What's the story you want the media to tell

LISA-ANN JOSEPH

There is a love/hate relationship between communicators and media. From the media’s side, practitioners make the effort to keep the relationship as distanced as possible, a professional stance which allows them to keep their independence from any corporate influence in editorials or reporting.

From the communicators’ side, practitioners feel the messaging is often misconstrued by the media house(s). Or the corporate executive takes the position that the media house has an agenda against his corporation, the CEO, or chairman of the board. You believe the reason why your communication is not achieving the objective is with that reporter.

Often times, that is not the case. Acknowledging that the problem is a deficiency in the communication process adopted by the corporation is far more difficult to accept. It’s about proper encoding – to ensure the message is communicated clearly and precisely with the media. It’s not about what you think the media know. Such an assumption leads to an unsuccessful campaign.

However, it is possible to turn around the painful experience with the media: it’s called communications savvy. Having your media releases, your voices and images, and direct messages published, aired or posted in mainstream media, require know-how, know-who and the nous to achieve the strategic placement required. Put another way: the communicator has to have “the smarts” to achieve the message placement.

To achieve this, however, requires that corporate executives and their communicators have necessary communications skills to connect with vital contacts in media houses, so that their messages can be funnelled to an accepting audience. Often the case is that large, medium and small corporations have information on a range of high-quality products and services. In such situations the corporation often holds the view that with resources invested, and the high value placed on these products and services, the information on them should have automatic, carte blanche access to preferred places in the media.

Moreover, some corporate executives believe regardless how scattered the information is, they have communicated effectively. But when things do not happen as expected, the reporter or media house is blamed. One of the first realisations the corporate boss must understand is that communications only seem simple. It’s a challenge for regular routines, far less for complexed activities.

Communication is a process that involves action and reaction. Successful and persuasive communication requires the right words and attitudes of the communicator. The icing on the cake is to have credibility. When this is achieved and feedback is successful, you can have a significant measure of comfort that your message was well-received, understood, and taken into consideration. The imperative, therefore, is for corporate executives and their corporate staff to become initiated in the science of public communications.

The “good news” is that training in media communication is available. Among the areas of skills-building are programmes for corporate executives and communicators to make contact with reporters and respective editors. Communications training programmes provide information on how and for what purposes should media be utilised.

The fact is corporate executives have to be strategic. “What’s the story?” and “Why should it be of interest to me and the consumers of my messages?” are the questions asked by the reporter. You, the corporate body, better have satisfying answers. “My firm is a message supplier and taxpayer,” is simply not sufficient to convince a cynical reporter on the hunt for a story. Selecting the best spokesperson/s for your organisation to carry the message is also important. Such a decision is not one done by guess or that “she could talk plenty and more than that she nice looking.”

There are scientific, well-tried procedures to be adopted. Reputation Management Caribbean has been involved in discerning and developing those procedures for over 13 years. Workshops are broken into theories of public communications and the practice of those theories. Experienced and professionally trained and work-experienced professionals are involved in the training of executives and their corporate communications department.

Training allows individuals to coherently and effectively interact with reporters, journalists, and other members of the media during interviews and press conferences. The training experience minimises the possibility of executives being quoted out of context in the media because of poor training in public speaking, lack of clarity, and miscommunication. Some of these techniques, tips, and tricks of the trade include teaching potential spokespeople how to anticipate questions, how to prepare for an interview, how to organise thought and how to convey messages clearly. This training also teaches you how to manage the occasional awkward, uncomfortable question.

Once you are properly trained, you can handle any media interview. The media will then see you as a credible source of information. This is why media training is important because becoming a concise, effective spokesperson makes the business or organisation you’re speaking for look good. You can also use this expertise to cater to specific audiences, or reach a wider audience.

Lisa-Ann Joseph is the managing director of Reputation Management Caribbean.