When a man running from the police pushed his way into her daycare center, Terry Oliver and her staff faced an unexpected and frightening situation with aplomb, executing an emergency plan that ensured the safety of all the children and adults in the building.
But when she was interviewed on local television, Ms. Oliver faced another challenge: dealing with a reporter who was either clueless or hostile (or both?). He was determined to make her daycare center’s security the story rather than the police’s conducting a stakeout on a street with a school and a daycare center.
Take a few minutes to see how she handled it:
Wow! Showing this in a media training, I would point out that Ms. Oliver used a number of successful techniques to take control of the interview:
- Had a message and stuck to it. Despite the reporter’s repeated questions, Ms. Oliver repeated that she and her staff had a security plan and executed it, and that in fact everyone was safe. Her message: our plan worked, and everyone is safe.
- Remained poised and pleasant. A reporter’s insistence on repeating the same question can be unsettling if not infuriating. Ms. Oliver maintained her calm and even smiled. When people see you on TV, they will remember if they liked you more than they remember what you said.
- Pivoted from the reporter’s agenda to her own: Near the end of the interview, Ms. Oliver says, “The story is not day care. The story is why the police are having a sting operation so close to a day care center and a school.” This is called bridging: disagreeing with the premise of the question so that she could say what she wanted to say.
Terry Oliver may be a natural, or she may have received some topnotch media training. Any leader at any time may find themselves facing the media, and it helps a great deal to be prepared. Every organization should have an emergency communications plan, and I would be surprised if Ms. Oliver’s daycare center did not.
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Learn more about media relations and crisis communications expert, Carisa Cunningham, a Just Giving Communications associate consultant.