Context is King: 3 Ways to Take Control of Interviews
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] The second a crisis rears its ugly head and a reporter knocks on your door about it, you start quaking in your boots. You get a lump in your throat and notice you’re sweating. But you know in your heart that your organization is not the villain in this issue, so you want to be proactive and transparent.
You open the door, the reporter sticks a mic in your face and you immediately start answering a question. Then you answer another. And another. Ten or fifteen minutes later, the reporter wraps up and flies out of your office. Your brain races to reconstruct the interview. You start beating yourself up over the things you wish you had said.
What’s wrong with this scenario?
Well, pretty much EVERYTHING. The reporter had complete control over this interview. If you find yourself in this situation, here’s how to tip the scale so you have more control:
- Buy time. In a breaking crisis, resist the urge to immediately jump in and answer questions when a reporter calls, emails or shows up at your door. Tell the reporter you’re glad to talk – but you need to get back to them in 10 or 15 minutes. Negotiate for more time if you can.
- Use half of the time you negotiated to craft two or three strong messages. It should take you no longer than seven or eight seconds to say them aloud. That’s what you want: short, punchy soundbites that help tell your side of the story.
Use the other half of that time to think about the tough questions the reporter might ask you. How will you answer them?
- Set Context. When you sit down for the interview, don’t wait for the reporter’s first question to begin speaking. Deliver a message immediately. I instruct media trainees to pick a phrase such as “…before we get into the interview, let me share a couple of very important points about this issue.” Then deliver a message.
When you do this, you set context. Why is that important? Because the easiest thing for a reporter to do is to ask a follow-up question based on the context you have set. When that happens, you begin to control the flow of the interview.
- Answer and Bridge. You’ll sound like a trained parrot if all you do in an interview is spew message after message. Answer questions. Answer them truthfully, but then use a bridging phrase to return to another of your key messages. Use phrases such as “the point I want to make today is…” or “what’s important to emphasize is…” followed by a key message to shift control back in your favor.
Every time you deliver a message in an interview, you use the power of context to take control.
Make sure you use messages to tell your side of the story. Ultimately, your organization’s reputation is at stake. And as a former colleague famously said, “…the residual odor of a seriously unfavorable story permeates your business environment for a long, long time.” [1]
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