[00:00:07.360] - Imogen
Hello and welcome to Dear Comms, the coffee break podcast where we tackle your biggest corporate comms challenges. I'm Imogen, and you'd be expecting Amanda to say, and I'm Amanda, but we're actually changing things up. Not today! No, we're changing things up a little bit today. So some of you may know, but most of you won't. Amanda actually started her comms career as a media relations manager at McDonald's. By the end of her time there, she was head of PR, media relations, and internal comms. So who better than to help us answer the following question? Dear comms, our company has had a bit of a tough time in the media recently. To combat this, we invited a journalist to tour our building and see how things really work behind the scenes. What would be your biggest dos and don'ts when preparing for this? And since we're talking about the media, I thought Amanda, and I thought I'd interview her for once. So Amanda, to start with, is inviting a journalist to your place of work a good idea in the first place?
[00:01:10.910] - Amanda
You know, I'm going to say that it really depends. I think if you are in a bit of a media storm and that's impacting your reputation, Transparency can be a powerful tool, but only if it's well handled. When I oversaw UK media relations at McDonald's, at the time we were the poster child for everything that was wrong in the world. So we did use media visits, and the idea was we wanted to shift perceptions by showing what was really happening inside the company rather than letting that narrative be shaped externally.
[00:01:48.790] - Imogen
It's about taking control of the message and letting you tell the story as opposed to letting someone else tell it for you.
[00:01:55.660] - Amanda
Absolutely. However, I would say it's not always the right move if the company isn't prepared, or you've got some unresolved issues that could backfire, and then bringing somebody in could do more harm than good. The other thing is you've got to think about it from a journalist perspective as well. They're incredibly time poor, and they're not just going to come for a PR exercise. So if you're promising opening up will transform how people feel about you, you have to make sure that there is real value in it for the journalist to come and do that kind of visit. Whether that is a story, whether that's background information they can use for future coverage, or exclusive access that helps them you know, understand the topic better.
[00:02:42.380] - Imogen
So how do you decide which journalists to invite? There are lots of journalists out there, but it can't just be anyone, right?
[00:02:50.220] - Amanda
Absolutely. Not all journalists are a good fit. You do need to choose somebody who covers your industry because that has to have credibility with the people that you're trying to influence. It goes back to your overall objectives for the visit. You know, if your goal is industry credibility, then you're going to invite a trade journalist whose audience is, you know, fellow professionals in your field. If you want to reassure the public about something, then you might want to go more mainstream. If you're looking to reach investors and policymakers, then you're going to target business or financial publications. Whatever you do, absolute fundamental basic, look at their past articles. What are they writing? Are they fair? Do they have a habit of gotcha pieces? Have they written about you before? What did they say? I think you've also got to remember that a journalist has got to justify their visit to an editor. If they can't pitch it as newsworthy or something that the publication is going to get value out of, they won't come. So sometimes inviting a trade journalist is better than a journalist from a bigger outlet, depending on your goals.
[00:04:01.420] - Imogen
So once we've chosen the right journalist to come in and do this tour of your facility or of your offices, how do you start the process in preparing for that visit?
[00:04:13.030] - Amanda
There are some key things to keep in mind. Number one, control the setting. Decide in advance what they'll see, who they'll see, who they'll speak to, and make sure that they, the journalists, are very clear about that. So you'll have written a brief, probably for your leadership and for those people that are involved in the visit, Do something very similar for the journalist. Set ground rules up front and manage expectations. Who are they meeting? What's their background? What's their expertise? You know, are certain areas off limits? Where can they and can't they record or take photos? If something's confidential, be upfront and say why. My experience is journalists appreciate honesty more than vague dodging.
[00:05:03.520] - Imogen
When you're planning for a journalist visit, What's the first question you should probably ask yourself?
[00:05:10.650] - Amanda
I would say that if I was the journalist, what would I write about that company? Because if you can answer that, you'll know exactly how to make the visit worth their time. What do you want them to take away from the visit? Think about the headline. What do you want as a headline? And work towards that. You've got to prepare for tough questions. You know, you are being transparent, you're opening things up, so what's the worst thing that they could ask? And make sure you've prepared the business for it. And then another thing that's important is time constraints. They work fast, they don't want to sit through long presentations. If they only have an hour, what's the most valuable way to use that time?
[00:05:57.420] - Imogen
Having a think about what are the questions you don't want them to ask you is a really good way of preparing for any form of media engagement. So, what are those 3 questions that you hope they won't ask? And then prepare the answer for those.
[00:06:11.150] - Amanda
Yeah, absolutely, because then you're not worried a whole day that they're going to ask you those questions, right? You have an answer. Exactly. And, you know, you want transparency, you are opening up, but that doesn't mean that you're revealing every detail.
[00:06:30.140] - Imogen
How do you— How do you get your employees on board? You know, obviously there'll be people around. How do you brief them and get them ready for your visit?
