INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 1. Traditional and Nontraditional Interviewing Styles. Used in the Field of Public Relations

Transcription

1 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 1 Traditional and Nontraditional Interviewing Styles Used in the Field of Public Relations Chloe Slavin John Carroll University CO Dr. Jacqueline Schmidt December

2 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 2 Abstract This paper explores the traditional and nontraditional interviewing styles used by a PR professional based on previous research I conducted prior to the interview. These interviewing styles include face-to-face, phone, and even video conferencing. The articles used in this paper analyze several different characteristics of interviewing for PR and media professionals from varying points of view. Gillen (2014) discusses tactics to handle a difficult situations, while It focuses on the following ideas: how technology has shaped the way interviews are conducted, Krattenmaker (2000) offers how to get the best type of content out of an interview (e.g. tips for preparation, follow up questions, etc.) and Schwartz examines the main purpose of the interviews PR professionals conduct (1963). I had a phone interview with Cari Wildasinn from Fahlgren Mortine, a marketing and communications agency, who serves as an Account Supervisor and shared her past experiences with interviewing and gave more insight about these topics and interviewing styles. Field Project For the field project, I investigated how interviewing is used in the career of a public relations professional. I interviewed Cari Wildasinn who is an Account Supervisor at Fahlgren Mortine, one of the nation s largest marketing and communications firm. As part of her position, Cari specializes in social media content development strategy, community management and counsel; blogger campaigns and relations, and national media relations, as well as account management for a variety of consumer and education accounts. When researching the type of interviewing I wanted to research, I wanted to first focus on how and who were interviews conducted with the most. Based on the role of a PR professional, speaking to media relations was a huge part of their job and managing clients so I wanted to analyze traditional and

3 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 3 nontraditional forms of interviewing used such as face-to-face, phone and . I also wanted to draw attention to how technology has played a role in how interviewing in conducted. In comparison to my previous outline, I completely revised it after I researched a bit more about interviewing in the field of public relations. For example, one article discussed as news outlets continue to proliferate in an age of cable television and the Internet, organizations are challenged to practice media relations with greater sophistication than ever (Krattenmaker, 2000) which prompted me to want learn more about this challenge that they were faced with. Another aspect of interviewing I wanted to learn about was the type of content that was covered. As we have learned in class, it s important to have a somewhat structured schedule of questions but I wanted to gain a better understanding of how to obtain the best information from that conversation. In an article I discovered that those with a background in journalism probably have a edge on the rest of us who are left to our own devices (Gillen, 2014). After researching the backgrounds of potential interviewing candidates, I learned that my interviewee Cari had a journalism background, which allowed me to ask about how to become a better interviewer without an educational background in it. Another part of interviewing I wanted to learn to understand during my interview was the purpose of interviewing. In an older article I read that one need interviewing provides is building understanding of marketing research [and to] help prospective respondents become better informed about the process and significance (Schwartz, 1963). This inspired me then to learn if these statements were applicable to a PR professional in their interviewing experiences. From these components of research I found, I based my questions off these key picture ideas in my schedule of questions.

4 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 4 Original Schedule of Questions For my original schedule of questions, they were a lot broader in which I eliminated them and started from scratch after the research I conducted. Below is my original list of questions, but I revised all of it. 1. How important is interviewing to you as a professional? 2. How often do you conduct interviews in your profession? a. Who do you conduct interviews for? b. Who do you conduct them with? Focus groups? Clients? 3. What do you find difficult about interviewing someone or a group of people? 4. What is primarily the purpose of the interviews you conduct? 5. Do you interview candidates for positions at your company? a. What do you look for a potential candidate? b. How important is their interview presence compared to their experience? 6. What issues have arised when conducting a survey? 7. How do you prepare for when you interview someone? 8. How do you prepare for when someone is going to be interviewing you? 9. Which interviewing style do you prefer? Face to face, phone, videoconferencing? 10. Where is the best place to conduct an interview? a. How do you ignore distractions, if there are any, during an interview? i. From an interviewer standpoint. ii. From an interviewee standpoint. 11. What do you recommend interviewees/potential candidates do before coming to your company for an interview? 12. How do you keep an interview on track with the questions/topics you want to ask? a. How do you bring back the central focus of the interview? 13. How important is probing during an interview? 14. What if your interview doesn t provide you enough information, what do you do? 15. What makes a good interview? 16. How to do narrow down who you want to interview to learn more information about a topic? 17. How do you differentiate your interviewing style as a PR/marketing professional from a journalism professional? 18. How do you like to take notes while interviewing someone? 19. Why should marketing/pr professionals care about interviewing? 20. Do you have to know how to properly interview in this profession? a. How can someone prepare for interviews (being interviewed or conducting an interview)?

