Forward Podcast #10 :: The Pitching Process with Kevin Dugan
For Forward Podcast 10 Kevin Dugan guides us through the lifecycle of a media relations pitch.
Kevin is the Director of Marketing Communications for FRCH Design Worldwide and the author of Strategic Public Relations. He is also one half of the team behind the Bad Pitch Blog.
Kevin guides us through the stages of a pitch: preparation, making the pitch, follow up, setting up the interview, and the interview itself.
Pitching is an integral part of media relations and is often carried out by new PR practitioners. If you’re new to pitching, or you’ve never pitched before, this podcast will teach you best practice.
This interview is based on Kevin’s lifecycle of a media relations pitch, and you can download a useful Powerpoint file here. Kevin also suggests that the Bad Pitch Blog’s Ten Reporter Hacks post is useful reading for new practitioners.
Show Notes
00:13: Podcast introduction.
01:46: Paull introduces Kevin Dugan and asks him to introduce the Bad Pitch Blog and explain the thinking behind it.
05:20: Kevin explains the first stage of pitching – preparation. This stage is all about building knowledge and knowing yourself, your story, your targeted media and the news.
07:04: Kevin uncovers the ‘dirty little secret’ that is driving bad pitches – changing news values and a reliance on technology instead of critical thinking.
09:03: Kevin points to the importance of ‘knowing yourself’ and developing your own style for pitching.
10:14: Kevin introduces the next part of the pitching process – preparing for the pitch itself by using critical thinking to apply your knowledge.
11:02: Kevin advocates for the ‘three paragraph pitch’.
13:54: Kevin stresses that a news release is not a pitch.
15:06: Kevin explains that the email pitch is simply an appetizer and the real work begins when the journalist responds.
17:15: Kevin says that we should think about ‘redefining content’ by using pictures and graphs.
19:14: Kevin discusses the actions to be taken once the pitch has been made.
21:35: Kevin explains what to do when a reporter responds favourably to a pitch. He shares which questions should be asked and puts forward a plan for a briefing document.
25:17: Kevin points to the importance of messaging when preparing a client for an interview.
26:04: Kevin shares his ideas on a PR’s involvement in the interview.
28:42: Kevin tells young PR professionals what they can do at entry level to get in the habit of good pitching.
30:22: Paull concludes the interview
Forward #10 - The Pitching Process with Kevin Dugan [32:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (896)
Paull: Thanks for the opportunity, it was fun. Of course for anyone NOT into media relations, I suspect it will sound like paint drying.
We talked about Owen Lystrup’s post on media follow-up, here’s a link:
http://intopr.prblogs.org/2006/08/28/media-relations-call-on-a-pitch-or-dont/
If anyone has any questions, feel free to add them here.
Comment by Kevin Dugan — September 17, 2006 @ 8:06 am
I meant to thank you, Kevin. Very nice of you to mention my blog. You damn near even got my name right, which is admirable.
That was a very good podcast, lots of great information and tips. Your blog, likewise. Very useful to learn from what NOT to do.
Keep it up.
Comment by Owen Lystrup — September 17, 2006 @ 8:43 pm