print interview secrets - susan harro · · 2016-09-25acclaimed klezmer musician in europe ......

SUSAN HARROW

PRSecrets.com and SusanHarrow.com

Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul™

Print Interview Secrets

6 Ways to Control Your Content in a Print Interview

Susan Harrow Harrow Communications

PO Box 543 Larkspur CA 94977

888.839.4190

www.prsecrets.com

Copyright © 2001-2016 Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.

Print Interview Secrets Copyright © 2001‐2016 Susan Harrow. All rights reserved

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1. Put your key points in writing. My brother, Joshua Horowitz, an

acclaimed Klezmer musician in Europe

and North America, knows how to keep his

sense of humor when dealing with out of

control reporters. He has been interviewed

hundreds of times for his group, Budowitz.

Time after time his interviews would be

truncated, edited in such a way as to not

make much sense. At first he was furious.

But there was nothing he could do. He had no control over the editing process

once he spoke. So he learned to speak in such a way that his sentences

couldn’t be edited.

By applying that same skill to his written materials he was able to stop basic

facts about his instruments and their history, as well as his own history from

being mangled beyond recognition in print. First he decided he would embellish

his own (our) family history so enticingly that it roared to be printed word for

word. Then he interviewed himself so all historical and technical information

was ready to be handed to a reporter after the interview.

This allowed the reporter to do two things: focus on questions that Joshua

didn’t cover, and receive the factual information in a clear, easy to read format

so he didn’t need to re-hash it during an interview. Did the reporters always

use his information? No. Did they still make errors? Yes. But it lessened the

frequency and Joshua’s frustration. Plan ahead and put your most important

points on paper (email).


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2. Repeat your points. Get in the habit of telling your stories in a variety of ways so you don’t sound

like a merry-go-round. Odd as it may sound, people listen selectively without

knowing it. People hear and remember things that capture their interest. A

reporter may be unconsciously listening for things that support his angle so he

can write his story more efficiently.


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3. Ask to verify your quotes. Author Bill Barich describes his first media encounter for his first book

“Laughing in the Hills.” “So I flew off to New York in February with a borrowed

suitcase, feeling for all the world like John Boy Walton, the would-be-writer of

television fame. The magazine (The New Yorker) put me up at the Algonquin

Hotel, directly across from its headquarters, and soon I was seated in the regal

lobby bar and conducting an interview with a journalist from (of all places)

Women’s Wear Daily, who’d been dispatched by The Viking Press for some

advance publicity.

Hardly a pro and suffering from years of isolation, I delivered an impromptu

lecture on the importance of literacy in a democratic society (a surefire topic for

the poor guy’s audience) and forgot to mention my book. When the story ran, I

had my first experience of being misquoted. My entire lecture was boiled down

to a single remark, “If you can’t read, you shouldn’t be allowed to vote.”

To avoid a similar fate, prepare your sound bites well. Offer to have the reporter

call you back to verify quotes before the article goes to press. While reporters

often condense what you say while trying to maintain meaning, something may

get lost or changed in the translation. The exception to this phenomenon is the

New York Times whose editorial and style and usage manual dictate that its

reporters not “doctor” a quote. The surest way to keep from being misquoted is

to repeat your points, then sum them up at the end of your conversation.


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4. Request your contact information be included. Be very clear on how you would like to be identified and contacted. Many

publications have a policy in place regarding how they deal with bylines and

mentions. Before you ask about it request that the reporter include the correct

spelling of your name, title, business, phone number and website and any

other relevant information. Always ask for what you want. Think about what

will bring you the maximum clients, exposure, whatever it is you desire and

ask to list those things first.


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5. Find out when the article goes to print. Publicity can generate a huge rush of orders and requests for information. One

of my clients who runs a seminar business and consulting practice got over

one hundred calls over the course of a few days. The results of a one-column

piece packed her schedule for the next year. Be prepared for the best by

alerting your employees, or by hiring temporary workers to answer phones if

necessary. To save yourself any grief have brochures and products ready to

ship. Finding out in advance when the article goes to print could save your

sanity!


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6. Invite the reporter to call you back with any additional questions. Once a reporter gets back to his desk he may find that he forgot something he

wished he had asked—but may not want to seem unprofessional or negligent.

He might prefer to leave something out rather than keep it in and make an

error. Another reporter may be one sandwich short of a picnic. To cover all

types of reporters ask if you may call the reporter back in the event that you

think of something you’d like to add. This is a great way to insure accuracy and

save face. Good luck!


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Join our new 5-week online sound bite course to double or triple your business

You’ll learn how to control print, radio, online and TV interviews so you’re

perceived the way you want that positively positions you and your business in

order to drive the business, sales, partnerships and experiences you want. I

look forward to meeting you soon!

www.susanharrow.com/your-signature-sound-bites/


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About Susan Harrow Susan Harrow is a top media coach, consultant and

marketing expert whose clients include everyone from

rock stars to the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, as

well as entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, speakers,

and authors.

For the past 23 years she's helped clients and seminar

participants shine as guests on CBS’ 60 Minutes,

Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox

News, Bill O’Reilly, Larry King Live, The Food Network,

etc. You may know her as the "Go To Girl" for getting on Oprah. But what you

probably don’t know is that she was almost sold into slavery to a Bedouin

Sheik in Israel for 10 camels and a mule. With her guidance, dozens of people who work with her privately and in

courses, have consistently succeeded in doubling or tripling their income with

PR (and sometimes even without!) by using sound bites effectively.

She also designs pre-publicity programs and strategies to prepare clients for

media interviews. If they don't yet have a website, traffic, products or a

platform she shows them how to get those too.


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Personal Note If you’d like to become a client I’d be delighted to know more about you.

Please let me know how I can help you here:

www.susanharrow.com/consultation

print interview secrets - susan harro · · 2016-09-25acclaimed klezmer musician in europe ......

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