times a year in conjunction with the ICM Certification Course. It also is provided on a customized basis for clients facing a specific crisis situation or who want selected managers and executives to be trained individually or as a group. In these instances the training is conducted at the ICM facilities or a location selected by the client.

Agenda
Media Interview Training

For further information contact:

Yvonne Smith
Institute for Crisis Management
502-587-0327
502-587-0329 (Fax)