Words Matter: Think Before You Speak

All too often we hear a story in which one immediately thinks, "Why did they say that?" Your words matter, and there must be some thought of what you are going to say before you go in front of the microphone to speak. Politicians use teleprompters all the time. This handy device allows them to stay on target with their message. However, as Public Information Officers we do not have the luxury of

a teleprompter. Our media interactions are frequently in uncontrolled environments,  with questions and answers. Safely navigating the potential pitfalls of media interactions to avoid saying a potentially damaging phrase or statement, involves preparation, planning, and practice. 

Preparation

Properly preparing for your media interview is imperative. This means looking at all angles of how the incident you are going to present could be examined. Assessing the angles will allow you to identify the questions. Here are some examples of identifying all the factors that might potentially impact your success in your interaction with the media. 

As the Public Information Officer, you are the moderator. The Public Information Officer will not be the only person speaking.  If this is a major incident, you are holding a media briefing. You will have your subject matter experts who can speak on this incident. Your chief executive, specialists depending on the nature of the incident. For example: If it is an Active Shooter event this means you will have your Patrol Supervisor who was in charge at the time, Investigations Supervisors, other local, state, or federal law enforcement professionals. Lastly, do not forget the political leaders. They will most definitely be there to speak.  

Determine the order that they will speak, and be sure to inform them of the order. Prepare talking points for executive and leadership that you believe are relevant to this incident being addressed.  If there are specific details of the incident that should not be mentioned, it is best to make sure that everyone is in agreement that those details will not be disclosed. 

Lastly, prepare documents for distribution to the media. The information you will be releasing will have the proper spelling of the people who speak. Basic details of the incident that is appropriate to disclose and do not forget to include your contact information. 

Media Briefing 

Prior to starting the briefing be sure that you have someone in the crowd who will also video record the briefing. This is beneficial if your organization wants to run a live feed of the briefing and as well as to document what was specifically said by each person in the briefing. 

In addition to the person recording in the briefing have an additional person in the back of the briefing whom you can see. This person may indicate to you that a particular person has a good question to be asked or if the sense the comment by one of the speakers might potentially be heading in the wrong direction.

One pitfall that has occurred recently involving the media during a briefing that Public Information Officers need to be prepared to address is the question from the media "How do you feel about this (issue)?"  As the Public Information Officer, you don't have an opinion on anything. You provide the details and information. your feelings are not relevant or appropriate. The only people who are allowed to have their opinions, include your Chief Executive or Political Leader. Avoid these types of questions by using a bridging statement to move on. Here is a good list of bridging statements you can use.

Wrapping it up

The questions that can get a Public Information Officer into trouble are those that they didn't anticipate. This leads to the importance of preparing prior to the briefing. Think of questions you may be asked and formulate answers to those questions. The more questions you can develop, the better prepared you will be for the briefing. The questions will help you stay on target. Lastly to prevent the media briefing is going on and on, far too long-stay focused and be prepared to step in and end a briefing. An extensive media briefing should not extend beyond 30 minutes, audience interest wanes. But it is best to plan for the briefing to end between 15-20 minutes. 

The Public Information Officer's greatest ally is advanced preparation, which includes communications plans, crisis templates, and preparing for interviews. Take a breath, give yourself a pause and think before you speak and you should come out just fine.