"I NEVER SAID THAT !!" - How To Avoid Being Misquoted

(Article reading time:  2 minutes)

by Jim Cameron / Cameron Communications

Hardly a week goes by that a media training client doesn’t tell me they’ve been previously misquoted in an interview.  But first, let’s understand what a “quote” really is.

Some reporters think of a quote as a verbatim transcription of your words. To others it’s just an accurate paraphrase.  But some reporters will clean up grammar or take things out of context.  The first two “definitions” are, in my view, fair.  The last two are not.

Here are some tips on avoiding misquotes:

      DECIDE ON YOUR QUOTES IN ADVANCE:   Craft your messages in sound bites, practice them out loud but deliver them conversationally.

      SLOW DOWN WHEN YOU WANT TO BE QUOTED:  Most reporters take notes on the fly, either with pen and paper or by keyboard if you’re on the phone.  You can talk faster than they can write, so slow down when you want them to accurately write down your words.

      STAY “ON THE RECORD”:   Not all reporters agree on what “off the record” means, so don’t go there.  Stay on message and that’s all a reporter will have to choose from when picking a quote.

      ASK FOR A READ-BACK:   At the end of an interview, ask the reporter to read back to you any verbatim quotes they may have taken.  If they don’t sound right, this is your last chance to correct them before publication.

      TAPE YOUR INTERVIEWS:   Using a pocket-recorder to record your end of a phone call will give you a record of what you really said.  If your interview is face to face, show the reporter you’re taping it (blame your lawyers) but don’t imply you don’t trust the reporter.  When reporters know you have a recording of what you said, they’ll be ultra-careful in quoting you.

       IF YOU’RE STILL MISQUOTED, COMPLAIN:   Point out to the reporter that you think you were misquoted.  If they disagree, make your case to their editor.  Keep a civil tone, but ask if the reporter can’t accurately a simple quote, doesn’t that raise reader questions about the accuracy of everything else.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll greatly reduce your chances of being misquoted!

"PRACTICE MAKES... BETTER"

(Article reading time:  2 minutes) 

by Amy Fond / Cameron Communications

My two-year-old takes ballet. She dresses up in a tutu once a week and basically stares at herself in the mirror for the whole class. But the other night I caught her standing in front of her mirror doing her “moves”. When I asked her what she was doing she said, "Practicing." It wasn't really hard for her to make room in her busy day to practice pirouettes - but it got me thinking how, as adults, it's hard to find the time to practice things...anything. When we were younger we practiced all the time. We caught fly balls for hours and parallel parked in an empty parking lot again and again. But somehow as adults, we never have the time to practice. It's one of the most important lessons I include in every training I do. If you don't practice, you won't get better. Simple to say and yet, in reality, hard to do. 

So I've been pleasantly surprised to hear stories from people I've trained about how they practice their communication skills in very simple ways. Little things they do throughout their day, week or month that help them become better communicators and presenters.

 IMPROVING EYE CONTACT   One analyst at a major bank shared that during phone conversations he stares at a small sculpture he has on a bookshelf, at eye level, across the room from him. He uses the sculpture to help him practice for when he does remote interviews and he's required to stare into the camera lens the whole time.  During a remote interview - it's just you and the camera. You hear the reporter in your ear through an ear piece. No human contact at all. If you look away from the camera during the interview you may come across as nervous or unsure. So every time this analyst takes a call, he practices his eye contact and practices talking to the camera while listening to the reporter in his ear.

BETTER BRIDGING   An executive at a national nonprofit told me she wanted to get better at “bridging” - a technique we went over to help work her way out of tough questions by transitioning or “bridging” from one topic to the next. So the executive decided to practice her skills with her teenage daughter. She picked a few parental messages - "clean your room" and "wear your seatbelt" - and she'd try to work one at a time into the conversation as often as possible. Her daughter would bring up a topic - and her mom would try to bridge to "clean your room." The executive said she knew she had gotten better when she was able to bridge from clothes to curfews.  

GESTURING   Another executive at a large healthcare company told me she uses her weekly briefings with her staff to practice her gesturing. She used to do the briefings by phone so everyone could stay at their desks, but she decided to move the meetings to her office. She now has a small audience every Monday to practice her presentation skills. Sometimes she sits and sometimes she stands, but she says she's always thinking about her body language and how she's using her gestures to highlight her points.

FINDING YOUR VOICE  A vice president at a PR agency told me that he practices his delivery by leaving messages for himself on his home voice mail. It was already a habit he had. If he had to remember something, he'd call home and remind himself. So he decided to use his messages as ways to practice his tone and inflection. Instead of leaving quick notes for himself he spoke longer and was more conscious of his voice, tone and speed of delivery. 

