Be a Quote Machine

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Rosalie Mandel, a partner with accounting firm Rothstein Kass, mentors lots of young women. She has honed her message about discerning the difference between a mentor and a sponsor to a standard line. And that’s just the line that reporter Julie Steinberg of FINS, the Wall St. Journal financial news channel, needed for a comprehensive story on how women can advance.

Here’s the story excerpt: Mentors are important for giving you guidance on your career. Sponsors are more critical because they’re the ones banging on the table to bring you on for a new job or assignment.

Accordingly, you must treat them differently. Rosalie Mandel, a principal at accounting firm Rothstein Kass, recommends telling your mentor the good, the bad and the ugly and telling your sponsor only the good.

“The sponsor has heavy political capital and can place you into your next slot,” she said. “The mentor needs to know everything about you so they can help you grow and guide you.”

Rosalie delivered a succinct sentence that clarified a confusing issue. I worked with her to identify this key message and ensure a smooth, compelling delivery. Rosalie’s advice works in real life, and that’s why it worked for the story.

 

When Buzzwords Sting

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When you’re framing a message for a media interview, you want to sound smart and in the know.

But do you want to sound like a cliche in the making?

Probably not. That’s why it’s wise to avoid buzzwords, even those swarming around your profession. As reported in May in the Wall St. Journal, people use buzzwords not to show what they know, but to signal to others already in their circle that they’re hip to what’s new.

Not sure if a term you are thinking of using is a buzzword or a universally understood term? Use the grandma filter: Would your grandma know what you are talking about? If not, dejargonize your message with plain, simple language that everyone can understand — even those in your clique.

Buzzwords Can Sting

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When you’re framing a message for a media interview, you want to sound smart and in the know.

But do you want to sound like a cliche in the making?

Probably not. That’s why it’s wise to avoid buzzwords, even those swarming around your profession. As reported in May in the Wall St. Journal, people use buzzwords not to show what they know, but to signal to others already in their circle that they’re hip to what’s new.

Not sure if a term you are thinking of using is a buzzword or a universally understood term? Use the grandma filter: Would your grandma know what you are talking about? If not, dejargonize your message with plain, simple language that everyone can understand — even those in your clique.

Why News Editors Prefer Women Sources

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The bad news is that, according to 2012 Status of Women in the U.S. Media  report just released by the Women’s Media Center,  women are chronically under-represented as news sources.  Globally, women are the subject of only 24% of all news stories, and women are the prime ‘newsmaker’ sources for only 23% of all stories.

But that’s good news for organizations that are trying to get their messages out through media interviews. News editors are acutely aware of this gender disparity and actively search for women sources for stories. The more male-dominated the category, the more pressure there is to include women’s voices. Women in technology, finance, business and sports have a very good chance of being quoted or featured in a story if they can deliver usable quotes.

That’s why women are an organization’s secret weapon for reaching their audiences through media interviews. If you can, offer up a prepared female source for an interview. Chances are greater she’ll be interviewed and be quoted in the story. The same message carried by a man has to compete with all those other male sources to make it past all the hurdles of journalistic sorting and editing.

The report also outlined how women are pretty much outnumbered in media organizations, at pretty much every level.  Women are 73.5% of journalism and mass communication graduates, and represent a respectable proportion of mid-level editors and directors, but very few women at at senior levels.

Here’s how the math plays out. Women are:

  • 40.5% of news editors (that’s up from 37.3% in 2001)
  • 64.2% of television news producers
  • 28.4% of televisio news directors
  • 11.4% of sports news editors

 

Speak Outside Your Box

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What’s better…to conduct a media call at your desk or to conduct the phone interview while standing up and pacing around your office?

You need the privacy of your space for the interview, but it’s important to stand up and break out of your usual seated ‘box,’  to energize yourself and your message.

Now, this classic bit of MediaSkills advice is reinforced by another bit of academic research. As recently reported in the Wall St. Journal, a  committee of university researchers examined the underlying assumptions of the metaphor “outside the box.” They gave students some brainteasers and had some work on the puzzles inside a five-foot-square box, and others tackle the puzzles in open space.

