FINE CUT FILMS - MEDIA SKILLS

DOING IT RIGHT - AND WRONG(LY)!

I said that the viewer is far less influenced by the content of your piece than by how you sound and look. But your boss is highly concerned with what you say. More importantly, you will only look and sound good if you are comfortable with the content. And you can do that by proper preparation.

Never go into an interview and answer questions. Have points prepared and try to build bridges from the question to what you want to say. Then it's easy to look good, sound good, and please your boss!

First here's how not to do it:

A (semi) Real Example

Here's a real story - I've changed the name of the company and a few other details omitted, but, essentially it's fact.


Vanishing Aircraft

 

Donald-McEwan is a major American aircraft manufacturing company. Up until recently its aeroplanes had a good safety record, but in the last few months four of the older airliners - 7-11s - have crashed. All four incidents happened in or near the Bermuda Triangle. American black box safety requirements are not stringent and the reasons for the crashes are not known. Each of the planes just seemed to 'disappear' - no explosion, no suspicion of hijack, no missile attack. Airlines operating older versions of the aircraft are considering grounding them until more is known about the circumstances of the crashes. In the last three days trading your shares have fallen by fourteen percent.


Here's the (theoretical) transcript of how the interview might go if the interviewee hadn't done his homework and let the interviewer decide on the shape of the discussion:

Q: As Shaw might have said, once is a mishap, twice carelessness, three times is stretching credulity to its limits. But four of your aircraft have gone down. Yet you don't seem concerned.
A: We are concerned. We've got a team of experts working to help solve the problem.

They are co-operating with the authorities.
   
Q: And their findings so far?
A: So far they've not reported. But we've set up a committee to look into the whole thing and we'll be releasing our finding as soon as there's something,
   
Q: Well the black boxes could have told you what happened. But the four missing planes didn't have the black box fitted.
A: The black box is very expensive to manufacture. But our experts are working as hard as they can to find a cause. We have world-class standards in the company. The committee met last week, and -
   
Q: So people are dying, and you're having a meeting.
A: No. But we have to be sure of our findings. We need all the information before we can act.
   
Q: But four aircraft have fallen out of the sky. Nearly six hundred lives lost.
A: No. I mean, yes, people died. But the aircraft are perfectly safe.
   
Q: You're sitting there telling me they're safe. While people are dying.
A: No. I -
   
Q: So can you assure me that no more aircraft will crash? Passengers fall to their deaths?
A: Yes, of course. They're perfectly safe. We've done tests...
   
Q: But you've not done anything to the aircraft?
A: As I said before we've called in a full team of experts.
   
Q: But you've done nothing to the aircraft?
A: Of course not. We've got a system. Procedures.
   
Q: Well your procedures don't seem to be working, do they?
A: As I said... er ... We have world-class standards.
   
Q: Why don't you ground the aircraft?
A: There's no need to. It could affect the share price.
   
Q: So you're risking people's lives to make a few dollars?
A: Of course not!
   
Q: So you're going to ground the aircraft?
A: No. As I said before there's no reason to.
   
Q: So any one of the hundreds of similar aircraft operating all over the world could just drop out of the sky tomorrow?
A: No. They won't drop out of the sky.
   
Q: Tell me honestly; when was the last time you flew in one?
A: Er. I'm very busy. I travel by private company jet.
   
Q: There are four hundred people who would be alive today if they'd not flown in your 797s. What have you said to the orphans, the widows, the grieving mothers?
A: Well... We'll be arranging a meeting with them to explain what's happening.
   
Q: So you've not bothered to talk to them. Let me get this straight: You've not grounded the aircraft; you've not talked to the victims' relations and you're no nearer finding out the cause. How many more people have to die before you do something to prevent these crashes?
A: As I said... er ...

And so on and so forth. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

But there's no reason to suppose he really was heartless and incompetent. He was just focussed on the bad news. Even more importantly, he'd not planned any good points to make.

Carry on to the next part to see how it could have been handled.
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