Good advices

• Before the interview

  Create an overview of the story

  The best advice when a journalist calls and wants to interview you is to get an overview of the framework.  This means that it's a good idea to ask what angle you'll be working on, what context you'll be part of, when the story will be published, etc.

  Ask for an interview framework

  Especially for radio or TV appearances, it may be relevant to ask for an interview framework to be sent to you. This means that the journalist sends an overview of the main topics that will be asked about during the interview. Most journalists will be reluctant to send the specific questions as this can lead to rehearsed answers and a poorer result.
  
  The willingness to adapt will vary from journalist to journalist, just as it will from researcher to researcher. A good idea is always to make an agreement from the start about how everything is going to work and work together to find the best possible conditions for both parties.

  Make an agreement on quotes for review

  Enter records are not obliged to send your quotes for review, but they almost always want to because they want their product to be of high quality and without errors. When you're being interviewed, you may be communicating complex subject matter, which is why you may even be able to receive the entire text so that you can qualify the professional basis.

  Journalists' reluctance to disclose quotes is often seen with party sources, such as politicians. As a researcher, you are often an expert source.

  When you are sent a text, it is important to respect the journalist's professionalism and product. You can demand that factually incorrect information or misquotes are corrected, but the actual wording of the text is the journalist's choice, and you should not object to this as long as it does not give a misleading impression to the reader. Often corrections are made by the journalist only to make the text easier to understand.

  If it's not an interview for the written press, but perhaps for radio or TV, you usually can't have your statements reviewed - maybe in larger productions with longer deadlines, but obviously not if it's live.

   

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• During the interview

  What is your role?

  You have complete freedom to express yourself as you wish, but it is wise to emphasise whether you are speaking as a researcher/professional or a private individual.

  For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several experts were criticised for their statements that were otherwise based on their own research or general evidence, perhaps because someone mistook the professional arguments for opinion, or perhaps because of the harsh tone that can occur especially on social media.

  Stick to the facts

  Stick to the academic content of the topic. Play on your home turf, so to speak, stick to your subject area and let the decision-makers decide how to solve any problems.

  For example, during the mink scandal, the experts from SSI only stated that, based on their knowledge, there was a risk to public health by letting the minks live - the quotes were not about how the government should act.

  Formulate key messages

  Before you make a statement, think about what you want to get across in the story. Consider two or three messages that you think are the most important to get across. Formulate them into a series of key phrases that you can focus on and lean on.

  Keep it simple

  If you've been researching or speaking about a complicated subject area, it can be beneficial to use different images and analogies to explain your message. Difficult technical terms can make your statements difficult to understand and make you appear elitist - and you risk not getting your knowledge and message across.

  Think about your body language

  If you're being interviewed for television, it's a good idea to think about your posture. Don't stand with your arms crossed and look like you're under attack or don't want to be there. Enjoy the fact that there is interest in your field of expertise and that you have the opportunity to share it widely.

   

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• After the interview

  If the outcome is not as agreed

  You can complain to a journalist or media outlet if incorrect information is published or you are misquoted in an article, TV or radio programme. It could also be that the final result is too sharply focussed and therefore lacks some nuances.

  In most cases, this can be resolved by contacting the journalist - they may have misunderstood what you said and will quickly correct it. In more serious cases, it may be necessary to go to the editor or management of the media outlet to make amends. This may result in the error being clearly stated and corrected, and in very bad cases, the article may be retracted.

  If there is a disagreement between you and the media, you can turn to the Press Complaints Board, which examines journalistic work and assesses whether the journalist has acted in accordance with the rules of press ethics.

  In these situations, SDU Communication is happy to assist with guidance.

   

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• Body language in the media

  Body language is a wordless and non-verbal communication and passes through a combination of posture, facial expressions, eye movements and gestures. Body language is often interpreted unconsciously.

