Use Key Messages To Get More Media Clout In ANY Medium

The most effective way for organizations and individuals to communicate essential information to the media, and through them to a wider audience, is in the form of “key messages.”

And the best way to format key messages is, in turn, in bite-sized chunks, often referred to as "soundbites." They are short, concise, power-packed capsules of information.

Soundbites are most effective when formatted into a structure that is like a mini-sandwich (surprise, surprise - see the Bull's Eye Model™). The "sandwich" starts with a headline, and is filled with some or all of the following:

• proof of of why the headline statement is true
• examples of how the headline statement is true
• benefits that will ensue from the headline statement

The mini-sandwich is capped with a "close line," a finishing statement that mirrors the headline. The close line clearly and concisely restates the main point.

Media spokespeople use key messages formatted in this way all the time, and the educated ear can often pick them out during TV, radio, and other electronic media newscasts. But the best time to to observe spokespeople using key messages is during live news events, such as news conferences broadcast live during a crisis situation.

Live news conferences are rarely rebroadcast or reprinted in their entirety, because they are far too long to be interesting to viewers/listeners/readers. The media takes the information gleaned from news conferences, news releases, and other material given to them by news sources, and edits it to fit their editorial platforms and formats.

This process results in a constant push and pull between people and organizations who want to get their message out to the wider public, and journalists, who sort, analyze and repackage the same information to provide what they see as a more objective and unbiased stories.

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post put it like this when Al Jazeera first entered the worldwide media landscape in 2001:

I recorded the key message below during a live news conference broadcast shortly after 9/11, just as the US began to bomb Afghanistan. Ari Fleischer, who was masterful at his job, was the White House spokesperson at the time.

Here's what one of his key messages sounded like:

Key messages  are highly effective tools, particularly when used in combination with an answering technique called “bridging,” in which you answer the question and then bridge  to the key message.

Before you  participate in a media interview, news conference, or briefing, make sure you have three to five  key messages  that you know by heart, and that  you can deliver with confidence. Focus on repeating your key messages  several times  during the course of the interview,  conference, or briefing.  Key messages can also be used to good effect in speeches and presentations.

Related links:

Key Messages: Cool Data Capsules