This content was created by TJ Walker. This content was uploaded by TJ Walker. This is a YouTube video titled "You Want to Keep Hitting Your Message Points" created on January 21, 2007, featuring TJ Walker discussing strategies for effectively communicating key messages during interviews, emphasizing the importance of focus and preparation.
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A lot of newsmakers and experts are great at getting their message out. At the beginning of the interview, they hit 1, 2, 3 messages, and then it's like, wow, that's out of the way. Now I can relax, right? Wrong. You want to keep hitting your message points throughout the interview. Now, the best way to do that is to keep your eyes on your message points. I mean, literally, I mean, write down on a simple three by five card your messages and stare at it the whole interview. If it's not a live TV interview, or if the interviewer is not right in front of you. But so often you're going to find opportunities where you're interviewed over the telephone with a newspaper reporter, trade publication reporter, radio reporter. Make life easy for yourself. If you're like a lot of people, you sort of sit back in your office and you've got your computer screen, you've got books on your desk, newspapers, magazines. The tendency is to synthesize all this information and have it come spitting out of your mouth during the course of the interview. Big mistake. Instead, keep it simple. Nice. 1, 2, 3. Focusing on your messages. There is a time to gather more facts, gather more data, think about hypothetical questions. But right before an interview, that's not the time to do it. During an interview, that's not the time to do it. These are times when you want focus, so you can keep bringing out your messages in an interesting way throughout the whole interview. Now, what do you do if it is a television interview? Obviously you can't do a live TV interview and be like this. You'd look ridiculous. But on the way to the interview, don't take some big three ring binder of information. Take a card with three message points. When you're at the studio and you're getting your makeup on, stare at your three message points. During a commercial break, stare at your message points. Focus the mind. If your mind is focused on 10,000 things and a million questions, you'll be scattered. If you're focused on three message points and you're literally staring at them during the interview, or at least right before the interview, guess what? That's what will come out during the interview, and you will control your message.
