Parliament has disbanded, the politicians are heading back to their constituencies to fight for their ministerial seats and round one of the media boxing match would appear to have gone to Jeremy Paxman.  For anyone that witnessed his grilling of David Cameron and Ed Miliband it made compulsive viewing, but also provided those of us in PR with a poignant reminder – you can never be too well briefed, prepared or practised when it comes to media interviews.

So it’s most probably timely to review some simple Media Training Top Tips that make being the company or country spokesperson a little easier:

Preparation

·         Get to know about your interviewer

·         If possible get some idea of questions that will be asked in advance

·         Understand the programme/paper/digital platform audience

·         Make sure you are up-to-date with current affairs

Practice

·         Be clear about the subjects you want to cover

·         Make sure you have your key messages sorted out and in sound bite size

·         Concentrate on three points you want to get across

·         If the interview has be flagged as being confrontational get colleagues to role play in advance

Presentation

·         Wear something comfortable and smart (no fussy patterns)

·         Try to appear confident even if you are not

·         Keep your breathing and speech calm and steady

·         Smile and be yourself

Professionalism

·         Remember the camera or microphone may still be on when you have finished your interview

·         Don’t  ‘fill in’ any gaps in the interview with unplanned comments

·         Assume everything is on the record

·         Invest in good media training