Prepare for an interview with a reporter these 8 ways

By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound

If a reporter contacts you unexpectedly and asks for an interview in the next few days, and you don't feel entirely ready, how do you prepare?

That's what Leili McKinley of Soaring-Phoenix.com, one of my business coaches, called and asked.

A reporter from a major online business magazine found Leili's blog post about how the credit crunch will affect small business. The reporter wants to know if the ripple effect has reached Main Street America. Leili says it has, and she has lots of great materials to share. "But I'm not quite sure how to organize my ideas and keep everything straight," she says.

Here's my advice, much of which you can follow if a reporter from any media outlet will be interviewing you, either for your event or for any other topic:

1. Research the reporter.

If you don't know the reporter personally, Google their name and see what you find. If the reporter blogs, read the blog! It will provide valuable clues about issues the reporter cares about. And the writing style might offer insight regarding the reporter's demeanor and attitude: all-around nice guy or a pit bull?

Doing your research will also help you determine if the reporter writes for other publications. Full-time reporters at newspapers and magazines sometimes freelance for other publications. You might learn, for example, that the local food reporter for your daily newspaper writes a column for a travel magazine on interesting events that are taking place in the area where you live. You might be able to suggest an idea for the travel magazine.

Always identify the Number One message you want to get across to the reporter and make sure you weave it into your answers several times. You can even "flag" the reporter by prefacing one of your answers like this: "Sharon, the most important thing I have to say about that is…" Way too many Publicity Hounds have kicked themselves afterward for failing to communicate their key message "because the reporter never asked about it."

The key message should be short and memorable. Don't dump all the information all at the same time. State your key message and offer more if the reporter asks for it. This is particularly important if you're doing a broadcast interview that will be much shorter than an interview for a publication.

3. Prepare your two or three sub-messages.

Weave those into your answers, too, when appropriate. Make sure the messages are short.

4. Offer other contacts.

Offer contact information for several other people who would agree to be interviewed--sources who can round out the story. Be sure you have their permission ahead of time. In Leili's case, she had several clients whose loans were denied because of the credit crunch, and she started contacting them as soon as she hung up the phone after talking with me.

5. Use notes if you need them.

If the interview is live, and you're not on camera, it's OK to refer to notes you've brought with you. I've done phone interviews with reporters with lots of notes spread in front of me.

A sidebar is a shorter story or list of facts that accompany the larger article. I told Leili she might offer a list of short tips for business owners who might be applying for loans. "That's great," she said. "One tip is to check the business credit of the bank where you're applying for a loan."

Let's say a reporter is interviewing you about your event. You could offer sidebars on topics such as speakers at your event, types of food that will be served, driving directions, or local tourist attractions that out-of-town attendees can see before or after your event.

Also think of statistics you can offer a reporter who can then turn them into an informational graphics like a bar chart or a pie chart.

At the end of the interview, invite the reporter to call on you if she needs sources for other topics on which you're an expert.

Always end the interview with the question, "How else can I help you?"  Few sources ever ask that question. And when you do, you'll really stand out. That's one of several magic phrases to use with the media. It will help you be a much smarter Publicity Hound--and a much more valuable news source.