Unless you’ve been living on Planet Zog for the last few months, it won’t have escaped your notice that there’s a rather large sporting event happening in the UK this summer. Just this week it was announced that there are only 100 days left until the opening ceremony.
There isn’t a person in the land who doesn’t have immense admiration for Team GB. Many of us think that we can only dream of reaching such a level, but actually we have all been there in a way.
Remember sports day as a child? The egg and spoon race or the sack race? What was it like to have either won or lost? We can all connect with the tears of joy or that sense of failure.
So, as over 20,000 journalists descend on London this summer, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s the human stories that they want. The challenges and triumphs of everyone involved in the Olympics is what will make the headlines. Yes, they want the statistics on how fast, how long, how much money, but the key is the human story. It’s humans that bring news stories to life.
It’s the same for all businesses. Journalists, and importantly their audiences, don’t want to know about ‘output statistics’ or ‘improved processes’. They want something they know their readers or viewers can engage and identify with. They want to know how these statistics and processes will affect the lives of their readers. Deliver them that and you stand more chance of controlling your message in the media.
It would be great to hear about your stories, successes or lessons learnt when dealing with the media so feel free to comment below.
For tips on how to manage media interviews with journalists effectively please click here.
