Some people believe PR is all about landing interview opportunities. Even if it was, the hard part begins after the opportunity is secured. An interview is a coordinated exchange of information. The interviewer knows what they want to get out of it, and so does the interviewee. They’re not always the same things. Part of my job involves preparing my clients for media interviews I’ve secured for them, and helping them shape the final piece into the thing they want.
This gets increasingly difficult depending on format. From easiest to most challenging, they are:
- Email interviews
- Telephone interviews
- In-person taped audio interviews
- In-person taped video interviews
- Live audio interviews
- Live video interviews
Boldfacers, a website “dedicated to uncovering up-and-comers” asked me to visit their studio for an on-camera, taped interview about my business and my band, which would be followed by an email interview. It was an opportunity to get the word out about two things that are important to me, and a challenge to make sure both were represented equally and accurately.
PR people spend all of our time behind the scenes, preparing our clients and pushing them into the spotlight. This experience reminded me that despite all the training and talking points, interviewing is hard. It always goes faster than you think, and in that time, you need to represent yourself well and not say anything that could make you wince later.
It gave me a new level of respect for my clients who are talented at it, and a lot more empathy for them when they aren’t perfect.