They say practice makes perfect. But often, practice just makes better. Andre Agassi once said that he got to the top of his field in tennis by hitting over a thousand balls a day. But who has the time?  Instead, work in little ways each week to amp up your skills - you'll be surprised how much small steps can make you a better communicator.

NEGOTIATING THE SCOPE OF AN INTERVIEW

by Amy Fond / Cameron Communications Inc

The Clip below may be great TV – but it’s also a great lesson on just how important media training can be – especially if there are questions you don’t want to answer. 
 

Christine O'Donnell

Click here to watch

It’s a lesson former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell learned the hard way when her interview with Piers Morgan on CNN’s ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ went from benign to belligerent, and ended with the Tea Party leader walking off the set mid-interview.

O’Donnell, a guest on the show to promote her new non-fiction book “Trouble Maker”, apparently didn’t want to talk about her views on abstinence and gay marriage.  But seems that’s the only thing Morgan wanted to ask.

When pressed the first time on abstinence, she deflects with a laugh, the second time with more bite, sniping, "Let’s not even go there.” Then when asked her views on gay marriage O'Donnell repeats, “I’m here to talk about my book.” Morgan, who’s blatantly amused, then cites these are topics in her book and are therefore fair game. O’Donnell tries to deflect prompting Morgan to ask the cringing question, “Why are you being so weird?” 

Suffice it to say she was backed into a tough corner with a tenacious reporter breathing down her neck.  Her problems, though,began before the interview even started. When you agree to do an interview with a journalist – you agree on a basic topic to be the focus. 

O’Donnell agreed to talk about and promote her book – so she should have been prepared for tough questions concerning what she writes about. Morgan’s correct – if it’s in the book, it’s a topic on the table. 

 

Later O'Donnell called Morgan’s questions “creepy” and said she never envisioned things ending the way it did. But she should have. If O'Donnell wanted to stick solely to her topics, than she should have done an infomercial, not an interview. 

But there's another lesson as well: – not all interviews are worth doing! If you feel the host is a wrong fit, or that you or your company may be painted poorly, then don’t do the interview. Would this have played out the same way if O’Donnell had appeared on Fox News Channel? Maybe not.

After Piers Morgan invited Christine O’Donnell to come back the next night,

the politician declined in a tweet calling him “a cheeky bugger.” Once her episode aired, CNN had a better name for Morgan - “Ratings King.” 

"Making up the news instead of reporting it"

I don’t usually rely on Entertainment TV’s “The Soup” for media commentary. Usually, watching this show’s compilation of clips from what passes for “reality TV” just leaves me shaking my head in disgust. But this week they extended their domain into some legitimate media criticism, taking on “Newsweek”.

It seems that the latest issue featured a story about what Lady Diana might be doing these days, had she not died in a tragic car crash nine years ago. The story includes Photoshopped pictures of what Diana might look like, turning fifty. They conjecture that she’d still be cutting edge, picturing her holding an iPhone and even including a hypothetical Facebook page. There you can read her posts, including one where she says she is now friends with Camilla Parker Bowles, her ex’s new wife. Charles even chimes in with a thumbs-up “Prince Charles likes this” posting.

Really? It has come to this? Newsweek and its publisher Tina Brown have now taken to making up the news instead of reporting it? We all know that the magazine business is in trouble, but when our “news” weeklies take to writing fiction, we know the end must be near.

Ms. Brown’s remake of this once creditable mag took four months, and her first issue in March drew pans. Even before her arrival, Newsweek was hurting badly with circulation down from four million in 2003 to 1.5 million in 2010.

But is this the solution to sagging sales? Offering up tawdry People-style fiction instead of journalism? God, I hope not!

"When Journalists Hit The Speaking Circuit" or "Turn Off That TV Camera!"

Why would an NPR correspondent delivering a speech refuse to allow media coverage?

That was the question I asked myself, and that correspondent, when she appeared in my town at the annual Darien / Norwalk (CT) YWCA "Women of Distinction" luncheon. As volunteer program director of my town's government cable-access TV channel, I was assigned to cover the awards ceremony at which Dina Temple-Raston was the invited (and well-paid) keynote speaker.

For weeks her appearance had been promoted, the notices touting her work as NPR correspondent covering national security and anti-terrorism. At $85 apiece, the chicken lunch at a swish country club was a big draw. One hundred and seventy-five tickets were sold.

The organizers from the YWCA asked our station, Darien TV79, to cover the event knowing that our audience would be several times larger even than the crowd in attendance. The award recipients, incredibly talented local women, deserved the community's kudos and airtime.

A week before the event I made the mistake of suggesting to organizers that they clear our videotaping with Ms. Temple-Raston, expecting that a fellow journalist would certainly welcome coverage. Boy, was I wrong.