[00:06:39.780] - Amanda
Make sure they know there's a visit, why you're doing the visit, and what's expected from them. Really important thing, hit home that a journalist is always on duty, even when they're in the lift on the way in. If you have people that are expected to speak to the journalist, pick the right people. They've got to be enthusiastic, knowledgeable, know their topic, but not scripted. Mm-hmm. Make sure that they know the key messages you want to get across, you know, what you're trying to achieve, but let them speak naturally. Journalists have brilliant sniff tests. They're going to know if somebody's just repeating lines. And I think one of the biggest pieces of advice that was given to me early on in my career was If you don't know the answer, it's okay to say so.
[00:07:32.830] - Imogen
Yeah, don't spend 5 minutes proving you don't know the answer.
[00:07:36.100] - Amanda
Absolutely. Honesty wins over making something up. Because we're polite, right? Somebody asks you a question, you think, "Ooh, I know a bit about that, I'll give it a go." No, don't do that.
[00:07:47.920] - Imogen
I think it's really interesting what you say about journalists never being off duty. I think that is a hope that a lot of people have, that the interview doesn't start until you sit down and the pad of paper is opened, or the recording pen is out, or the recorder.
[00:08:03.970] - Amanda
Yeah.
[00:08:06.150] - Imogen
And that's just not the case. I wonder, did you ever send a photo round of the journalist to employees to let them know what this person looks like, so that if they were in the lift with them, for example, they weren't gossiping about what's going on in the business?
[00:08:22.380] - Amanda
Or in the reception. You know what, I didn't, to be fair, but I think that's a great suggestion, actually.
[00:08:29.250] - Imogen
Just make sure that, you know, you get into a lift with a strange person, you don't start gossiping about what so-and-so is doing with what's-her-face.
[00:08:40.100] - Amanda
You know what? It absolutely happens that, you know, most of the best comments or some of the greater details are not what's in the interview or in the visit that you've planned.
[00:08:51.780] - Imogen
Going back to what you're saying earlier about knowing what you want your headline to be at the end of the visit, you're absolutely right that journalists are looking for news and they want something newsworthy out the visit. They're not just going to come and have a look at your facility for fun. They want to be able to write about something. So how do you, how do you offer them that without doing something incredibly cheesy or gimmicky, or in the worst case, you drop a clanger and then that's your headline written for you. How do you give them news?
[00:09:30.450] - Amanda
Think about their perspective. What would make their story better? Because if you only give them corporate fluff, they're either going to dig deeper or just, you know, you won't get what you want out of it. They'll be uninterested. Are they getting a fresh perspective, unique access, behind-the-scenes process, key decision makers? Can you provide data or insights that haven't been shared before? I think the important thing is avoid stunts that feel forced. I think you've got to be authentic.
[00:10:02.440] - Imogen
It's also worth thinking about their audience, because a journalist isn't writing for themselves. A journalist is writing for the people who read the newspaper, the website, listen to them on the news. What do those people want to hear about? What questions do those people have? And I think if you can answer the question behind the question, look at the audience of your audience, if you like, then you can really give them something that they want.
[00:10:29.000] - Amanda
Be confident about your own narrative. You know what you want to get across. If you don't, then that journalist will shape it for you.
[00:10:37.560] - Imogen
If you don't, then why is the journalist there in the first place?
[00:10:39.990] - Amanda
Yes, that's true. That's true. As much as you planned and prepared, there will be areas of your business or things that aren't quite as comfortable as you would want them to be. So I think you've got to be prepared to acknowledge concerns if they come up and not dodge them, because I think journalists see through overly polished messaging as well. So that's a good thing to remember.
[00:11:04.900] - Imogen
I mean, you obviously have to prepare for any media engagement, but especially when a journalist is coming into your home, if if you like, but at the same time, you don't want to be a corporate robot. You don't want your spokespeople to be corporate robots. So, how much prep is too much prep? Where do we draw the line?
[00:11:28.950] - Amanda
I almost want to say you can never prep enough, but you can. You know, if your team is so rehearsed, as you say, robotic, it's too much. In my experience, journalists want real conversations, they don't want PR scripted lines. I think the goal that you have to have in your back of the mind is, how can we confidently and authentically get our position across? Definitely not memorized speeches, that's for sure.
[00:11:56.550] - Imogen
Who is it who is taking the journalist round? Is it our people in comms? Is it the CEO? Is it a senior leader? Who is it who is actually accompanying this journalist around?
[00:12:08.470] - Amanda
That's a really good question. You should be there to advise and guide, but actually the journalist doesn't want to speak to the PR comms person at all. They want real people that are doing the job, making the key decisions, or, you know, giving a flavor of what it's like to work in the day-to-day. So, a senior leader, a key decision maker, If it's a factory, for instance, it would be your factory manager. You probably would speak to a couple of shop floor employees to get their perspective on the way round. I think you are an enabler, a facilitator, but actually you're not the person that the journalist wants to speak to, and quite rightly so.
[00:12:59.510] - Imogen
So, we've talked a little bit about prepping and how we get ready for a journalist to come and visit your office, your facility. Once they're there, are there any big nos that we need to be conscious of?
[00:13:16.190] - Amanda
Overpromising.
