How Do You Avoid Being Misquoted?
As a spin off to Leo Bottary’s great post about “Basic Assumptions and The News Media,” I’d like to pose the question “How do you avoid being misquoted?”
Like many PR folk, I’ve had clients who were afraid of media interviews - clients who absolutely despised the idea of talking “on record” with reporters. In my experience, it usually stemmed from a horrible misquote experience years back.
My solution was to revisit that exact bad experience with them, and explain how I would have managed the interview process differently - via key messages, talking slower when giving complex answers, reiterating numbers and messages s/he didn’t want misquoted, following up with clarification via email, etc.
Once the client realized just how much s/he (or their PR person) didn’t do to manage the interview the last time, s/he was willing to try it again with the added tactics for preventing misquotes.
So, what counsel do you give clients to prevent misquotes during the interview and, as the PR advisor, what steps can you take before and after the interview to assure the most accurate quote?
Technorati Tags: pr, public relations, media relations, media interviews