A few days before the luncheon, the Y told me she would not allow us to videotape her speech. Her agent said it was an NPR rule. But when I checked with friends who worked at NPR, they said they knew of no such edict.

As a former radio anchor (at NBC News, where I received a Peabody Award) I still see myself as a journalist. Our local TV station prides itself on its C-Span style "gavel to gavel" coverage of town events. We never edit our coverage and we don't allow those we're covering to dictate when we turn on and off our cameras. No real journalist would.

What should we do? Cover the awards luncheon? Boycott the entire event? I sought counsel from working journalist friends. One suggested I enlist the help of SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) or the ACLU. A local TV news director said, because it was a private event, the Freedom of Information Act wasn't applicable. The local NPR news director lamented my position but said there was little I could do.

Print reporters would be allowed to cover the speech. And photographers. But no TV and no audio recording. Why the double standard? I promised the Y only one thing: whatever happens, I intend to let folks know about the hypocrisy of their guest.

A day before the event, at my request, the Y sponsors circled back to me with more information. Apparently her agent was wrong. It was not an NPR's rule about no taping, it was Ms. Temple-Raston's rule. Clearly, the Juan Williams case (of NPR Staffers speaking off-air) has had a chilling effect on those NPR staffers' outside, money-making speaking gigs.

The day of the event I decided to give full coverage a final try. Arriving at the Woodway Country Club, I told the YWCA organizers that the community deserved to see the award winners and I promised to record only that... if I could speak to Ms. Temple-Raston and make a final appeal. Seconds later, she appeared and we shared a rather contentious two minute conversation.

"You know you cannot tape my speech"' she said. "So I've heard," I said, "But why? Is it really an NPR rule?". "No," she said, "It's just my personal preference. I am on vacation today."

Then I tried appealing to her as a fellow fifth-estater. "As a journalist are you comfortable in stopping my coverage of your speech?”

"Absolutely," she said without hesitation. "You're lucky I'm allowing you to tape the awards presentations!"

"That's not your call," I told her. "I'm here at the invitation of the YWCA."

"Well, that camera better be off. That's an ethical issue," she said, and then added icing to the cake... "and this conversation is off the record."

"No, this conversation is ON the record, Dina, and it is part of my coverage," I said.

At this point two other videographers arrived, one from The Patch and the other from News12, our local cable news operation. Dina visibly flinched, turning to both and reminding them they too could not tape her speech. "No problem," said one of them.

Her final comment came as a somewhat rhetorical question... "why are you being so hard-assed (about this)?"

Why? Because you, Ms Temple-Raston, can't have it both ways. You cannot promote your private, paid speaking business on the basis of your NPR work and then pretend that your comments are somehow private. Nobody came to pay $85 to hear you as an individual. They came to bask in the glory of your media aura.

If you brand yourself as part of NPR, your remarks should be open to public coverage. I’m guessing that you would tolerate no less in your own journalistic endeavors, would you?

Indeed, with all cameras turned off, Ms. Temple-Raston’s speech was no more than a series of audio clips from NPR and a few stories of her time in war zones. (I was allowed to take notes). As the women dined on their chicken she recounted an alleged Muslim honor killing she’d once covered, giving a detailed description of the wife being stabbed so many times OJ-style she was decapitated. Bon appetite.

Finishing her remarks, she sat down and the camera was turned back on as the awards were presented. It was a wonderful community celebration and our town TV station covered it as such.

The guest speaker hardly committed any “news” aside from being a turncoat to her journalistic ethic of an open and free press. I just hope that next year’s ceremony isn’t similarly distracted.

The Top Five IR Pitching Errors to Analysts

Here's some helpful advice in dealing with analysts from an anonymous colleague:


The Top Five IR Pitching Errors to Analysts


1) Not establishing credibility.

You have to establish that you know the subject matter as well as the CEO or the CFO. The best IR guys make it seem as though they're subject experts. If they don't, the analysts just want to figure out how to get around them.

2) Obfuscation of the issues.

Analysts are a smart lot. The minute you try and obfuscate the truth, you've lost your audience and their trust. They'll question whether everything you've said is untrue. Analysts know your company well, so don't lie!

3) Not delivering the goods.

If you said the company is going to deliver something by a certain date or time, you had better deliver. Don't promise things you can't achieve. You'll be penalized more for overpromising and under delivering than you will for under-promising and over delivering.

4) Not explaining why it matters.

One big mistake IR people make is not explaining why certain strategic things that companies are working on matter. IR staff should be able to articulate key strategic themes, and what the financial impact will be on the profitability of the firm.

5) Being unclear about how you'll outperform.

There's a lot of competition for analyst attention. IR staff has to be obsessive about communicating why your company should be followed, and recommended, by the analyst community over the next firm.