[00:13:17.080] - Imogen
When you say overpromising, are you talking about offering them exclusive access to CEOs or being the first to see a new technology?
[00:13:26.710] - Amanda
Yeah, it goes back to the parameters up front. If you are overselling something to get them through the door, and then you underdeliver, it's going to backfire spectacularly, as is lying or, you know, not being entirely truthful with what's going on.
[00:13:49.260] - Imogen
And that's really a golden rule when it comes to all media engagement, isn't it? It's don't lie, don't fudge it.
[00:13:55.850] - Amanda
Because the whole point is you're being open and transparent and inviting somebody in to see what's really going on. I think the other thing is a big no-no for me is being overly rehearsed and/or the visit over-managed and controlled. I was on a press trip once and all the staff had stopwatches. Now, this caused great amusement with all the press attending. So, if you sound over-scripted or you're over-managing things with a stopwatch, it looks as if you're hiding something.
[00:14:29.070] - Imogen
So with the stopwatches, like, we've got 30 seconds in this bit, click. Yeah, yeah. And then 20 seconds here, click.
[00:14:36.950] - Amanda
Yeah. Oh, we all have to be on the coach at a certain time, and this presentation will run for this length of time. Honestly, I think one of the journalists ended up writing about it, so that was not what was supposed to be in the story. So, uh, yeah, try not to be overmanaged, even though you've planned it thoroughly. I think the other thing that's really important is, as the PR person or the communications person, you shouldn't be part of the story. So, if in some way you're being asked to do something that makes you part of the story, trust your instincts. If it doesn't feel right, you probably shouldn't be doing it.
[00:15:20.120] - Imogen
What are the kind of basic things that we need to think about when our leaders are being interviewed or photographed?
[00:15:28.670] - Amanda
There are some very basic ones. Is that the image and way you want to portray your leader to an outside audience?
[00:15:37.440] - Imogen
So, no kind of eating hot dogs or—
[00:15:40.010] - Amanda
No eating hot dogs, no ties squiffy around the neck, no big or distracting jewelry. I mean, color is absolutely fine, but yeah, anything over OTT is probably going to be more memorable than you or what you've said, make sure the setting is natural lighting, authentic, not overly staged in any way, and you might want to think of some kind of subtle branding in the background that actually places that shot or video in context.
[00:16:20.830] - Imogen
I think looking at background is something that we really need to be conscious of. You see so many videos or clips on the news where you've got a CEO speaking with a tree coming out of his head. Things like that is not necessarily something your CEO might think of, but as a comms person, that is absolutely your job. How do you deal with the unexpected? We've talked about prepping the questions you don't want them to ask you so that you're ready for those, but how do you deal with unexpected things that happen? I don't know.
[00:16:57.440] - Amanda
I think, Annie, It will.
[00:16:58.740] - Imogen
Of course it will. The journalist wants to speak to someone on the shop floor. There's a fire alarm and everyone's gathered outside chatting. I don't know, all these things could happen. How do you deal with those unexpected difficulties?
[00:17:18.350] - Amanda
Scenario plan. Big fan of scenario planning and making sure that you've thought of most of the things that could happen, but equally making sure that people are aware of what's happening and you're managing expectation. So, for instance, if a CEO or senior leader walks by, don't panic. Introduce them naturally. That can sometimes work to your favor, if you like. If they want to speak to perhaps a lower-level employee that you weren't expecting them to do, have a plan, you know, try and find somebody who you feel will confidently be able to deal with those kind of questions. If not, be honest about who they can speak to and why.
[00:18:21.130] - Imogen
You don't have to close the door straight away. You could say, "I can't do that right now," because they're working or they're not here or they're in a meeting, "but let's set up another time and we can make that happen." Yeah, acknowledging, dealing, not a straight no, is perfectly reasonable.
[00:18:39.020] - Amanda
If it wasn't planned, it wasn't planned, say so. Remember, "I don't know," or "I'll find out for you," is a perfectly acceptable answer and situation to be in.
[00:18:51.530] - Imogen
It's important to remember that the journalist is not your enemy, or doesn't have to be your enemy. No. Journalist has a jobs to do, but you equally, as an organization, as a comms leader, you have a job to do in making sure that the story you want told has a chance to get out there. And so, having a journalist there is a great opportunity, not just to answer questions, but to use those questions as a bridge to communicate the messages that you want to talk about.
[00:19:26.190] - Amanda
Yeah, it's making sure you've got a good story, an honest story up front, not corporate spin. Think like a journalist, you know, they've got deadlines, they've got editors to convince, stories to file. If you can make their job easier by giving them a strong angle or an exclusive stat or a memorable quote, you're going to make a lasting impression and they're more likely come back. It's not about one article. It's, it's about building a relationship.
[00:19:56.560] - Imogen
Well, Amanda, thank you for giving us your insight and expertise on that topic. If you out there listening have any questions around this or anything else you're struggling with, do let us know and we will do our best to come up with some good answers and advice for you. But until next time, see you soon.
[00:20:18.390] - Amanda
Bye-bye!
Further reading:
)
