How to Prepare for a Media Interview

You've convinced a journalist to profile your company or to use you as a subject matter expert. How should you prepare for the interview? Jordan Behan, who blogs at Tell Ten Friends, has been writing a series of posts with a focus on media training. Here are his pre-interview tips:

Prepare clever responses to likely questions. Reporters not only gather basic who-what-when-where-why information, he says, "Most … are looking for … the perfectly crafted pull-quote to build a story around." The best way NOT to be quoted is to rattle off facts without adding insight, humor or an interesting twist. So come up with some interesting quotes in advance, offer them at your first opportunity, and try to sound natural and sincere—as if they're off-the-cuff remarks.

Have high-quality images available. You may be asked to provide images if you're dealing with print or online media. (Many publications have neither the budget nor the time to photograph everything in their pages.) It doesn't hurt to have a CD with professional headshots and product shots ready to mail. Photographs already on your Web site can work when they need images with a lower resolution, but the standard for print magazines is 300 dpi at the size being published. You may want to offer both options (low resolution and high resolution) on a Press Center Web page.

The Po!nt: Writes Behan, "The media have a job to do, and if you are cooperative and help to make it easier for them, they are more likely to keep calling you in the future."

Source: Tell Ten Friends blog. To learn more, read this post.

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