Travel Writers Aren't Journalists!!

I was finishing a media training with a travel industry client recently and our conversation turned to Travel Writers.

Now, I’m not one to generalize, but Travel Writers are about the lowest form of life in the journalism food chain. They seldom have ethics and are almost uniformly loathed by the PR and Travel Industries.

Why the low esteem, you ask? Because all too many travel writers are whores! They purport to be objective reporters of the average consumer’s travel experience but are anything but.

Ask anyone in travel PR and you’ll hear horror stories about travel writers asking, no… demanding, free trips, free hotels and meals. Yet, when they write their reviews they never disclose that their travel experience was comp’ed or that they places they wrote about knew they were writing a review! So much for objectivity.

Imagine if someone from Consumer Reports went into a car dealer and said “I’d like borrow a car for free so I can review your product.” Would the dealer give them just an average car, or one that’s been fine tuned, polished and made perfect? And getting a free car, do you think the reviewer’s report would be swayed?

Most restaurant critics dine anonymously and pay their own tab. Their experience most closely mirrors that of the average patron. But not the freeloading, gimme-gimme travel writer!

There are two notable exceptions to this generalization: Conde Nast Traveler magazine and the NY Times. Neither will buy a story from a reporter who accepted a “fam trip” (familiarization trip) or who didn’t pay their own way. What gets written in those publications, after extensive editorial scrutiny, has credibility. Everything else in newspaper travel sections, blogs and such is suspect.

Who do I trust most for travel reviews? Fellow travelers! Anytime I’m planning a trip, business or pleasure, I visit Trip Advisor and see what others have to say. The reviews may not be pearly prose, but they’re credible because they were written by someone like me and shared out of altruism, not greed.

What’s the difference between a journalist and blogger… or a travel writer and a Trip Advisor contributor? The ‘new media’ has empowered us all to find an audience. So let the best, most objective, most transparent writer win!

Something You Should Never Say to a Reporter

As most of you know, in addition to my ‘day job’ as a media trainer, I’m also Program Director of our town’s TV station, Darien TV79. It’s an unpaid job, but I love it and believe deeply in open government. (I’m also an elected official and serve on our Board of Ethics).

Our TV station does gavel-to-gavel coverage of board and committee meetings… exciting stuff in a small town of 20,000. But we also do some evergreen programming about how town government operates under the title “Inside Town Hall.” Guess who the host is.

In my media training work I can be pretty tough during interview role playing. Think Bill O’Reilly. But on this town TV show, I try to be more like Brian Lamb of C-Span. I have no point of view. I’m only there to ask the dumb questions, like…

How did you become Chairman of the Board of Finance. How long is your term? What are you professional qualifications? What powers does the Board have? To whom do you report? How often do you meet? Etc, etc.

I even send my “guests” questions in advance so they can prep. Again… it’s supposed to be informative, not confrontational. Until two weeks ago.

Our town is preparing a collection drive for unused, unwanted prescription drugs. Citizens will drive up to a collection point, hand over their meds, which will then be sorted and properly incinerated. Why is the town doing this? Two reasons.

First, to keep drugs out of the hands of teens who have a record of abusing them, mistakenly assuming that, because they are Rx drugs, they are safe.

Second, to keep the drugs out of our environment… including our water supply.

That’s why this drug collection effort is being sponsored not only by the town health department but also a local anti-drug abuse group and Aquarion, our local water company.

But when it came time to interview the sponsors for a show promoting the effort, I hit a professional and ethical roadblock. One of the questions I wanted to ask the water company rep was, “Do you test our water for traces of prescription drugs? And if they are there, does you filtration system remove them?”

In other words, is our water safe? Pretty basic question, right?

But the Aquarion guy said “Don’t ask me that question.” And the town health department guy asked me not to piss off an important sponsor. Even the gal from the drug abuse group told me not to ask the question.

Why? Well, because Aquarion doesn’t test for these drugs because they don’t have to. The water company rep even linked me to a statement on their website. But he said the TV audience of his customers wouldn’t understand. So don’t ask and I won’t have to tell.

The AP did a five part series in 2008 about prescription drugs in water supplies. Doesn’t Aquarion think local residents read and remember such reports?

When I volunteered to be Program Director of this town TV station I didn’t check my ethics at the door. I don’t answer to town hall, but to my fellow citizens. I’m a volunteer. But I’m also a customer who wonders if his water is safe.

Bottom Line: Never say to a reporter “Don’t ask me X.” That’s not your job. Important questions should be asked. If you can’t or won’t answer, let the audience interpret that as they will.

As ABC White House correspondent Sam Donaldson once wrote: “It’s not the questions that do the damage, it’s the answers.”