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A news story usually revolves around one theme – rarely more than three fundamental ideas, because otherwise the story would be too complex to be easily understood.
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There is room for remarkably little information in a typical newspaper story or broadcast news item.
Therefore, aim to talk clearly on one theme. It is unlikely you will be able to convey more than a couple of ideas in an interview, particularly for short broadcast interviews.
Strong and consistent messages can influence the focus of a news story and help control what angle the journalist takes. We need to spend some time to prepare and internalise the key messages that we want to convey.
Spokespeople do better when they are able to express words that are their own rather than following a script.
So, try to use the media message sheet as a way to help yourself to prepare but not to be over reliant. You should not have a big pile of notes at an interview. You should be able to talk without prompts.
