The more prepared you are for any interview, the more beneficial that interview will be to your business. You can answer any question without media training. But not all answers are created equal. With planning, preparation and practice, you can map out your strategy for a media interview, communications strategy or core objective to get the greatest benefit for your business.
My strategy includes:
Working with the media: What they want and what you can provide
Development of key messages: What you want to say and what they want to hear
Defining target audiences: Who, specifically, do you want to hear your message
Interview Techniques: Digital, Social, Print, TV, Radio: All have different needs
Logistics: What to expect and how to prepare
Practice, practice and more practice: Taping and role-playing
Writing and editing exercises: Hone your messaging
MORE THAN THE WRITTEN WORD
First impressions are made in any number of ways; among them, how we look, how we write or how we speak. Do we present ourselves in any of these ways as professional and polished, or could we use a bit of cleaning up?
The easiest of the three is our physical presentation. Literally, clean yourself up and put your best foot forward. It’s time for a haircut, all-around polish, pull out the iron (or borrow one). Look like you’re a professional and you will be treated like one. Dress like you already have the job.
More effort is required for written and verbal skills. This is mainly going to focus on speaking, but let me give some brief advice on writing. Remember your audience. Why do they care about your subject? Read your copy aloud. Sending out a written communication with errors is like going on a job interview with a dirty shirt. Neither one will get you the job and both are absolutely avoidable.
WRITING SKILLS
Just as important as the spoken word is the written word. Clear and concise writing is the key to successful communication. Fine-tuning your business communications can ensure you are targeting your messages effectively, to the right audience, with the proper voice, for maximum impact.
The ability to write well, write creatively and to capture the attention of your audience can be the ticket to an exceptional career and to a successful campaign, communications effort and business program.
Good writing can get the basics of your ideas across. Better writing can help communicate your vision and connect with your audience, leading to success for you and your company. I focus on the basic skills needed for clear, professional communications, as well as more advanced skills needed to take your writing, and therefore your results, to greater success and impact.
HITTING YOUR TARGET
Audience: Precisely define who your audience is.
Message: Focus on the one message you need to convey.
Platform: There are numerous ways to communicate. Which is the right one for the maximum impact and result?
10 Steps To Better Writing
Getting Started And Knowing When To Stop
Importance Of Style, Grammar And Format
Finding Your Voice
Common Traps And Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Mastering the ability to communicate effectively and strategically is more than a skill set. In this era of booming new technologies and new media, it is critically important to match your communications efforts with the appropriate channels of distribution and to create messages that target the right audiences. Putting forward professional and polished written and verbal communications is only one part of the equation.
Understanding the need to meld messages and media is the other part. Varying voices, creating myriad messages and matching voice to media to audience is just as important as learning the skill sets of style and substance.
True success comes from understanding the imperative need to merge messaging and media. In communications, one size does not fit all. The more time and effort spent on strategically creating messages to match media and market will mean more successful communications efforts.