The next time a reporter interviews you, and you don’t know the answer to a question, resist the urge to panic. Too many interview subjects think reporters expect them to know all the answers to every potential question. Reporters don’t. All they want is a good story. Here, then, are five reasons why it’s OK to say “I don’t… Read More
How to Interview
10 ways to be an indispensable media source
What separates people who are masters at generating publicity from those who are constantly grousing that “the media doesn’t care about my story?” Often, it’s knowing how to be a valuable media source. Here are 10 ways to make yourself indispensable to reporters, editors, freelancers, broadcasters, bloggers, ezine editors and all new media. 1. Understand your Number One… Read More
Appearing on TV? Plan for these 7 emergencies
Pitching yourself to TV talk show bookers or your local TV news directors, and convincing them to say yes, just seems like the hard part. It really isn’t. The far more difficult task is knowing how to respond to the many emergencies that can pop up from the time you’re booked to the second you walk… Read More
Fail to prepare for an interview? Prepare to fail
If you, or your PR client, are interviewing with the media, and you haven’t prepared answers to difficult questions, particularly if you’re in a bad news situation, you’ve blown it. That’s what happened last week when a correspondent for the BBC interviewed Mike Lazaridis, the co-chief executive of Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian firm… Read More
Beware of journalists’ trick questions during an interview
Let’s see how savvy you are when it comes to interviewing with journalists. Which of the following would you consider a trick question: A. “What’s your annual revenue?” B. “I know you feel uncomfortable commenting on that topic, but how about telling me off the record?” C. “What’s the worst business mistake you’ve ever made,… Read More
Email interviews with journalists? 5 reasons to say yes
As more newspapers and magazines cut staff, don’t be surprised if a journalist who you pitch—or one who finds you online—emails you and asks: “I’m writing an article for The Daily Tattler, and I’m pressed for time. Is it OK if I email you questions and, if so, can you provide a response by the… Read More
Which of these author TV-interviews-from-hell is the worst?
I love showing you clips of TV interviews that are perfect examples of how NOT to act on camera. This week, you get not one, but two videos. Each can best be described as, uh, a “teaching moment.” Both authors start stumbling, right out of the gate. In the first video, author Uri Man’s comments… Read More
Media interview? How to deal with a confused journalist
You’re being interviewed by a magazine reporter who clearly doesn’t understand the topic, despite your best efforts to explain it over and over again. What do you do? That’s what a graduate of The Publicity Hound Mentor Program asked me just now. “A staffer recently did repeated interviews with a magazine writer, and sent follow-up emails… Read More
My #1 tip for getting onto ‘Oprah’ & other big TV shows
At least 7 out of 10 Publicity Hounds who beg me to help them get booked on “Oprah” or other big TV shows have no business being there. Either their topic isn’t a good fit for the show, or they can’t articulate a convincing pitch in 15 seconds or less. Yet they continue to flood… Read More
Why is ‘the mic is always on’ so difficult to understand?
It happened again—not to two starry-eyed, naive news sources who sat in front of the TV cameras for the first time—but to two political insiders who should have know better. I call it microphonitis—blabbering on and on about private matters and personal opinions and even uttering obscenities—while a microphone is pinned to your lapel. This time, it… Read More