5 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 5 Schedule of Questions In my interviewing principles class we were assigned a field project about how interview methods are applied in a career we are interested. Since I am interested in the field of public relations, for this project I will be interviewing Cari Wildasinn. She works at Fahlgren Mortine, a marketing and communications agency, and serves as an Account Supervisor at their Cleveland Office. Cari specializes in social media content development strategy, community management and counsel; blogger campaigns and relations, and national media relations, as well as account management for a variety of consumer and education accounts. This interview will be about 25 minutes long and will discuss in depth how interviewing methods and approaches are applied to a variety of areas in public relations. Cari, once again thank you so much being to speak with me. I know you have a very busy schedule right now, but I really do appreciate you being able to squeeze this interview in today. (rapport) 1. Initially, people do not connect interviewing with public relations professionals but rather journalists. Can you explain how interviewing has pertained to your current position? a. When you need to conduct an interview with someone, who do interview (e.g. clients)? i. What is the purpose of the interview you are conducting? ii. How do you plan ahead before you interview them? 1. When planning out questions, how structured or unstructured are your schedule of questions? a. Do you follow this schedule exactly? 2. How do you take notes during an interview? b. What other past interviewing experiences have you had in your career (whether that be in past/current positions)? 2. How often are you interviewed?

6 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 6 a. If so, what is it typically for? i. What information are the interviewers trying to get out of you? 3. What s been the biggest challenge you ve faced when interviewing someone? i. How do you overcome interviewees that give very little information or speak too much? 4. Could you tell me how you determine which type of interview method (such as face to face, phone, , survey etc.) is most appropriate for an interview? a. It s evident that communication has been shaped by the digital age, and a lot of interview and survey methods are performed electronically. Would you say most methods will continue to be conducted less and less face to face? b. What method do you use most frequently? i. What makes it a good choice for you? (e.g. convenience, etc.) c. Which method do you use the least frequently? i. Why do not use this method? 1. Would you like to use this method more in the future? 5. How often does Fahlgren Mortine use surveys? a. If so, what are these surveys for? i. Are you responsible in aiding a team of people creating these surveys? b. If not, why do you think they do not use them? i. Do you think surveys can a big benefit to the company, when understanding clients target audiences? Why? c. Most surveys are sent out electronically to individuals. What are the pros and cons of this? i. Do you think the results of the survey can be accurate? 6. How often does Fahlgren Mortine use focus groups? a. If so, what are these surveys for? b. If not, why do you think they do not use them? 7. Even if a company is NOT using surveys or focus groups related to their work, it important to have knowledge about these two types of interview methods? a. If you are not in charge of conducting surveys and focus groups, who is in then? 8. So, it s necessary is it to have good interviewing skills as a PR professional? a. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to individuals in PR that need perform an interview? 9. Is there anything else you d like to add about interviewing methods relating to your career in PR? CLOSE: Well thank you so much for your time, Cari for sharing how interviewing relates to your career in PR/marketing. Those are all the questions I had for you today. I will let you know if I need any more information. Manuscript of Interview: Chloe: In my interviewing principles class we were assigned a field project about how interview methods are applied in a career we are interested. Since I am interested in the field of public

