Today, we’re going on camera! Or, on a microphone. Or both! Today the call is coming from inside the house – EAG Chief Public Relations Officer Ryan Gerding is with us to talk about the importance of media training. If you’re important enough to be interviewed, you’re important enough for media training. Whether it’s a Good story — and especially if it isn’t — being prepared can make all the difference in the world, and it may even save your reputation and your business.
TRANSCRIPT:
Jeff: Welcome to the Small Business Miracles podcast.
I’m Jeff Randolph. This small business podcast is brought to you by EAG Advertising and Marketing. We’re going to talk about marketing, and we’re also here to celebrate entrepreneurs by diving into the story. We learn a little more about what makes them tick.
Today, we’re going on camera—or on microphone—or both. Today, the call is coming from inside the house. Trace the call. It’s coming from inside the house.
EAG Chief Public Relations Officer Ryan Goering is back with us again to talk about the importance of media training. If you’re important enough to be interviewed, you’re important enough for media training so you get it right. Whether this is a good story, and especially if it isn’t, being prepared can make all the difference in the world—and it may even save your reputation and your business.
If you’re ready, let’s bring Ryan into the conversation.
Jeff: Welcome back to the show. My name is Jeff. I am here with Ryan Goering. Ryan is the Chief Public Relations Officer at EAG. Ryan, you are the returning champion. Welcome back to the show.
Ryan: Is this like when Steve Martin and Martin Short are returning hosts on Saturday Night Live? Is there a jacket? Is there a club?
Jeff: If you make it to five, we’re going to develop a jacket. No one has done that so far. So I think there’s a path that you’re on because we’re going to keep talking about some public relations issues. They’re kind of important these days.
The one that we’re going to talk about today—thanks for being here, by the way—is media training. We do media training here, so this is something that we are familiar with, of course.
But let’s establish some bona fides, because you know what you’re talking about when it comes to the media and being media trained, camera ready, and being on camera. Tell us about your background.
Ryan: I graduated from the University of Missouri School of Broadcast Journalism—Go Tigers—and then spent eight years as a local TV reporter, anchor, and photographer. So I was on the other side of the camera and did hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews. I know what the good ones are and what the not-so-good ones are.
Then I spent 22 or 23 years working in public relations. It’s my job now to think like a reporter, to think like a journalist, and also help our clients think like someone who’s being interviewed by a reporter and help them figure out the best way to do that.
Jeff: Media training is important for a lot of reasons. One, you want to make sure that if you happen to be on camera, you come off looking good. But I want to see the things that go badly. If you say something very wrong, or there’s an open mic and somebody picks something up, now there’s social media backlash. There are all kinds of things that could go wrong.
Ryan: Nowadays, because everything is online, bad publicity or a bad interview isn’t just a bad day. Those stories live online in perpetuity and can be found again and again. It also takes additional time to do damage control after the fact. It’s more expensive to pay for crisis public relations than it is to prepare ahead.
Jeff: There’s that phrase people use—there’s no such thing as bad publicity. What’s your hot take?
Ryan: Agree to disagree. There is bad publicity, and it can cost you your company and your reputation.
One of the things we talk about in media training is being off the record. Even when I was given something off the record, it changed how I approached the story and who else I talked to. Even if a reporter adheres to off the record, the story can still be shaped differently.
Beyond that, you shouldn’t say anything in front of a microphone that you wouldn’t want to show up on a billboard.
Jeff: Especially now, when you may never actually be off camera.
Ryan: Exactly. I’ve seen clients share information while the crew was setting up, thinking it wouldn’t be included—and it was. If you’re in the presence of a journalist, nothing’s off the record.
And nowadays you don’t even need a traditional journalist. Anyone with a social following can publish what you say.
Jeff: Let’s talk about “no comment,” because we always say: don’t say no comment.
Ryan: “No comment” is a comment. If someone spends several paragraphs making allegations and your response is “no comment,” that says something.
There is always something you can say. If you can’t discuss specifics, you can explain why and then pivot. If you say nothing, silence creates a vacuum—and it can be filled with whatever.
Jeff: That leads into what good media training includes. One of the biggest pieces is practice.
Ryan: A media training session should not be a lecture. It should be a scrimmage.
You need to sit in front of a camera, feel the microphone in your face, and get used to that sensation. Everyone reacts differently when that red light comes on.
We also do sessions in groups so people can learn from each other and provide feedback.
Jeff: Let’s talk about what that camera does to people.
Ryan: Even for people who are used to it, when the red light comes on, it changes you. You become hyper-aware of everything—your surroundings, your dry mouth, the possibility of saying something stupid.
It’s not a normal conversation. There’s a giant camera recording what you say to potentially thousands of people.
Jeff: Another major concept we teach is “home base.” Talk about that.
Ryan: Before every interview, decide the key point you want to get across. No matter what question is asked, you bridge back to that message.
You can say, “What’s important to know is…” or “Here’s what we’re focused on…” Those phrases bring you back to your home base. And it’s okay to repeat your key message in multiple answers.
Jeff: Because otherwise they might run with the one sentence you didn’t mean to emphasize.
Ryan: Exactly.
Jeff: Body language matters too.
Ryan: Your face answers before your mouth does. What people see is almost as important as what they hear. When you’re nervous, that shows. Practicing helps you control that.
Jeff: And sometimes reporters will just sit there after you answer.
Ryan: Yes. Nature abhors a vacuum, and humans abhor silence. That’s a tactic. People don’t get in trouble for what they say—they get in trouble for what they say after what they say.
It’s okay to stop talking.
Jeff: Are we only talking about crisis situations here?
Ryan: No. Most interviews are positive. But even positive interviews can go wrong if you’re not prepared.
That’s why we often create a briefing document for clients—what the story is about, what questions to expect, what your home base is, and background on the reporter.
Preparation doesn’t eliminate nerves, but it reduces risk.
Jeff: Media training is important. If you’re important enough to be interviewed, you’re important enough to be trained.
Ryan, thanks for being with us again. Maybe that five-time host jacket is in your future.
Ryan: I’m looking forward to it. Thanks, Jeff.
Jeff: And that is our show. Thank you to our returning champion, Ryan Goering, and thank you for listening to the Small Business Miracles podcast. Remember to subscribe and leave us a five-star rating and review. Drop us a line at eagadv.com if you have any thoughts.
Until then, we’ll be out here helping entrepreneurs with another Small Business Miracle.