I recently had a new on-the-job experience I’d like to share. For the most part, our publicists do not get a chance to sit and listen in on the interviews we set up between reporters and our clients’ spokespeople. We always see the end result — the edited-down final version you see in a magazine or on your local evening news — but we don’t often get to hear exactly what happens in that initial conversation.
Last week I arranged a phone interview between the health editor at Oprah.com and one of our clients. What is also exciting is that I was able to sit in on the conversation. It was very interesting to listen to the dynamic between the two. I could easily tell the editor was very impressed by the information that was shared. Even I learned some surprising new nuggets of knowledge: did you know that hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish detergent can get rid of skunk odor?
Being able to listen in on the conversation is also a great way for me to immediately follow up with the editor afterwards to make sure our client’s messaging is clear. “I noticed you really seemed interested when talking about this particular issue … I’d be happy to pull some additional research or photos on the topic to help you complete the story.”
I can’t wait to read the story when it finally gets posted. It will be very interesting to see which slices of the conversation made cut into the final article.
