WASHINGTON – Medicine and health are so often in the news that it may be worthwhile to be prepared to do interviews in a variety of media, Ms. Patricia A. Clark said at a meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
“The physician today cannot possibly get through his or her entire career professionally without talking to the media, so you better be ready,” said Ms. Clark, a communications expert in media training, speech coaching, and message development from Ogden Dunes, Ind. “You do have a good story to tell, right? So the trick is how to tell it.”
Before one tries to get a particular message across during an interview, it is necessary to understand the medium through which the message is delivered (television, radio, print) and the messenger.
“If you don't understand the medium you're working with … and if you aren't an appealing messenger–and I don't mean handsome or beautiful, I mean eager, avid, happy to be here,” she said, then the interview “won't matter. We will have 'remoted' you out before you get to the message.”
Stories on the evening news are packaged into preset lengths: a 90-second story, which normally provides 10–20 seconds for commentary from the physician; or a 110-second story, which could provide 30–40 seconds if the sound bite is good or just 10–20 seconds if it is not. When a person goes on and on and does not deliver a succinct message in those time frames, the media will pull out a piece of what was said when they are putting the story together, leaving the potential for misquotation.
“You're going to say, 'You misquoted me. You took me out of context,' while the media will say, 'No, we tried to save you,'” Ms. Clark said.
The television camera diminishes appearance and does not catch subtlety, so it is necessary to restore what it takes away by increasing your smile, perk, and warmth. And on television, “every time you look away, you give away: You give away believability,” she said.
The media likes conflict and controversy, visuals, and emotion, which “for doctors means pulling patients out of your pocket … and putting a face on the complex issues” rather than drawing attention to yourself and your or your specialty's problems, she said.
Stories on the radio are not too much different from television, but the lack of a visual element puts more focus on what is said, so verbs and nouns have to be more illustrative and carry more weight.
Newspaper stories are now smaller than ever, and interview subjects may get only an inch or two of space–the media savvy will be higher in the story while those who are not end up at the bottom, a place fewer people read and that is more likely to be cut for space, according to Ms. Clark.
You are apt to be stuck at the bottom of a story if you are called at 9 a.m. to do an interview and the reporter's deadline is 3 p.m., but you decide to call the reporter back at 2:50 p.m. By doing this, you've hurt yourself and your colleagues. The story is blank at 9 a.m., but it's all ready to go at 2:50 p.m., and other sources have already weighed in with their interpretations of the issue. Your quote will be stuck at the bottom because it is too late to try to integrate it into the story, she said.
“Start thinking about what the press needs rather than what you need, because when you figure out what [they] need, you'll figure out how to get what you need,” Ms. Clark said.
Easy practice may be found in the form of a cable access channel that few people watch. Volunteer to be on a show and talk about clinical topics you know well. Talk or call-in radio is another option. Every time you take a call, practice bridging back to your core message, she said.