  If your body sends the right signals, you can inspire trust and respect and get viewers to listen. But many people concentrate almost exclusively on verbal communication and forget that body language is an equally important part of a good interview. And if there's a discrepancy between what you say and the signals your body sends, you'll struggle to be convincing.

  Body language when you're on TV

  In the 1970s, psychologist Albert Mehrabian realised that body language and non-verbal communication have a much greater impact on how we perceive others than the spoken word:

  • How much do the words you say matter? 7 per cent.
  • How much does your tone of voice, voice volume, speech rhythm matter? 38 per cent.
  • How much does your body language (facial expressions, gestures) matter? 55%.

  Mehrabian studied how people interpret emotions and attitudes in communication - not how all communication works in general and for research dissemination in particular, it's probably a stretch with only 7 per cent to the words you say.
  
  But body language is essential to your communication because we humans are experts at reading and understanding each other's body language. From a very young age, we've practised decoding the signals other people send - are they angry, scared, sad, tired, disappointed, or something else entirely? Very few people are aware of what their own body is telling them, but it's a great advantage to know the signals we send with our bodies in order to work purposefully with them.

  Four steps to good body language

  1. Good posture

  It's important that you are neither under or over tense. Both the overextended and underextended posture create bad conditions for your voice and both postures send a bad signal.

  If you're underextended, you signal indifference, while an overextended posture can easily make you appear tense, nervous and distant.

  Good posture is when the individual parts of the skeleton rest on each other and you use as little muscular effort as possible to stay upright.

  By having good posture, you achieve a state of readiness where your body is ready to move. It signals energy and dynamism and gives you better physical support to back up your words.

  2. Natural gestures

  Gestures are all about how you use your arms and hands when you speak. The main rule is that your gestures should support what you are saying.

  Make sure you use your hands and arms in a calm and steady way and at a pace that matches what you are saying. Avoid distracting gestures like straightening your hair, pushing your glasses back, touching your ear or clicking your pen. This shifts attention from what you're saying to what your hands are doing.

  3. Present facial expressions

  Just like gestures, facial expressions should be natural. The most important thing is eye contact and smiling.

  Making eye contact with the interviewer is a good way to ensure that you appear present. At the same time, it maintains attention. Eye contact also allows you to sense whether the interviewer is with you or falling away.

  In most situations, it's also a good idea to smile once in a while - even before you start talking. It makes you seem approachable.

  4. Practise

  It takes time to change old habits, so if you want to change your body language you need to work on it regularly and often. For example, use your mirror in the morning to check your posture. Ask a colleague or a good friend to notice if you have any distracting habits (like pushing your glasses or straightening your hair).

  You can also watch your interviews afterwards if possible. That way you can see what you're doing well and what you might need to work on. It can be challenging, but very educational.

   

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• If you have a story you would like to sell to the media

  If you have new knowledge or new results from your research, you can contact a media outlet and suggest they run a story about your subject area and new results.

  It's important to be prepared to help the journalist visualise the story.

  Considerations before contacting a media outlet

  Which media is right for the story? Is it particularly relevant to a specific target group (e.g. young people, school teachers, Jews, etc.) and are there any media that best reach that target group? If it's a very technically complex story, might it be best suited to a trade magazine?

  Be clear about what's new and exciting in your story - and not least, how your new research can benefit society. Try to summarise it in one sentence.

  Do you have a case in the form of a 'real' person who can and will stand for an interview and put a perspective and human face on the story? If there isn't a case, this is often where the story falls flat from the press point of view. Have a solution in mind.

  There may be a lot of information in your story that requires a little close reading by a journalist who is not as well versed in the subject as you are. Therefore, have a short text ready that you can offer to send to the journalist after your interview. The text should include a little more about the new results and contact information for relevant parties.

  Get help and advice

  To best prepare yourself for pitching your story to the press, you can get advice and help from the faculty's communications department or contact SDU Communication at presse@sdu.dk.

   

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