News

How to Survive a Media Interview

27 Nov 2014

Paid and free media interviews are essential exhibitor tools at trade shows such as Hi Europe. While paid media interviews help exhibitors stand out in the crowd and drive booth traffic, free media interviews during the show can do the trick—and can carry weight long afterwards. Both media interviews can draw visitors to your booth, […]

How to Survive a Media Interview

Paid and free media interviews are essential exhibitor tools at trade shows such as Hi Europe. While paid media interviews help exhibitors stand out in the crowd and drive booth traffic, free media interviews during the show can do the trick—and can carry weight long afterwards. Both media interviews can draw visitors to your booth, generate quality leads to your website and build your company’s prominence in the industry. However, free interviews are not easy to score and require some creative strategic planning.

5 steps for planning media interviews

  1. Do your homework: Research and prepare interesting and relevant information for your interview. Reporters will ask questions not only about your products but also about the competition, market trends, etc. Knowledgeable experts are highly preferred and, this could be your industry debut as a thought leader. Be well-armed; have all the answers ready in advance.
  2. Gain an advantage: Ask your PR agency to get the questions in advance whenever possible.
  3. Provide newsworthy material, not old news or, worse, “fluff”: Editors and reporters are extremely busy during trade shows, covering the most exciting events and stories. Don’t waste their time with recycled news or self-serving hyperbole; help them look good by introducing a buzzworthy concept or a brand new angle.
  4. Contact journalists once or twice via email and phone before the show; don’t bombard them. Secure a scheduled time or day for the booth visit, if possible.
  5. Write a succinct compelling email subject line: In the message body, expand on why they just must interview you. (Always keep it short!)

How to survive media interview 2

Top 7 Tips on Acing Your Media Interview

  1. Shape your message: Prepare one or two key messages to communicate during the interview. Structure your responses to place your key messages front and center.
  2. Give it a positive spin: Create a transition to move from discussion topic to the message you want to communicate. First, answer the direct question. Then, transition to your message. Try phrases like:
  • “Before we get off that topic, let me just add…”
  • “Let me put that in perspective…”
  • “Yes. And it’s also important to remember that…”
  1. Speak strongly and clearly: If your soft voice on the backdrop of a noisy booth affects video quality, it may doom your interview to the cutting room floor.
  2. Shape your body language: According to business coach Dr. Amir Helmer, your physical movements should be “round and soft.” Sharp gestures may be perceived as aggressive.
  3. Capture visual attention: Holding a visual demonstration of your company’s healthy ingredient in a final product can “eye capture” your audience. Some interviewers are not sure what to do with their hands during the interview. A good eye-capturing visual can solve this problem.
  4. Be on time, but be patient: Make time to be available for the interviews. Reporters are booked solid at tradeshows and they might be late for your meeting. So schedule extra time after the interview in case it runs over.
  5. Stick to Business: Even if the reporter is a close friend, stick to the matter at hand: promoting your message.

 

With all these things to keep in mind, remember: you are the expert; the reporter is eager to learn from you!

Liat Simha will be at Hi Europe & Ni 2014. She also wrote other blogs about Hi Europe, you can view here: http://bit.ly/UuBcSi

Related news

Additives in US food products up 10% since 2001

Additives in US food products up 10% since 2001

18 Jul 2023

New research revealed that 60% of foods purchased by Americans contained technical food additives as of 2019, which was a 10% increase since 2001.

Read more 
Industry first: The Netherlands approves cultivated meat and seafood tastings

Industry first: The Netherlands approves cultivated meat and seafood tastings

17 Jul 2023

The Netherlands has become the first country in Europe to approve tastings of cultivated meat and seafood in controlled environments, yet there is still a long way to go before widescale commercialisation is achieved.

Read more 
One-fifth of Brazilian whey protein products mislabelled

One-fifth of Brazilian whey protein products mislabelled

12 Jul 2023

One fifth of whey protein products sold in Brazil are mislabelled, according to one small survey, as the Latin American trade association ALANUR calls on authorities to act against brands that inappropriately advertise the nutritional attributes of the...

Read more 
New Nordic nutrition guidelines emphasise plant-based eating

New Nordic nutrition guidelines emphasise plant-based eating

11 Jul 2023

Nordic scientists and experts are now recommending that people should consume less meat and more plants for both their health and the health of the planet.

Read more 
Manufacturers await groundbreaking aspartame safety review

Manufacturers await groundbreaking aspartame safety review

10 Jul 2023

The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is preparing to release its findings on whether the sweetener aspartame is a possible carcinogen.

Read more 
Food sector pushes unhealthy choices on consumers, new report shows

Food sector pushes unhealthy choices on consumers, new report shows

7 Jul 2023

Regulators and retailers must take action to prevent European consumers from being led to make unhealthy food choices, experts say.

Read more 
How to revive stagnating plant-based meat sales

How to revive stagnating plant-based meat sales

6 Jul 2023

Sales of plant-based meat are stagnating, products are being withdrawn, and brands are declaring bankruptcy – but Rabobank’s RaboResearch has identified five strategies that could help revive the category, and precision fermentation could be an NPD gam...

Read more 
UK consumer trust in supermarkets falls to nine-year-low

UK consumer trust in supermarkets falls to nine-year-low

5 Jul 2023

Research by UK consumer review organisation, Which?, reports decreasing levels of trust in the food industry, with two-thirds of shoppers feeling ripped off.

Read more 
UK retailers flout unhealthy product regulation

UK retailers flout unhealthy product regulation

4 Jul 2023

UK retailers are continuing to promote unhealthy products that are high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) despite recent regulation that bans such practices.

Read more 
Are Dutch supermarkets committed to human rights?

Are Dutch supermarkets committed to human rights?

3 Jul 2023

Dutch supermarkets lack widespread measures to respect human rights in supply chains, research project Superlist Social's inaugural report finds.

Read more