Phone: 450.370.8357

Fax: 450.264.8284

E-mail: april@albapr.ca

Alba Public Relations

PO Box 90047

Huntingdon, Québec

J0S 1H0

HOW TO BE AN AWESOME SPOKESPERSON

Follow these simple tricks and

tips and you’ll look like the com-

pany rock star!

• Whatchya talkin’ about

Willis? If you don’t know

what it is you want to com-

municate then what the

heck are you doing talking

to people?! Develop three

key messages (no more –

it’s ‘scientifically proven’

that people have a hard

time remembering more

than that) you want to

communicate to your audi-

ence.

• Lather, rinse, repeat. Re-

peat your messages as

many times as you can in

your interview/speech/

what have you - without

sounding too crazy. Try to

work one of them into

every response. This

doesn’t mean using the

same sentence over and

over;

rather re-word the main

idea/theme of that mes-

sage to fit the answer.

• Building bridges - If it

doesn’t seem like there’s

an opportunity to work in

any of your key messages

directly from the question

you’ve been asked, then

transition to it: start by

answering the question

and then work in some-

thing like “The most im-

portant thing to remem-

ber, however is

[message].” or “…and that

relates to ________”, etc.

• This isn’t Facebook—

You’re not making friends

– Some journalists will ac-

tually be friendly and help-

ful (after all it’s a symbiotic

relationship: you help a

journalist get a good story

this time, and you’ll likely

be sought out as an

‘expert’ for the next. You

get exposure as an expert/

leader in your field and

your company/

organization gets earned

[read: free!] media), but

others will have a hidden

agenda: as soon as you let

your guard down, they’ll

fire hard questions at

you like a game of paint-

ball (ouch!). You’ll be-

come flustered and go

off message – or worse,

say something you’ll re-

gret. Whether genuinely

friendly or not, keep the

relationship professional

and stay on message.

• Don’t speak jargonese –

Unless you are present-

ing to a group of widget

buyers and sellers and

you sell widgets, use

everyday, plain old Eng-

lish words. Nothing

makes people tune out

faster than someone

droning on in a language

© 2011—Alba Public Relations

HOW TO BE AN AWESOME SPOKESPERSON

they can’t understand and this includes industry-speak. General audiences read and listen at a grade

7 / age 12 level so don’t let the language create a barrier between you, them and your message.

• Fireworks first, fizzle after – Catch your audience’s attention by answering questions with the most

important and/or interesting information first, then add in more detail/context/filter down. This will

also avoid the deadly ‘cut-off’ that reporters often do: the audience may never hear your best material

if you bury it at the end of your diatribe when a reporter cuts you off mid-way with another question.

Be as quotable – as quickly – as you can.

• You’re a person, not a cardboard cut-out – Be personable and engaging. A lot of people will tend to

act all stiff and overly serious mistakenly thinking this helps them seem more ‘expert’, ‘official’,

‘professional’. Passion and true emotions – within reason, of course - will win the day as will a smile.

Have you ever noticed that you can tell when someone on the phone is smiling? Practice that for radio

interviews.

• Appearances ARE everything – For TV or live interviews dress appropriately, avoiding dizzying patterns

and colours that the TV does NOT love. Relax. Don’t fold your arms – it makes you look defensive.

Don’t stand at attention like you’re being inspected by the General. Don’t fidget like you have to go to

the bathroom. Also, if you feel defensive your body language will convey defensiveness.

• What’s that sonny? – For radio interviews, enunciate and speak clearly into the microphone. For TV,

raise your voice’s volume level a few notches; TV tends to have a ‘muting’ effect so speak louder than

you would normally.

• The big no-no – Never, ever say ‘no comment’. You will succeed only in looking incredibly guilty.

Rather, you should say something like, “We don’t have that information/those numbers/etc. right

now, but I’ll be happy to get those to you as soon as they’re available’ – and then DO.

• A negative and a negative do not make a positive – Maybe in math they do, but repeating a nega-

tively formed question from a journalist will only reinforce that negative. Example: “Isn’t this going to

ruin the environment?” don’t say “No it won’t ruin the environment”. Instead say something like, “We

have in fact received the approval of the [Ministry of Environment] for this project…”

• Verbal stumbles – Practice avoiding detours like ‘um’ ‘ah’ ‘you know’, etc. It’s often just a nervous re-

action, but be aware of it.

Go forth and be awesome.

© 2011—Alba Public Relations