Changing the Conversation: Practical tips on using media interviews for narrative change

Talking with media–including interviews on radio, broadcast and print news, podcasts and more–is a big part of social change work. When we talk about saturating the public conversation with an idea and gathering many voices to advance this idea, or polyvocality, we know from experience that you need to share your ideas in the media to achieve both. Not having a lot of control over the content that’s produced can be challenging. But that doesn’t mean you can’t head into that interview prepared and ready to share stories that uplift helpful narratives.?

Over the last three years, we’ve had many Changemakers and other partners approach us for suggestions and resources for media training. While there are a lot of resources out there, most of what we found are issue specific, or require fees, or an application, which can be prohibitive to most people. We referred Ella Baker Center’s Marlene Sanchez to the Women’s Media Center, whose training program prepares leaders to be experts on their SheSource database to connect with journalists and other media reps.? We’ve shared tips for trauma-informed interviewing with partners at Race Forward’s HEAL Together campaign. RadComms leader and narrative strategist Shanelle Matthews offers paid media training.?

But in all our searches and inquiry, we couldn’t find an issue-agnostic media training with a narrative lens. So, with decades of journalism experience and training between us, we set out to create accessible resources that can be shared with wider audiences. Our goal is to support frontline communities–those most impacted by an issue–with a guide on how to retain agency and stay focused on both short-term campaign goals and long-term narrative strategy while practicing the art of being interviewed, aka speaking in soundbytes.?

We’ve recently partnered with one of our Word Force advisors Eliza Bates, a movement organizer and communications strategist with decades of experience training workers how to be interviewed. In her training, she focuses on helping people connect the story of me to the story of us. Together we helped connect the story of me and the story of us to the underlying narrative themes and ideas that spread with those stories, whether intentional or not. Identifying and naming the themes and ideas that will make your work easier in the long run helps to make sure that the stories you’re telling about yourself represent the bigger “we” reflected in those helpful narratives.?

So what does that all mean? For us, the most important ways to achieve all the things are practicing telling your story, identifying the most compelling details that draw people in, knowing who you’re talking to, why you want to talk to them, what you want them to remember and what you want them to do with the information. And here are some practical tips from resources we’ve created and reviewed.

Before the Interview

Saying No?

All press isn’t good press. Despite popular belief, all press is not good press. If the publication has a history of uplifting harmful narratives or using quotes in harmful ways, it’s better to pass on an interview. Press that uplifts harmful narratives is like one step forward, two steps back.?

Background Check?

It’s also okay to ask the interviewer for background before saying yes to the interview. You can ask things like what their goal is for what they’re producing and who else are going to be sources. Those questions might reveal their angle and help you better decide what stories to share.?

Who Am I to You???

You can also ask about how you’re going to be described – for example, if you’re formerly incarcerated you can ask for the publication style guide that will let you know whether they’re going to refer to you humanely or not.?

Pre-Publication Read?

You can ask the interviewer whether you can see the article or your quotes prior to publication. Some journalists might say no and that’s another chance to decide if you feel safe moving forward.??

Questions to Ask Yourself?

• What do you want people to remember?
• What’s my story in two minutes or less?
• How does my story connect to the bigger picture in two minutes or less?
• What do you want people to do or what change needs to happen?

Practice Practice Practice

Mock interviews with friends or colleagues is a great way to practice the language of interviews that as Eliza points out in her training, isn’t natural to any of us and is a learned skill.?

During the Interview

Consent?

You can revoke consent at any time.?

Breathe?

Pause if you need to. If it’s live radio or television, you can say, “That’s a great question, let me think for a moment.”

Redirect?

Eliza advises that if an interviewer asks a question that you don’t want to answer, answer the question you wish they had asked. You can reply with, “That’s an interesting question, but what you should really be asking is….” In a recent training, a participant asked if this would upset or frustrate the interviewer. Maybe, but this is what politicians, spokespeople, and public figures of all kinds do day in and day out. The interviewer might be frustrated, but that doesn’t mean you need to accommodate them to answer bad questions that play into harmful narratives that don’t propel the story forward.?

Keep it Short

Try to keep your answers to 60 seconds or less. Bring it back to those compelling personal stories that illustrate the facts and figures your story represents.?

After the Interview?

Stay in Touch?

Keep communicating with the interviewer for updates.

Fact Check?

Remind the interviewer that you want to review your quotes and/or the story before publication.

Remember?

It is never too late to withdraw if you are misrepresented.

Make a Plan?

Strategize ways to share the media with your networks. What additional context can you provide that’s not included in the media that was produced? Who do you want to be reading/listening/watching?

We’re in the process of developing downloadable and shareable resources. We’d also love to hear from you all about interview resources you’ve used in your work. We know it’s entirely possible we missed some fantastic open source interview prep with a narrative lens and are always on the lookout for more we can highlight and share.?