You’ve had hours, days or even weeks to prepare for an interview. You’re up to date on your company’s operations and products. If you’re lucky, the interviewer has even provided you with some hints on what to expect from the discussion.

Then the interview comes along and you stumble, never fully getting your point across and not knowing the answers to every question. It happens to the best of us, even those who think they are well prepared.

The basics

Look at an interview with a member of the media in much the same way you’d want to interview for a new job. You want to go beyond answering questions – you want to present a compelling, but not overly boastful, case for you and your company. You want to sell your message.

Your answer needs to be more than just words. It needs to be believable, not only because it needs to be accurate and truthful, but it also needs to be something you genuinely take as fact. Be comfortable and try to be yourself.

Anticipate questions ahead of time by working with your public relations team. Collect your thoughts ahead of time; only in certain circumstances should you agree to an on-the-spot interview.

On track

The rapid-fire, “report first, ask later” nature of online and TV media makes it imperative that you keep control of the interview. Don’t let the interviewer take you off track – unless you want to go there.

Answering questions that might move the conversation in the wrong direction with a simple, “That’s a great question for another time; let’s revisit it soon” will endear reporters and lead to what could be a mutually beneficial follow-up interview. It’s a smart answer that can be effective if used sparingly.

Additionally, you must keep control of yourself during the interview. A flustered answer will bomb on more levels than you want to think about – your clear answer, your facts and your credibility are all on the line during the interview.

Tailor-made

Help the reporter by giving answers that can easily be put in context in an article or clip; think of your answers as sound bytes. Your answers should be concise, accurate and, perhaps most importantly, they need to be natural. A short and simple answer that tells the basics is easy for a reporter to use; if they want to dig deeper, that’s their prerogative.

You can’t assume that a reporter will know what you’re talking about, so you might need to build up your answer with background basics. This varies by outlet, so be careful not to oversimplify to an industry trade journal, for example.

Simple answers don’t mean misleading answers; if you’re intentionally glossing over the details or ignoring certain elements, they’ll track down the facts. Ultimately, this tactic will backfire and destroy your credibility.

A timely example

For months, General Motors told reporters that the innovative Chevrolet Volt’s gasoline engine never directly powered its drive wheels. Then, closer to the Volt’s on-sale date, GM revealed that, under certain unusual circumstances, the gasoline engine could indeed bypass its electric counterpart to motivate the vehicle on its own.

It’s a difference that buyers won’t notice because, simply, it doesn’t matter in day-to-day driving. But it betrayed many reporters’ trust in GM and its public relations team, whom the media decried as misleading and engaging in evasion tactics. Not only did the gaffe dent GM among reporters, it made journalists look as though they had been reporting false stories.

The drama that ensued could have been avoided in one of two ways. The simplest answer would be for GM to have told the truth initially, which would have prevented reporters from being misled.  Conversely, GM could have chosen not to reveal the information until it was ready.