Identify Your Key Messages

You will never be able to give a good interview if you don’t really know what you want to say. Start by making sure you are clear about the core messages about your organisation, so that as well as talking about the specific topic at issue, you can explain clearly your business or product, how it is positioned in the market, what its benefits are compared with the competition, how it makes things better for its customers. If you cannot put these across clearly, do not expect a journalist to describe you accurately. Ensure you and other senior managers in the business are sending out the same signals—we are constantly amazed at how often, when meeting two or more senior people from within the same organisation, that they will have radically different ways of positioning the company. Consistency is key here. In addition, you want to ensure that you have something useful and relevant to offer the journalist, preferably something that differentiates you from what other people are saying, so you are adding maximum value as far as the reporter is concerned. This will make them more likely to remember to come back to you next time. (Taken from the book The M-Factor by Tom Maddocks.)