A media briefing or interview is an important chance to reach a wider audience. Furthermore, it’s a chance to exercise your communication skills, enhance your message, and go beyond the press release. Every interview is a chance to have a conversation with another knowledgeable person and develop your resume as a notable thought leader.
Over my time as a newspaper correspondent, magazine editor, and media relations professional, I have conducted and sat in on hundreds of media briefings and interviews. And, honestly, most of them go fine. The ones that don’t go well (where it isn’t the media member’s fault – which it sometimes is!) usually are a result of a spokesperson tripping into three common pitfalls:
