8 briefing essentials for your exec’s big interview
Is your bigwig hiding under the desk in fear of that media sit-down? Here’s how to beef up the prep document—and help get out your message.
Now what?
The journalist probably has no idea how much preparation is going on at your end, but your scramble to write a briefing document has just begun.
Gather everything from talking points to links to the reporter’s latest work. If you pried some likely questions out of the reporter, be sure to supply the concordant answers.
“Like everything else in life, the better prepared you are, the better you are at doing a good interview,” says Catherine Bolton, owner of Rock River Communications and former CEO of the Public Relations Society of America. “The last thing you ever want is for someone in a senior position to feel uncomfortable and unprepared.”
Written briefings are so commonplace in the industry that it’s hard to remember reporters often don’t know such briefings exist.
Oops. That wasn’t meant for you…
Several years ago, Microsoft reportedly goofed and emailed a briefing to Wired Contributing Editor Fred Vogelstein. Wired published it online.
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