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TIPS FROM THE MEDIA COMMITTEE: INTERVIEW DOS AND DON'TS

Susan Jacobson and Robin Meadows

The phone rings and it's a journalist who wants an interview. If you're like most scientists, you're not thrilled. At best, journalists interrupt whatever you're doing. At worst, they misquote and misrepresent you. But it doesn't take much to make interviews work for you. The trick is to be prepared.

Being prepared for an interview is so important that you can't hear it too many times: be prepared, be prepared, be prepared! If a journalist calls at a bad time or you're not sure what you want to say, you can usually schedule the interview for later. Then you can use that time to think about your message and your conservation goals.

There are four simple steps for preparing for interviews

1. Define your communication goal

What do you want to achieve? You may want to educate the public about a conservation issue, e.g., invasive exotic plants are threatening native species. You may want to convince the public to do something, e.g., to stop buying invasive exotic plants from nurseries. Or you may want to convince the legislature to take action, e.g., banning sales of invasive exotics.

2. Identify your audience and tailor your message to them

Who do you need to reach to achieve your communication goal and how can you capture their attention? To be effective, your message must be interesting, informative, persuasive and, above all, relevant to the target audience.

Choose one or two key messages that both epitomize what you want to communicate and capitalize on the audience's self-interest. To organize your thoughts, write out your message in advance. You should be able to state it in a sentence or two, and deliver it in one breath. Use action verbs, pithy phrases, and vivid images and analogies.

A good example of a conservation message that resonates with people's concerns comes from The Nature Conservancy: "A world that can sustain nature will be a healthier and happier place for our children and their grand-children." Another example of an effective conservation message is "Better protection of endangered species now will give you more land-use options in the future."

Before your interview, practice saying your key message several different ways. During your interview, use every opportunity to deliver your message. Focus on the parts of questions that let you repeat your message, saying it a different way each time.

3. Develop a strategy for using interviews to achieve your communication goal

What can you expect during your interview? When scheduling it, ask who the audience is. When preparing for your interview, familiarize yourself with the newspaper, magazine, radio or TV show's style. Figure out if the interviewer will be friendly or combative, and how much "play" you will probably get. Decide how much the journalist is likely to know about your subject and, if warranted, provide background information such as fact sheets in advance.

Next, anticipate what kinds of questions the journalist might ask. Most ask the five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. Prepare succinct answers and use them to reiterate your key message. Be as concrete and specific as possible: instead of saying "lots of people support us," say "250 landowners signed the petition." Dramatize your point with a few good examples--anecdotes are particularly effective because people like and remember stories. Personal stories are best of all; they draw people in and help them relate to your message.

Finally, here is a short list of simple dos and don'ts for interviews. Always tell the truth. If you don't know something, say so. Rather than criticizing other positions, focus on the positive aspects of your message. Similarly, rather than being defensive when faced with criticism of your message, focus on its positive aspects.

4. Monitor and evaluate your results

Are you achieving your communication goal? Ways to monitor your effectiveness include informal feedback from colleagues, hiring a clipping service, and assessing the impact on your audience. Ways to assess impact include fundraising success, letters to the editor supporting your position, and actions such as removing exotic species or improving wildlife habitat.

Seeing interviews as a tool--rather than a nuisance or threat--enables you to advance your conservation goals. The next time a reporter calls, be prepared and take charge of your interview.

Susan Jacobson is Director of the Program for Studies in Tropical Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville; the author of Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals (2000, Island Press); and a member of the Media Committee.

Robin Meadows is Chair of the Media Committee, and writes news tips based on Conservation Biology and research notes for Conservation Biology in Practice.

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