Be On Message

Bridging – The art of not answering the question

When it comes to Media Relations everyone wants to know how to Bridge. That’s the skilful art of avoiding the question and delivering your message.

Unless you practice bridging constantly you will fail miserably if you try to do this when the camera is glaring at you and a microphone is shoved in your face.

So let’s start with bridging statements that can work.

My favourite is, “I see the point you are trying to make, however, let’s look at the facts” and then give the answer you came to give when you agreed to the interview.

A common bridging statement is “that’s an interesting question, but we need to remember” followed by the answer you want to give.

The challenge for you is developing a series of statements that when they come out of your mouth make sense and take the reporter and viewers to the place you want them to go.

You know you’ve succeeded when the follow up question relates to your answer, rather than the original question.

Is the Camera On?

One of the most commonly asked questions I get when I talk to groups or conduct Media Training sessions is – “how do I know if the camera is on?”

The answer is you never know.

You may wonder, “how is this possible?” because frequently I see cameras with a red light on. It’s a popular belief, the red light is on, the camera is on, the red light is off the camera isn’t recording.

Not only is it outdated thinking, it’s just wrong.

The red light on the camera is not there for your benefit. The red light was designed for the production team. It’s a light that can easily be turned off and the camera is still recording.

On most larger format or shoulder mounted cameras there is a red light on the front and one on the back. Both lights have switches that can turn them off.

It’s a moot point however because more and more those are not the cameras news organizations use. The cameras are smaller and don’t have the real estate to accommodate a red light.

With the introduction of DSLR cameras like the Cannon 5D, there is no light on the front and only a small red dot on the viewer screen on the back.

Then there are mobile phone cameras. No red light there either.

What does this mean to you?

It means you need to expect the camera is always on all the time. This isn’t just a Media Training issue, it’s an everyday issue.

If you are in a position where what you do and say matters to you, your organization and your public image then act as if you are always on camera.

Key Message Development

The challenge is the same for all of us. How do we make our story stand out? How do we keep it simple? How do we make it memorable? I was recently conducting a media training session for a Chamber of Commerce. One of the attendees worked for the local library. She was in the session because the library was about to start a public awareness and fundraising campaign and she wanted to be ready for the media. I asked, “who needs a library any more? After all we have the Internet!” I was blunt about it the way I did when I was a reporter. She stumbled and fumbled and tried to come up with an answer that made me and the rest of the people in the room care. All of her reasons were the same ones we’d heard for years – no one cared. So – as a group we went to work on the topic. We all agreed the Internet was chipping away at public perception about why libraries were needed. Then over the course of the next few minutes little gems started to trickle out, one person volunteered they like to go to the library to tune out the rest of the world. Another said, that while it was true they could find much of the information on-line they had no one to turn to for help when they got stuck. Another person observed that while we are connected on-line we’re not connecting. In less than 15 minutes we took a heap of information and boiled it down the two key messages. 1. in an electronic world we need the library more than ever – the library is a place where you connect – with information, with people and the world at large 2. the library is a place of sanctuary – a place to turn off all of the electronics and think. Are these knock your socks off key messages? No, but they work, they’re simple and they’re easy to remember. As well, if you break these statements down you actually have more than two. As a television reporter I would be happy to grab the first 11 words of message one as an opener to my story. Open with Librarian on camera “in an electronic world we need the library more than ever” Cut to images of people on their phones talking, texting, at a café with laptops but not talking to the person next to them. Voice over Oh we’re connected for sure, but we’re not connecting. Go to any mall and you’ll see teens on a bench texting one another but not talking to each other. Cut to shots at the Library Voice over continues At the Library, texting is a no no, talking on the phone is frowned on, but contrary to what you’re grandmother may have told you, talking is allowed – in fact it’s encouraged. (now comes part two of message one) Clip the library is a place where you connect – with information, with people and the world at large From the perspective of a friendly reporter this is an easy story to do and it’s an easy one to buy into. That’s because all reporters want to support the concept of the library and books and a place of high thought. Libraries are a metaphor for SMART and we all want to be smart.

The Camera Angles Speaks Volumes

Watch the Camera Angle – It speaks volumes.

 

In the picture attached to this link, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6260DA20100309?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

it’s important to note the camera angle.

 

As you can see the shot is from an extreme angle looking up on the subject. In this case it’s a spokesperson with Toyota.

