The marketing department of any company–even if you’re your own marketing department–should always be trying to increase the firm’s visibility by getting its CEO or other top leaders out in the press. Sounds simple, but this is a process laden with potential land mines.
The CEO may be the most knowledgable person on the planet on the subject of liquid polymers, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be a great communicator. Worse yet, she may think she’s a great communicator, based strictly on her CEO position.
The marketing department might work tooth and nail to land the CEO an interview in a major publication–trade or consumer–and then find out that the executive is confident they can “wing it,” because after all, isn’t she the most knowledgable person in the industry?
Then comes the interview and the executive clams up, veers off course, gets snippy with the interviewer, starts arguments, and never does get across the three talking points that the marketing department placed in front of him. Pass the Advil.
That’s why an increasing number of companies are media training their executives in advance of any interview so that when the executive goes live, he will at least have been through a preparatory fire drill.
As a journalist, I’ve played the inquisitive reporter in any number of media training exercises, and can tell you that the executives always come away feeling better about their ability to handle the media.
We always imagine a situation where we pitched the executive and after a time during which the promotional marketing department and the journalist work out the details and the ground rules, we proceed with our interview.
But what if that’s not what happens? What if we work for a bank, and one sunny morning it’s robbed, and our CEO is suddenly holding a presser about the hostages being held in the vault. What if something beyond our control happened in the market, and the stock price is now half of half of what it was yesterday, and shareholders and their attorneys are brandishing lawsuits. The CEO might want to retreat to the shelter of his suite but that‘s not really possible as the Wall Street Journal is going to write something this afternoon, CEO or no.
That’s why media training should allow for different scenarios spread over several sessions. The sessions should be taped so executives can see themselves under the gun. Is she playing with her wedding ring? Is he visibly squirming in his seat? Are they avoiding eye contact with the interviewer?
The plain fact of the matter is that being interviewed, for most people, is root canal. And what of the dentist, or interviewer?
It’s easy to deal with the stereotypical brash reporter, but what about the more seasoned “Columbo” style interrogator, who has honed the art of the seemingly innocent quicksand question for which there is no correct answer?
Executives may consider media training a waste of precious time, but if the marketing department can convince them otherwise, it never fails. Once they see the video tape, they’ll realize how valuable media training can be.
