Appear professionally in the media! (2)

How to prepare yourself perfectly in terms of content

FIT FOR YOUR MEDIA PRESENCE

Good preparation doesn't have to take long. In just a few minutes, you will have recorded what you need in a keyword. This gives you a good basic feeling during the interview, which also allows spontaneous answers. You will then certainly come across as confident and convincing in the journalist interview.

STEP 1
RECORD THE TOPIC AND FACTS AND DEFINE YOUR OWN GOALS

• Topic: What exactly is it about? What figures, data and facts should I have ready? What tricky questions do I have to be prepared for?
• My own goals: Question meticulously what exactly you want to achieve through your words. At first glance, it often seems as if an interview is simply there to inform the listeners or viewers. Remember that your listeners perceive the subtle messages rather than the information.
• Therefore, ask yourself: What exactly should my viewers think, say or do after the interview? Write down these thoughts and statements, in full sentences, but in colloquial language. If you want your customers to breathe a sigh of relief, don't write down: "Line Three will be back in operation as scheduled from tomorrow!" , but put in the mouths of your listeners: "I'm glad: From tomorrow my children will be back to school on time!". Instead of: "We are working at full speed to solve the problem!" Formulate from the listener's perspective: "Wonderful, tomorrow we'll turn on the radiator as usual – and it'll be warm again!"

Practical tip "Kitchen call"
Henri Nannen, the founder of the magazine "Stern", called this the bang effect of every good Stern story, which urges the reader to shout to his wife over the kitchen table: "Imagine, ... !" So, as you prepare, ask yourself, "What will my audience shout to their partners across the kitchen table?"

What are the core questions that torment your audience?

WHEN THEY SLIP INTO THE SKIN OF THE AUDIENCE

Of course, if you are invited to an interview as a boss or expert, there is a high probability that it will be about problems: problems of the company, problems with a product, with a plant, in the industry ... But what does it look like from the viewers' point of view?

Not Her Problems are interesting for the people outside (except for sensationalism), but their own! That is: the effects of the breakdown, the consequences of the malfunction, etc.

• Therefore, imagine two or three different spectators. Mrs. Maier, Mr. Müller and Mr. and Mrs. Huber – including their living conditions, their living situation, their daily routines.
• Think about how your problem case influences the lives of your protagonists.
• What pressing questions do they ask themselves? What fears or apprehensions do they have? What previous information or events do they respond to? What feelings are addressed?

Write down at least three key questions, in the "first person", from the mouths of Maier, Müller and Huber. You will quickly realize that an important question is no longer one: "When will the problem be resolved?" but: "Will my bathroom be warm again tomorrow?" or "Should I be afraid that my savings will be gone tomorrow?"

Practical tip
Whatever you are asked in the interview: Make sure to bring these core questions into the conversation from the viewer's point of view (and your answer to them) in any case.

Formulating examples hypnotically

HOW TO AVOID THE "TECHNOCRAT TRAP"

Figures, data, facts – weren't you drilled exactly on them? In the interview, you quickly come across as a soulless technocrat if you turn your expertise too much to the outside world.

WITH SPEECH HYPNOSIS INTO THE WORLD OF IMAGINATION

Trap No. 1 in the interview is to answer the interview question. Paradox? No. You come across as much more competent if you lead us viewers into our world of imagination with your first words. Use the technology of the "Hypnotic funnel" . You have already tested five of these funnel formers in the course of the workshop:

• "Suppose They... „
• "Imagine They... „
• "If you go out of the house tomorrow ... „, "If you consider, ..."
• "Remember at... „
• "Maybe also ask yourself, ... „

Example:

• You will be asked the question: "Hasn't the system been regularly maintained?" If you now answer obediently how often maintenance is carried out, we as viewers have heard an explanation, but have taken little away. And it often sounds as if you want to justify yourself.
• But suppose you answer: "If you ask yourself: How can something like this happen at all with such a state-of-the-art technical operation? Every year there is two maintenance ... „ Isn't it so much easier to follow your words? At the same time, you will appear more competent and lead the conversation on your part instead of just letting yourself be put on the curb.

Storytelling

TELL US WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED!

Personal experiences are among the strongest rhetorical means. Why? The human brain puts itself in the narrator's shoes and reacts as if it had been there.

WHICH EXPERIENCES ILLUSTRATE YOUR CONCERN PARTICULARLY WELL?

• What did you experience?
• Who did you have to deal with?
• What was particularly remarkable about it?
• What can be reproduced in direct speech? (She said to me: "...")

Practical tip
Put it simply! Do not be afraid to use colloquial language, perhaps even to reproduce direct speech in dialect.
Example: "I spoke to a fitter this morning, who said: 'Moch Da kane Sorgn, boss, at ten everything fits again!'"

I look forward to your feedback. Or do you have a question?
Write to me! Until the next online tip, I wish you good luck and much success!

You

Arno Fischbacher