What is the story?

What you want to say and what

the media expect you to say
What story would interest you most?

• A British adventurer on his way to China

has had his bicycle stolen by a Mongolian
horseman
• A meeting of EU transport ministers is to
begin in the Polish city of Krakow
• The S&P 500 is already up more than 6%
this year. But so is the Russell 2000, one
of the most widely watched barometers of
small cap stocks
 A very interesting story
• Discovery of minor volumes of "foreign" magma
in early eruption deposits shows that the
outbreak of the world's youngest super-eruption
(the Oruanui eruption, Taupo volcano, New
Zealand, 27,000 years ago) was intimately
controlled by tectonic stresses.
• Tectonics played a crucial role in controlling the
onset and vigor of this large eruption and,
because of its invisibility, the role of tectonics
may currently be under-recognized in many
other eruptions.
Why should I be interested?
 A good story
• Is Lively
• Is Relevant
• Is Authoritative
• Is Easy to understand
• Can be told in short sentences
• And it is about people
 Think People
• All our material should be about PEOPLE
• When tellng your story – ask yourself
what is the impact on people, what is at
stake for ordinary people
• Why should listeners care about your
story?
 Think, remember, ask, simplify
• Think about the people who will listen to
what you have to say
• Remember that people would want to hear
only the important bits
• Ask yourself what are those important bits
• Simplify. Scientific and technical jargon
can be complex and distract people’s
attention
 So, what makes a good story?
• The timeliness of the information – is this
new, when will this happen?
• The proximity to the audience – how far
from here are things happening?
• The scope or reach of the information –
how many will be affected by this?
• The credibility of the information and its
source
 So, what makes a good story?
• The significance of the story – how will
this affect the audience?
• The drama of the story – what can
possibly happen?
• The unexpected elements of the story – a
man bites dog
• The way information is presented
 Many ways to tell a story
• Words
• Audio
• Images
• Video
• Charts and other graphics
Human, simple, useful
How do I tell the story?
How do I tell the story?
How do I tell the story?
How do I tell the story?
How do I tell the story?
 What Media want
• A story that informs, educates or
entertains
• A story that can interest most people
• A story that is clear and makes sense
• A story that can be processed in a short
time
• A story that fits their agenda and its
format
What we can do
 A Good Interview
• Keep responses to 10 seconds
• Always Address, Never Dwell
• Say the institution’s name in every
response
• Never get Angry
• Never say “No Comment”
• Always End Positive
 For an Interview
• Have a plan
• Have all the facts
• Respond to every media question
• Never lie
• Don’t Babble
• Never go off the record
• Don’t use jargon
 Interview I
• Ten second answers to questions
• Anticipate the question and rehearse your
answer
• Rehearse ad libs
• When you answer, make one or two of your
best points
• Then stop talking and wait for the next
question
• Be brief. Get to the point. STOP!
 Interview II
• Take a few seconds to address the
question
• Build a verbal bridge that will take you to
where you want to go.
• Make your point.
 Interview III
• “Bump” the question with a quick answer:
Yes,
no,
it’s too soon to tell
• Go to where you want to go
• You can use
Yes, but . . .
No, because . . .
 Interview IV
• Pose a question and quickly answer it
yourself.
• “The real question here is ‘what are we
doing about the problem.’ We have a
plan . . .”
 Remember you know…
• You know what happened
• You know what is happening
• You know what could happen
M&T Media Training, 2014
mediatraining@me.com