Control the Conversation
Tips for media interviewing, presenting and just talking with a human being.
It was an honor to present at the Northwest Credit Union Association’s Marketers Conference last week, but I’m sure I won’t be the first to say the star of the show was Anthony Huey of Reputation Management Associates. Over the course of three hours he delivered a fun, interactive presentation packed with media training and communication tips. I attempted to take notes but many of it is hard to convey as a camera was used with video being played back and Anthony’s suggestions peppered throughout the replaying.
But here goes, because you need to know this…
Time matters. Fill every second you get.
This doesn’t mean talk all the time! You have 10 seconds to answer questions with the press and 30 seconds to answer questions face-to-face. Even Barak Obama gets just 10 seconds to answer to press. If you go over with press they will just take what they want to create a 10 second sound-bite so you’ve completely lost control of the message.
This is important for everyone—whether you are a CEO trying to pitch a $2 million account or a soccer mom trying to get more field time for her kid’s league.
For example, how do you typically answer the question: “What do you do”? I always reply back with the short, yet firm, response of “I have a marketing firm.” And then I just leave it at that. Well think of all that time I’ve lost! That took about 3 seconds. I have 27 more seconds to fill in any regular conversation. I need to think about whom I am talking with and how they can help me with my agenda.
CONTROL the conversation. Not the other way around.
You cannot wait for the person to ask you the question that will lead you to your talking points. You must fight and take control. Possess an agenda. Satisfy irrelevant questions quickly and then say what you want to say. Use words like “for example” because it forces you to use examples. Examples are good—this gets you to the “how” of it.
