I saw an interesting post on a real estate forum the other day.  The agent talked about an interview she had done for her local media about the real estate market in her area.  She wasn’t entirely pleased with what was published based on her comments.

I’m no media expert, but I have had been interviewed for one thing or another a couple times, and I was entirely pleased with the result, either.  So, I decided to do some investigation on the topic, and found some extremely reasonable and easy tips for handling the media.

1.  Find Out Everything You Can About the Interviewer

We all know that every publication has their own agenda.  And, the real estate market is a subject of a lot of press these days – both bad and good.  So, your first step if you’re contacted for an interview is to do the following:

• Ask the interviewer not only what the subject of the article is, but what angle is being pursued.  If the market in your area is slow, you want to know if the interviewer is interested in finding information to describe how bad the market is, or wants to find the silver lining.
• Ask the interviewer if anyone else is being interviewed for the same article, and if so, get their names.  Given this information, you can get a feel for what the other parties might say.
• Ask the interviewer how long the interview will last.  That will give you an idea of how many questions might be asked.
• Read other articles written by the reporter you’ll be talking to.  You’ll gain insight into their style.

2.  Help the Interviewer to Help Yourself

Reporters are usually very busy – sound familiar?  So, if you can help them prepare for your discussion, they’ll usually be appreciative.  Get an email address and send the reporter a bit of background information, and some sample questions that you would be most qualified to answer.  Sometimes the reporter will use the questions verbatim.

3.  Put Yourself in the Reporter’s Shoes

Think about what the reporter is going to be doing during your interview.  Lots of interviews are done via telephone.  I remember hearing the reporter taping away on a keyboard during the interview I gave recently.  Now that it’s been pointed out in the research I did, it’s obvious that the reporter isn’t going to record the interview and then go back to pick out the most important things that were said.  They’re going to be pretty much shooting from the hip.

So, if you start an answer with three sentences, what do you think the odds are they’re going to catch all of that?  Right – pretty low.  Now I have more sympathy for people who keep repeating the same “sound bites” during a series of interviews.  They know that if they don’t get their point across in a few words, the real answer to a question will get lost.

4.  Develop Key Talking Points

You need to create your own sound bites in response to questions you either provided to the reporter, or that you anticipate you might be asked.  And, you need to present your answer in the order the reporter will probably write it:  start with your main point, then expand on it with facts or anecdotes to support it.  For example, let’s say the question is:  How is your real estate business doing this year?

The Wrong Answer:  My business is down 50% from last year.  It is taking longer for buyers to make a decision, and sellers are very often unrealistic about the value of their home in today’s market.  But, since I had an outstanding year last year, I’d say the level of activity in the market is just about normal right now.

That’s the wrong answer because what do you think the reporter will grab onto?  The first “sound bite” saying that the market is down 50%.  It’s a perfectly normal answer for a regular conversation, because people often lead up to a conclusion.  For an interview, you need to turn it around.

Start with the conclusion or “sound bite” you want the reporter to take away with them, then add a couple points to support it.  You don’t want to lie, of course, if your market is soft.

Another Approach:  I’m seeing an average year in terms of the level of sales being closed.  There are a lot of buyers and sellers in the market.  The pace of the buying and selling is going a bit slower, but we’re seeing an average number of closings.

In preparing for the interview, you might decide not to mention that you had a banner year last year. 

5.  Practice!

How long does a typical interview last?  I don’t know.  But, even if it’s only a 10-15 minute conversation, the resulting article will have an impact on how you present yourself in your marketplace. 

Practicing your answers to the questions you anticipate will go a long way toward ensuring that you don’t walk away from the experience feeling like you’ve been misquoted.

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Of course, these tips are only a starting point.  There’s a lot of information around about how to handle media interviews.  If you’re really serious, you can also get a media coach.  But, if you’re in a position where a local reporter wants to interview you for an article, I hope these tips give you a head start on being prepared!