The Media Interview

Finally getting a longer-than-a-weekend break. Campsite’s booked. Weather’s great. Off to the store to buy my daughters some Loopy-Doopies (for those of you unfamiliar with “wilderness” camping that translates as Fruit Loops… and they HAVE to be in those little boxes). See you August 1st!

» Presentation Zen – the focus here is on live business presentations, but there’s a lot that’s applicable to your interview style – how you come across, making your point effectively, and lots more. » Pew Internet & American Life Project – if you need to research social trends involving the internet, this is a [...]

Everybody’s got a media tips sheet, but Backbone Communications found a great way to stand out from the crowd: offer up some fun but pointed categories of ill-prepared executives: Name: The 5:15 Description: The executive who does a passing imitation of a runaway train, rattling off interminable answers at breakneck speed. Name: The O’Reilly Description: [...]

From May 2006 here’s one person’s perceptions of how the two front-runners in Sweden’s elections came across in the media. This blogger is a writer and communications strategist, which explains some of the detailed analysis, but I think it’s a good articulation of what the average person might be feeling subconsciously and which may also [...]

If you’re looking for an “outspokesperson”, pop singer Pink may be perfect for your media tour: You’re also known for being outspoken. Have you been warned about this? At first, but now I’m a lost cause. They had me take etiquette classes and media training and it didn’t work out. I told them that the [...]

I don’t mind being interviewed any more than I mind Viennese waltzing – that is, my response will depend on the agility and grace and attitude and intelligence of the other person. Some do it well, some clumsily, some step on your toes by accident, and some aim for them. – Margaret Atwood quoted in [...]

Matthew Stibbe – writer-in-chief at Articulate Marketing and Editor of ModernPilot.com – has a nice summary of what can make a media interview go wrong, from the interviewer’s standpoint and the interviewee’s. What I like about his list is that it’s refreshingly candid (“sometimes after eight or ten interviews I sort of lose the will [...]

Hosts: are you asking the right sorts of questions? Journalist and writing coach Chip Scanlan has some good examples of how NOT to ask questions on his blog, in an article based on the work of John Sawatsky, a Canadian journalist and teacher . Used carefully, questions can make the difference between an answer and [...]

TV producer and host Deborah Boland offers up a few interview tips on Krishna De’s Biz Growth News blog.

Posted another testimonial to my wife’s website today and it struck me how many times Kim’s clients rave about her enthusiasm for their book/product/business (and she’s fortunate that she can choose to take on only projects for which she really is enthusiastic). It’s one of the things that makes her a great publicist; that enthusiasm [...]