McGuire & Co founder Vicky McGuire, who provides media training and communications support for the charity sector, explains how charity leaders can boost their confidence in interviews to more effectively communicate key messages.
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‘Low cost, no cost solutions’ has long been a favourite phrase in government communications, and with good reason. Budgets don’t always stretch to traditional advertising, and often, they don’t need to.

When I worked for blood cancer charity DKMS, we saw first-hand the impact of PR. National broadcast coverage consistently drove stem cell donor sign-ups. An interview with Al Murray on BBC Breakfast temporarily broke the website and resulted in 40,000 registrations.

The right media coverage drives action. This is why well-trained spokespeople are key.

But too often fear takes over. No senior leader would go into a meeting with a major donor without having a clear agenda and an idea of how that might align with the donor’s own goals. Yet this clarity disappears in media interviews.

I once worked with some students who I’d managed to get on BBC Breakfast to talk about their invention and promote a science fair. I thought I’d briefed them thoroughly. They went on. They talked about their invention. They came off. ‘Why didn’t you mention the fair?’ I asked, exasperated. ‘They didn’t ask,’ came the reply.

I see it time and again in media training – nerves set in and it’s all a spokesperson can do to answer the questions without sharing their key message.

Luckily for the science fair, we had a second slot. My briefing style changed. ‘I don’t care what they ask,’ I said, ‘even if it’s what you had for breakfast, mention the fair.’ They went on. ‘How did you get here today?’ the presenter asked. ‘We came down from Warwick… but after this we’re heading to Birmingham for a really exciting fair…’ Sigh of relief.

As obtuse as it may sound, the purpose of being interviewed is not to answer the journalist’s questions. To be clear, it’s not to ignore them either – this isn’t the MP school of media training. There’s a third way – to use the questions as a jumping off point for your own agenda. Better preparation can help.

Before any interview, spokespeople should be confident in four things:

• Your agenda. What’s the message you really want to get across? Three bullet points that will resonate with the audience, with a stat, an example and a clear call to action: e.g. “Help is available — search [organisation name] online.”

• The journalist. Just looking at the last five articles a journalist has written can give you a good sense of how the interview will go. Are they familiar with your topic? Do they push a particular angle? Are you joining a panel — and if so, with whom? Panels are structured for debate.

• The boundaries. What are you comfortable discussing? What’s slightly less comfortable but you should be expected to talk about? What won’t you discuss – and what techniques can you use to navigate this without just ignoring the question?

• The set-up. Are you being filmed? Audio-recorded? Is it live? Is it a conversation with someone or are you staring down a camera?

What matters most in interviews isn’t polish, it’s authenticity. It’s a balancing act. You need to be prepared but journalists don’t want you to be over rehearsed. They want you – your views, your experience. The challenge is not to forget what you want in the process.

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