Meeghan Black gave a standing-room-only presentation at the January 2023 Mayors Exchange in Olympia on how to communicate with the media in ways that will get your message heard—and build trust within your community. Here are the top ten takeaways:

1. Your participation is imperative! Remember, they will cover the story with or without you, and you don’t want them to get the wrong story. You want the story to reflect your narrative, so use key messages and bridging statements (more on that below).
2. Clearly identify your audience. It’s important that you know who your audience is—and remember it’s not the reporter! Local media is a direct line to your stakeholders, and it’s important to have a good working relationship with them. Your audience may be constituents, or a subset of your residents, such as the business community, special interest groups, or even your employees.
3. Have good interview etiquette. Stand still or sit up straight—and try not to do anything distracting. You want the focus to be on what you’re saying. Look at the reporter, not the camera. Speak conversationally and avoid jargon. Try not to use acronyms. A good interview is like a conversation. It takes practice. Don’t be afraid to show a little personality or to stumble. Being human is okay. Just ask to start over if you need to.
4. Assume the cameras, microphones and/or cell phones are always on and rolling—and act accordingly—even when someone is just asking questions to get to know you.
5. Never say, “No comment.” It makes people (not just reporters) think you have something to hide. If you don’t have an answer, or feel unprepared, acknowledge the question and let them know you will get back to them or, for ongoing stories, share where they can find the answer when there is one (e.g., a regular website update, or anticipated time of a press release). Similarly, if a question has a negative slant, don’t reiterate the negative. Instead, answer with what you know, or move on by bridging to key messages (see below).
6. Be helpful. Ask when the reporter’s deadline is and help them make the connections they need to tell the story. Reporters have huge beats to cover, constant deadlines, and often multiple competing assignments. Allowing access to projects, sites, and city leadership will help make you a trusted, reliable source. You want them to come to you. Follow up with the reporter to see if they got what they needed.
7. Be open, accessible, and honest. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say you don’t know, or direct them to the person that knows. When an event occurs that requires you to interact with the media, be consistent and be reliable. Push people to a source (such as a particular area of your city website) to get the official statements and facts.
8. Don’t be afraid to repeat or reframe your answer, but when you’ve finished making your point, stop talking. Reporters know to ask a question and then not say anything, because human nature dictates that we try and fill the space. Don’t do it. Answer the question, or say you'll get back to them, and then stop talking. Detectives get their best information when they wait for you to fill the void.
9. Watch/read/listen to your interview afterward—consider what you did well and what needs work. Debrief with your communications staff, if possible.
10. Finish strong! When a reporter asks if you have anything to add—never let the opportunity pass. Fall back on a key message that you want to share with the community or reiterate a point you feel you could have stated better—or add something that you feel is important.

More on how to use bridging statements

Bridging statements can help get you out of a jam. You still need to answer difficult or complex questions with honesty and integrity, but a bridge can help move you back to a key message, or pivot from a negative to a positive. The key is not to ignore the question, but to answer quickly or acknowledge and then bridge to a key message. Here are a few useful bridge statements:

• What’s important here is…
• The more important question to ask is…
• Our goal is…
• Our research shows…

Acknowledge when a question is complex, answer to the best of your ability, then bridge back, e.g., “The solutions are complicated—the real question to ask is…” Remember to practice! With practice you can repeat back and transition to the key message.

More on how to use key messages

A key message is your headline statement—your elevator pitch—your takeaway for people to remember after your interview. Think of key messages as the main points of information you want your audience to hear, understand, and remember. Always try to have about three key messages. If you have a public information officer or communications team, work with them to develop talking points. Why are you doing the interview? Get your intentions straight—know your objective.

Key messages should relate to your issue, cause, or mission. They should be easy to remember, compelling, and sincere. Develop key messages by taking a value statement and getting to know it by using it in conversation. Key messages should be empathetic when called for. You don’t need to memorize key messages—just understand them. Having confidence puts you in a position of power.

When preparing key messages to answer anticipated questions, focus on what you know, what is being done, and what people can do to help. Try to have a story or supporting fact identified for each key message if you can.

Anticipate the questions and practice your talking points. Whatever you feel nervous talking about, you should practice. Talk about anticipated concerns and the things you know you’re going to hear. Don’t avoid them. Organize your thoughts before the interview. Writing things down will help you remember and recall—even though you aren’t going to use that to memorize. This is especially true for tricky messages. Wordsmith it on paper, then practice. Practice makes perfect, and so does preparation.

Lastly, key messages make you an active participant in your story, so don’t be afraid to reach out with a positive story in advance. Being a reliable source over time doesn’t just build trust, it can also make it easier for the community to jump in and correct inaccuracies themselves when misinformation gets shared elsewhere. Talk about your successes, and when you do, remember to include an image or video, if you can. Thirty-second videos can be great public relations tools and can even go viral, like this duckling-rescue-video, shared by the Bellevue Police Department and viewed over half a million times.

Building a good relationship with local media means you’re building trust within your community. Being proactive and telling your city story, together with practicing key messages, will help to establish you as a reliable, trustworthy source of information. That means everyone wins.