When Russo Partners’ clients “meet the press,” we counsel them to evaluate their interview performances by:
1. Determining whether or not they get their “must air” points, or key messages, into the articles or broadcast segments
We should be able to highlight the points that we developed in our interview prep sessions.
2. Asking whether or not they anticipated and effectively handled the tough questions
A good interview is a natural discussion. We never script spokespersons. Our interview prep sessions involve our identification of the difficult questions the clients could receive as well as our development of points to satisfy the questions.
3. Measuring the clients’ credibility
We counsel clients to satsify all relevant questions before steering to the “must air” points. This is in contrast to to the interview style of many politicians who typically steer to their own points without answering questions. Our clients can’t afford to damage their credibility as newsmakers for their companies.
A recent example of this approach to evaluating media interview performance involved John Babich, the president, CEO and CSO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals. In conjunction with the company’s announcement of Phase II study data for lead compound Zemiva, we prepped John for a telephone interview with Peter Benesh, who covers biotechnology for Investor’s Business Daily. We worked with John to develop three points about the challenges doctors face when evaluating patients who arrive in the ER with chest pain, the solution that Zemiva offers along with the clinical validation, and information about the company’s other compounds.
The article that resulted from this interview was a homerun. Two of John’s “must air” points were featured prominently in his own words. Moreover, John handled the difficult questions with ease in the interview. Peter thanked John for his work and agreed to call on him for future articles. This signalled Peter’s recognition of John as a credible newsmaker.