Those outside the box were able to solve the puzzles more quickly.  The new term for this is ’embodied metaphors,’ which makes us wonder what other metaphors the researchers will take on. Meanwhile, it’s enough to know that  you’ll be able to rise to an interview more creatively and confidently when you take command of your space. Moving and gesturing throughout the phone interview will, in the words of the researchers, ” physically and psychologically embodying creative metaphors promote fluency, flexibility, and/or originality in problem-solving.”

Right. What they said.  

Me? Trust You?

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Trust is one of those dynamics that’s impossible to measure…until you’ve lost it.

That’s why we appreciate the effort that public relations firm Edelman devotes to its annual Trust Barometer.  The barometer measures the credibility of institutions, spokespeople and sources. If your trust is high or rising, you can accelerate it through smart messaging for media interviews. If your trust is low or dropping, you are being set up for a crash course in crisis communication. (Of course, the nature of crises is that you can’t predict them…but that’s a topic better left to crisis communication diva Jane Jordan-Meier.

Here are the highlights:

Most trusted industries:

  • Technology
  • Automotive
  • Telecommunications

Least trusted industries:

  • Insurance companies
  • Banks
  • Financial Services

What factors build a trustworthy organizational reputation?

  • High quality goods and services – 69%
  • Transparent and honest business practices — 65%
  • Company I can trust – 65%
  • Treats employees well – 63%
  • Communicates frequently – 55%

And, what types of sources are viewed as most credible?

  • Academic or expert – 70%
  • Technical expert within company  – 64%
  • Industry/financial expert – 53%
  • CEO – 50%

Counterintuitively, one of the strongest trends for the 2011 Barometer was the rebound in CEO trust and the erosion of  man-on-the-street employees. Looks like at least half the public is willing to cede some credibility out of the box to the 1%, after all.

Let Your Fingers Do The Talking

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Metaphors are powerful, as Media Skills clients know. But when accompanied by reinforcing gestures, metaphors are unstoppable.

Researchers at Colgate University found that presenters who used gestures that mimicked their main points — such as a chopping motion when talking about chopping or cutting — listeners better understood the message. 

Seeing and hearing a metaphor makes the message stick.

Of course, too many flying hands and flinging arms only distract viewers — especially in videos. As you construct your message, weigh the ‘gesture-ability’ of various metaphors. Choose the one that is reinforced most naturally by a simple, powerful gesture that can be delivered within your frame in the camera. Don’t use gestures that point off-camera or that invade the space of your host or other on-camera guests.

Dramatic, contained, on point: those are the gestures that will capture viewers’ attention and drive home your point.

 

Put Some Backbone In Your Message

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Your posture bolsters your self-confidence.

That’s not us talking — it’s a group of researchers led by Richard Petty of Ohio State. In a study of undergraduates, the kids were directed to either sit up straight or slump while filling out a job application. Those who sat up straight were far more confident than the slumpers that they’d get the job.

The implications for interviews couldn’t be more clear: whether you are talking via phone or in person, put your shoulders back and straighten your spine. Your body language will become your message.

We Take Our Own Advice!

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Show, don’t tell.

That’s one of the cardinal rules of storytelling. Don’t tell me you’re great at messaging. Show me. If you really are snappy, I’ll draw my own conclusion that you’re snappy. I’ll believe it even more because I own my own opinion, based on my observation of your undeniable snappiness.

As a strategic communication consultant and media trainer, I work with organizations to help them crystallize their messages.  Media interviews need talking points. To be quoted, you must be…quotable. Communication campaigns need slogans. To be remembered, your message must be…memorable.

That’s my tell. Here’s my show. My career strategy book, “The Career Lattice,” is due out in April from McGraw Professional. The message of the book is that strategic lateral moves are the only sustainable career path in  an era of slow growth and flattened, team-centric organizations.

How to say that in just a few words, especially when Fortune magazine freelancer Jena McGregor called for an interview?

“Over is the new up.”

“You’re so quotable!” said Ms. McGregor.

Thank you. And thanks for foreshadowing “The Career Lattice”  in a feature about lateral career moves.