PR Week asks if Three is a Crowd Media Training

PR Week magazine asked the question is three a crowd. Speaking the show about effective speaking in public, to the media, at work and in Life. Speaking with T.J. walker. This is a question that's been debated for years, decades in the public relations world. The question of course relates to if you've got a reporter interviewing a CEO or an executive about a story, should there be a third person, the PR person in the room? Now I have taken a position over the years very firmly in favor of no. It doesn't give you more control. It doesn't help with anything because if the executive in question or the politician says something stupid, the reporter can still use it. You can't have the PR person there reeling it back in. It doesn't work like that. Famously, earlier this year, Ken Starr had his PR handler in the room. She tried to stop the interview. That made a much bigger mistake. It made Ken Starr look like an absolute fool. Even those who love Ken Starr. Why does this happen? I believe in. Look folks, many PR people are my friends, they're my clients, they're wonderful. But PR people are like anyone else. We do self serving things sometimes we want to make ourselves seem more important. We want ourselves to seem more indispensable. So we want to be in the room when the interview happens. And unfortunately it's counter productive. It can make the reporter feel on edge. It can make the executive being interviewed feel on edge. And again, it feels like there's a life preserver there. But it's actually not. The time for a PR person to help an executive is before the interview starts, before the reporter comes in the room or before the phone call starts. And what most PR people don't do that they should do is actually rehearse the interview with the client. Makes sure they have not only message points but sound bites prepared. If you do that, you will be the third person in room in spirit at all times.