Media & Interview Tips

Preparing for a media interview is important and can help you feel more confident and at ease. See below for media interview tips provided by MSU University Communications. (Also available as a download: Media Training Tipsheet PDF.)

Interview prep

• Create 2-3 talking points, one bottom line.
• Identify supporting examples, analogies, data, and personal experience.
• Simplify your answers.
• Anticipate hard questions and prepare answers for them.

Interview dos

• Consider opening with a 90-second overview of your expertise and thoughts.
• Ask the reporter to clarify a confusing question.
• Be friendly, open, and respectful.
• Use a metaphor to paint a picture.
• Be honest if you don’t have an answer; you can always follow up with an email.
• Say how you want to be identified.
• Ask to repeat an answer asked earlier in the interview.

Interview don’ts

• Use acronyms and jargon.
• Say things “off the record.”
• Ask to read the story before it’s published.
• Stray too far from your expertise.
• Say “no comment.” (Try: “That’s not a question I can answer.”)
• Repeat a negative framing in your answer.

When questions get tough

• Maintain control and composure.
• Don’t be defensive.
• You do not need to answer hypotheticals – “I’m can’t speculate.”
• Be honest if you don’t know the answer.
• You can reframe questions.
• Always feel free to contact communications for help vetting the interview request! (Can contact CAL Marketing Office at media@cal.msu.eduand MSU University Communications at media@msu.edu).

Traps to avoid

• In response to leading questions: “Your assumption isn’t true,” then, state a key point.
• The uncomfortable silence. Make your point, then stop talking. “Did you have any other questions?”
• The non-question. “Did you have a specific question?”
  

When you can’t quite answer

• “I can’t predict the future, but I can tell you what happened in the past.”
• “I’m not in a position to make specific recommendations, but I can tell you some policy options…”
• “I can’t answer that definitively at this point, but I can tell you have to minimize risk…”

 Bridging to your messages

• “I think what you’re really asking is…”
• “That speaks to a bigger point…”
• “Let me put that in perspective…”
• “The real issue here is…”
• “I don’t know about that, but what I do know is…”
• “What’s important to remember is…”
• “Just the opposite is true…”
• “That’s false…”

At the end of the interview

• “The most important thing to remember is…”
• “The real issue is…”
• “We’ve talked about a lot today, but it boils down to three things…”
• “Let me make one thing perfectly clear…”

Media & PR contacts at MSU

• College of Natural Science Marketing Office: kilcoyne@msu.edu
  • Ryan Kilcoyne
• MSU University Communications: media@msu.edu
  • Emilie Lorditch, Sydney Hawkins