A month or so ago, I presented a short lunch session to the Knoxville Area Medical Group Management Association, focused on how physicians and practice administrators can better handle themselves while in the midst of a media crisis/situation.
The goal of the session was not a tutorial on how to “sidestep” a reporter’s questions…but rather, how to represent your business in a responsible way, while preserving your company’s brand equity AND while becoming a future trusted source to the reporters and editors.
That’s no small feat when you’re under pressure (and acutely aware of the media’s focus!). The folks at East Tennessee Medical News asked to publish excerpts of my speech in their August issue, and you can find it here.
While my session was aimed at medical professionals dealing with weighty issues such as malpractice, medical wrongdoing and even emergency situations, the summarized checklist has some general points that can be useful to most any profession as “things to remember to do and say while in the fray.”
Bottom line: few of us really know how we’ll perform when the negative spotlight is turned on us. But if you learn the basics of how to talk with the media and assist them in relaying a timely, accurate story to their public, you’ll gain their respect. And, maybe they’ll consider you as that solid, trusted source….or even a credible expert in your field!