 

That angle is the used time and time again to depict someone that has been earmarked as untrustworthy.

 

Go back and find similar pictures of Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Stalin and others that have a notorious reputation. The camera angle and the decision to use it is a harsh editorial statement about the subject of the picture.

The Edit Button is in Your Mouth

How come some people survive media interviews and others fail miserably?

The reason people like Mel and John seem to fail is they don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. They say outrageous things to reporters and then act surprised when what they said shows up in the story. And for some reason they’ve forgotten a reporters job is to ask questions, even the ones you don’t want asked. That’s their job.

Your job is to expect it, plan for it, prepare answers and understand it is part of the job description attached to the position of “Celebrity” You need the media to promote your works, create a buzz about you and the project or album you are selling.

So let’s say your Mel Gibson, you’re out there promoting you new movie and the interviewer asks you a couple of questions about your personal struggles. Things like drinking or anti-Semitism come up, so do you get angry because the question was asked?

Do you take it out on the interviewer?

To Gibson’s credit he tried to answer the question and bridge to another topic by suggesting the interviewer move on. Now that’s not bridging, it’s just a blatant attempt to change the topic. Bridging is changing the topic in such a way that anyone watching along with the interviewer follows you to the point you want to make.

In the cast of Gibson, he could have said, I see the point you’re trying to make, but let’s look at the facts of my life over the past 18 months. During that time I have done a number of things (he can easily list off four or five things) to address some of my previous challenges as well I have been involved in the production of a great move Edge of Darkness. He can easily keep coming back to his objective which is to promote his movie.

Stay on topic, stay on message. Mel sort of did that and then he forgot the camera and mic are always on even when you’re not supposed to be on air. He called the interviewer an asshole.

Rule number one, the camera and the mic are always on. The countless examples of people demonstrating they are not what they appear to be because they expected the camera or audio operator to turn off the equipment is long.

Singer John Mayer on the other hand needs to remember he’s in control of what comes out of his mouth. He can not expect the reporter to do that for him. He opened his mouth and told the world his former girlfriend Jessica Simpson is "sexual napalm" and he confessed an aversion to sleeping with black women.

His response when there was outrage to his comments was to blame the media. That’s it! he stated, I’m not talking to the media anymore. Wow, what a response. John you have no one to blame but yourself. It’s your ego that got in the way, not the reporter. The lesson we can all take from Mel and John is to remember we do have control over what goes to air or to print, it begins and ends in our mouth.

Get with the Program

In a letter from Harvey Weinstein of Miramax Films to Errol Morris who directed The Thin Blue Line, Harvey points out just how disinterested and boring he thought Morris was during an interview.

 

Harvey wrote to Errol saying based on that interview, “you couldn’t have dragged me to see THE THIN BLUE LINE if my life depended on it.” The reason according to Harvey, “you were boring.”

 

He goes onto say, “It’s time you start being a performer and understand the media.

 

Let’s rehearse:

 

Q: What is this movie about?

 

A: It a mystery that traces an injustice. It’s scarier than NIGHMARE ON ELM STREET. It’s like a trip to the Twilight Zone. People have compared it to IN COLD BLOOD with humor.

 

Speak in short one sentence answers and don’t go on with all the legalese. Talk about the movie and the effect it will have on the audience from an emotional point of view.

 

If you continue to be boring, I will hire an actor in New York to pretend that he’s Errol Morris. If you have any casting suggestions, I’d appreciate that.

 

Keep it short and keep selling it because that’s what’s going to work for you, your career and the film.

 

Congratulations on all your good reviews. Let’s make sure the move is as successful.”

Earned Media – Time well Spent

According to The Economist “PR has done well in part because it is often cheaper than mass advertising campaigns. Its impact, in the form of favourable coverage in the media or online, can also be more easily measured.

PR has also benefited from the changing media landscape. The withering of many traditional media outlets has left fewer journalists from fewer firms covering business. That makes PR doubly important, both for attracting journalists’ attention, and for helping firms bypass old routes altogether and disseminate news by posting press releases on their websites, for example.”

But it’s important to note that the effectiveness of media coverage is directly related to the quality of the story you tell, the clips you develop, practice and deliver along with your understanding of how the media works.

 

Get it right and you can earn millions of dollars of favourable coverage, bet it wrong and you could earn many more millions of dollars of bad coverage.