1. AlloA Advertiser Clackmannanshire’s Paper Wednesday 28th May, 2014 49
Question
I have been asked to do an in-
terview on my business for the lo-
cal newspaper – do you have any
advice on how to do media inter-
views? We asked Sarah Fishwick,
Marketing Adviser at Business
Gateway, Clackmannanshire for
some tips.
Answer
This is a fantastic opportunity to
publicise your business and I rec-
ommend that you follow these 10
helpful tips to ensure that you per-
form well during the interview.
Whether the interview is live,
pre-recorded, a phone-in, one-to-
one press interview, or even at a
press conference the same princi-
ples apply.
1. Be prepared and keep it sim-
ple. For a news piece that is live,
you are only likely to have the
opportunity to make between 1-3
main points so know in advance
what you are going to say. Try to
keep them punchy sentences, last-
ing around 20-30 seconds.
2. Research some key facts relat-
ing to your area of work and pro-
vide a general understanding of
your organisation, but do not talk
about an area that you don’t know
much about.
3. Do not be tempted to introduce
new ideas during the interview.
Stick to your main points.
4. Don’t talk about anything that
is controversial or that makes you
and/or the company accountable.
5. Never be persuaded to com-
ment on or to confirm what the
journalist says unless you are abso-
lutely sure of your and your organi-
sation’s position.
6. Focus on questions and answer
accordingly without discussing
things you do not want to talk about
e.g. money, personal life etc.
7. If you are asked a question
and you don’t know the answer, be
truthful and just say so but be help-
ful at the same time by suggesting
who might be able to help, or say
you are “unable to comment with-
out access to further information,
but what I can tell you is that…”
8. Where possible say the ‘name
of organisation or ‘we’ and avoid
jargon!
9. Don’t say anything that you
would not want to read about, even
an off the cuff remark could be
printed or broadcasted.
10. Don’t criticise other busi-
nesses; speaking about others neg-
atively wastes time that you could
be talking about your own business.
Not to mention it makes you look
bad.
For more information on mar-
keting your business, or to speak
to a Business Gateway adviser,
call 01259 208426 or visit www.
bgateway.com/local-offices/
Clackmannanshire.
business LikeusonFacebook
www.facebook.com/alloaadvertiser
business
Advertiser
Got a business story
to tell? email us on
editorial@alloaadvertiser.co.uk
or phone on 01259 230631
Ten steps to making your
business hot off the press
PRUDENTIALapprentices from across cen-
tral Scotland have formally ‘graduated’from
theirtraining programme at a ceremony held
in the company’s Stirling office.
One such individual is Matthew
Hollingsworth (20), fromAlloa, who em-
barked upon the PrudentialApprenticeship
Programme aftercoming across an online
advert while studying at college.
He said, “It looked like a great opportunity
so I decided to apply and was lucky to be of-
fered a position as a sales support consultant.
“My role involves supporting Prudential’s
team of in-house financial advisers.The team
has been really welcoming and throughout
my time at Prudential I’ve been able to work
with a numberof different teams and even
travel to Reading to give some extra support
to a team there.
“One of my highlights has to be climbing
Mount Snowdon last yearforourteam’s
summerchallenge – it was a great way of get-
ting to know my colleagues better.
“Being an apprentice has also been a great
confidence boosterforme. It’s allowed me to
develop valuable business skills and I’m de-
lighted to have been offered a permanent role
as a sales support consultant at Prudential.”
Cathy Lewis, Prudential UK & Europe
Corporate Services Director, said the first
yearof the programme had been a huge
success.
She commented, “We’re immensely proud
of the achievements of ourfirst Prudential
apprentices.
“From the outset the aim of the scheme
was to give them the skills and experience
to be able to take the next step in their
careerjourney, whetherthat’s a role with
Prudential, with anotherorganisation, orgo-
ing on to highereducation.”
The PrudentialApprenticeship
Programme, which began in 2013, offers a
high quality, work-based training scheme
which allows apprentices to achieve a recog-
nised vocational qualification, as well as all
important work-based skills.
It is based around a 12-month training con-
tract, with all apprentices being paid in line
with the National LivingWage.
Prudent Matthew
graduates after his
“great opportunity”
ask the expert with