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PR Fuel: I Learned It From Watching You, BenImagine that you are a horse breeder and you agree to do an interview for a live television show. Once the interview starts, the anchor begins asking you questions about dogs and dog breeding. You can answer the questions in general terms, but you don't want to try to offer advice or insight on a topic that you're not entirely familiar with. This is what happened to me on Monday when I did a live phone interview with a cable news network.As you can imagine, it's been a busy week at my investment research company. I've fielded many calls from the media and been interviewed more times than I can count. I've spent hours putting together research, spreadsheets and other material for journalists. This is all part of my job, but it's not my main job, and during times like these I'd rather be spending 100% of my time dealing with clients. Regardless, media exposure is important for my company, so I'm playing the game. The Monday phone interview was not something that I wanted to do and I turned down an opportunity to appear on camera because of the time involved. The cable network does not reach our core audience and the only upside to doing the interview was establishing a contact at the cable network that could be helpful down the road for another part of our company. Even that excuse was a stretch, so let's just say I did the interview out of professional courtesy. The interview lasted about three-and-a-half minutes and I probably spent a total of 10 seconds talking about subjects that fell within my area of expertise. The other questions would have been best aimed at someone who manages money for a living and is comfortable providing investment advice to retail investors. At one point I literally had to say, "I'm not a registered advisor, so I can only talk in general terms." This is an interview kiss-of-death because it makes the viewer wonder what I'm doing on the air or why the interviewer is asking me these questions. Looking back at my email exchange with the producer, it's apparent that what happened is my fault. The producer never explained what the interview was going to be about and in an effort to be helpful, I provided her with some insights that have nothing to do with my job. The producer took these insights and decided that's what the interview was going to be about. I should have asked her exactly what the interview would focus on and if I felt that the subject was out of my comfort zone, I could have demurred. Instead, I wasted my time. The television interview wasn't the only mistake I made this week. Twice I was interviewed for a major television network's website and, again, both times the interviews were about topics that I don't typically speak about publicly. The results were better than the cable network interview, but it didn't make sense for me to spend the time and energy talking to a media outlet that doesn't reach my core audience and attaching my name to a subject that has little to do with my company's business. I can only blame my ego for these experiences, or fatigue perhaps. (Let's go with that excuse.) Otherwise, I'm drawing a blank as to why I would ignore advice I've given to PR Fuel readers in the past: 1. Focus on media outlets that reach your target audience, not necessarily the largest audience. 2. Don't speak to the media about subjects that you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. 3. Before doing any interview, especially television and radio spots, ask specifically what topics will be covered and be honest about whether or not you can and are willing to speak about them. 4. Every opportunity for press is not a good opportunity. I was lucky that no harm was done as a result of me going off the reservation, but the results could have easily been worse. Hopefully, I've learned my lesson - again.
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