2 minute read
48 Be an expert
by iKnow
48
BE AN EXPERT
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There is a difference between being a media spokesperson for your organisation, and appearing as an expert. As a spokesperson, you’re generally invited on to the media when something bad has happened to your own organisation. Be prepared for that, but you can also volunteer your services as an expert to the media, to give your views on your area of expertise.
The idea As a brand owner or guardian, you’re not expected to be impartial. If you’re invited to give an opinion to the press or to talk on the radio, they will always bear in mind that you have something you want to publicise. But if you can give good advice about your fi eld, without showing a bias towards your own brand, the media will generally allow you the trade-off of mentioning your company.
If you do try to push your own brand, you won’t get invited back, so there is a balance to observe.
You can also have media training. This is the professional version of practise videos, and teaches people how to come over well on television and radio, if they plan to be a spokesperson for their organisations. However, you can generally spot the media-trained. They refuse to answer questions and say, “That’s not important, my point is...” Interviewers on news programmes loathe this and can be
hostile to anyone who is defensive, closed and one-sided.
It’s always refreshing to see experts answering questions openly rather than bulldozing their views through, and it builds the speaker’s credibility.
In practice • You can use an experienced PR company to advise you on how to present your brand, or you can go direct to the media and get advice on what they need. • Some people are natural on television or radio, and some are walking disasters. To test your skills, do practice interviews and video them so you see how you come across. • Tell the press about your in-house experts. Provide contact details and biographies if possible, so that the media can contact them if need be. Having expert views on talk shows and print material lends credibility to your brand. • Send out press releases giving your expert view about stories that are in the news. It’s a matter of building helpful relationships with the media. If you can help them to fi ll the pages or their allotted minutes with useful material, then you’ll get a mention.
