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received via email 1/17/06
Position Your Park District for Success
by Stephen Mongelluzzo
NEWS FLASH!!! Because you have a good working relationship with the news media doesn’t mean that you successfully deliver your park district’s messages. It means that you have a good working relationship with the media. Because you are relaxed during media interviews doesn’t mean you successfully deliver your messages. It means that you are relaxed during media interviews.
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
It always amazes me how many park district spokespersons (and other government officials) who are very successful in their careers, who meticulously prepare for a board meeting, or who will anguish over every word as they prepare a speech, will just “wing it” when they do a media interview.
Do you usually drop everything to do an interview when a reporter calls? Going into an interview, do you feel you are the best person to do the interview because you know more about the park district than any one else? Do you think to yourself, “I’ve done dozens of interviews; I don’t need to practice for media interviews?”
Do you develop messages for every interview? Do you develop messages for each program or service you publicize? Do you have talking papers with messages on reoccurring issues? Do you anticipate sensitive issues you will be asked to address, and prepare messages for each?
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Yes, as famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden constantly told his players, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Did he mean that UCLA would lose every game? Of course he didn’t. What he did mean was that in the close ones against good teams, his team could lose if they were not prepared. His teams had great talent, but how many teams and athletes with great talent don’t win. UCLA won 10 NCAA titles in 12 years because they were also the best-prepared team.
Yes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
There are some very simple things you can do to position yourself and your park district for success when dealing with the news media. Some can be done right now—before your next interview. Others should be done each time a reporter calls for an interview.
The following are a dozen steps you can take to ensure that you and your park district will shine in interviews.
1. Develop a media policy. Most park districts have some kind of media policy. But does your media policy exist in writing? It should. Your policy should specifically identify who may talk to the media, what issues they can address, who handles sensitive and controversial topics, and who talks to the media in the absence of these individuals. If you have some employees who can talk to the media on certain issues but not on others, include examples in your policy. For instance, if managers at athletic facilities can talk to the media about the programs they supervise, but not about budget issues, specifically mention this limitation in your policy.
Finally, you should communicate your policy to all employees regularly (at least once every year). Emphasize to your employees that they should immediately refer all inquiries from the media to the designated person(s). Even seemingly innocent questions can become full interviews for the unsuspecting.
2. Identify issues that the media may call you about. Which issues, especially controversial and sensitive ones, might the media contact you about? The time to identify and prepare for these issues is not when a reporter calls, but when these topics are identified. Are you prepared to talk about safety at your facilities or a decrease in the programs you will offer right now?
3. Identify issues you want to discuss with the media. Which programs and services do you want to talk to reporters about? Many of these are ones that you talk about every year. Others might be one-time priorities. If providing a wide variety of high-quality services to local residents is an important goal for you, be prepared to discuss these services and your goal at every opportunity, not just when specifically asked about them.
4. Develop messages for these issues. Generate messages for each of the services, programs, or issues you have identified, and put them in writing. What actions do you want local residents to take, and how will they benefit or prevent a negative consequence by taking these actions? Think of each message as the headline you want for the story.
5. Develop talking papers on recurring subjects. Write talking points for those issues and programs that you will be discussing on a recurring basis. The talking paper should be a simple, one-page sheet with a bulleted list outlining the key points and your messages. You will find that many of these talking papers can be used from year to year with only minor updates.
6. Gather “memory hooks” on a regular basis. Do you have a file of success stories, quotations from authorative sources, examples, analogies, and other “memory hooks”? You and each department should gather these on an ongoing basis so you will have them ready to use at a moment’s notice. Tell your front-line employees what you are looking for since they have the most contact with park district users.
7. Train your spokespersons, and this means you, too. Have you and other park district spokespersons had media training? Or do you rationalize, “I’ve done dozens of interviews. I don’t need training”? The best way to identify problems and to see if you successfully deliver messages is to be taped during training.
8. “Buy time” when a reporter calls. There is no rule that says you have to drop everything when a reporter phones. However, this is just what many park district spokespersons do. Unless you have recently talked about an issue and have your messages already prepared, buy time. Even 10-15 minutes will help you to be better prepared.
9. Develop messages and anticipate questions for every interview. Obviously, you will not anticipate every issue the reporter wants you to discuss. After you buy time, use it to develop messages for these one-time issues and put them in writing; then, anticipate the questions the reporter will ask. Also, have you saved any “memory hooks” you can use?
10. Practice. Sounds like the obvious next step, but how many spokespersons actually practice before an interview? After you have developed messages and anticipated questions, have someone ask you the questions, and see if you deliver your messages. Keep a cassette recorder handy in your office. Critique your practice.
11. Know what you can and cannot talk about. There are some issues you should not or cannot talk about. Do you have privacy rules, legal restrictions, political issues or policy questions to consider? Be familiar with them. Tell the reporter up-front if you cannot respond to certain questions. Don’t be swayed from this position.
12. Have your messages in front of you during interviews. Once you have made the effort to develop your messages and to put them in writing, use them. Keep messages in front of you while talking to the reporter. Briefly glance at them from time to time. The only exception would be during a live TV interview, when you want to maintain good eye contact. Most spokespersons forget to deliver their messages because they don’t refer to them during the interview. Also, don’t deliver your messages only once. Repeat them.
Yes, following these 12 steps will take time, and we all seem to be short of time these days. However, the up-front time that you spend in preparing for media interviews can save you time in the future and, more important, can help you successfully deliver your park district’s messages. Remember, failing to prepare is preparing to fail!
Stephen Mongelluzzo (stevemong@poweruser.com) is the founder of FIRST Communications, Mundelein, Illinois, and served as a public relations officer for the Internal Revenue Service for 23 years. He spoke at the 2001 NRPA Convention and has worked with many government organizations. In 2005, he published Winning Media Interviews: Sure-Fire Tactics to Get Your Messages Out (www.WinningMediaInterviews.com). His web page includes a “Media Tip of the Month.”