7 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 7 relations, for this project I will be interviewing Cari Wildasinn. She works at Fahlgren Mortine, a marketing and communications agency, and serves as an Account Supervisor at their Cleveland Office. Cari specializes in social media content development strategy, community management and counsel; blogger campaigns and relations, and national media relations, as well as account management for a variety of consumer and education accounts. This interview will last about 25 minutes long and will discuss in depth how interviewing methods and approaches are applied to a variety of areas in public relations. Cari, once again thank you so much being to speak with me. I know you have a very busy schedule right now, but I really do appreciate you being able to squeeze this interview in. Cari: No yeah it s my pleasure, completely. (:56) 1. Chloe: Yeah so first off, I just wanted to initially to say that you know most do connect- do not connect interviewing with public relations professionals but journalists. But can you explain, about how interviewing has pertained to your current position? Cari: Absolutely. So umm, I would say that I feel like I interview people as much as a journalist. In that- in working especially with national media relations, um we do a lot of writing in public relations that requires a lot of research. So at any given moment, I might even be interviewing our client as if they were- you know as if I were a journalist and they were my- um my topic of conversation for a story just to get a lot of great information and a lot times we call that story mining. And usually afterwards we re doing story mining which feels very much like a formal interview, they we re really able to go out to the media with a strong pitch- um the other thing that you know I would say with interviewing- um- is that with media a lot of times we work directly with media to write a story. So sometimes we end up, either training our spokes people in advance by doing mock interviews, or actually conducting the interview on behalf of the reporter. And a lot of times that happens via which is um- ya know just kind of a product of the 24/7 news cycle I think but um- yeah I would say any given day I really do feel like I interview someone almost every single day. (2:39) 2. Chloe: That s great, so you would say that typically clients are the ones you typically interview the most? Cari: I would say- uh yeah typically our media spokespeople are the ones that we really work hard to- like I said do mock interviews with before they talk with a member of the media. Um, in addition, it might not be our direct client but if we re working for example with a university we may interview a professor at that university about something interesting that they re doing that we then may take to national media to try to get placement. (3:16)

8 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 8 3. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely that s great. Um and then how do you typically plan ahead for these interviews? Cari: So typically in advance in an interview we ll do what we call a full media-briefing sheet. So that typically can be anything from sample interview questions and answers so we will go as far as provide- ya know some ways that our client could answer questions if given that in an interview um we do key talking points um we- we aren t always given the opportunity from a reporter to know the questions in advance in an interview that they have for one of our clients so it s really up to us to gauge what might be asked so that s how we put on our reporter hats and say well if I was interviewed this is what I would be asking and that s not just how could ve questions that could be answering- anticipating some tougher questions um- and making sure that our clients are really ready to answer those. 4. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely. So like when you plan out your questions, are they typically structured or unstructured? Um, what would you say the schedule of your questions are? Cari: Um, I guess explain that a little bit more, I don t know what structured or unstructured is a term that I m most familiar with. (4:36) Chloe: Um, just saying if they re very specific questions or are they a lot more like open ended or if you re planning out um a certain type of questions- that you are- or topics that you want to be covered you kinda have- Cari: Oh sure. Yeah that makes sense. It- it typically depends on- ya know what we re doing. I feel like a lot times if we re just story mining, they re very open-ended questions ya know for example tell me about the project you re working on or how did you get to this career? Or ya know very, very open-ended questions. If we re preparing a media spokesperson for an interview those are definitely- um planned out a little bit more specifically- um but best-case scenario we try to get questions in advance from reporters but that does not typically happen so um- so those questions we try to get as specific as possible to make sure that our clients are prepared for really anything in depth as it could get. (5:38) 5. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely. And then how do you like typically like take notes like during an interview? Cari: Um, it again it really depends- um if we re prepping the media spokesperson for an interview- um I m mostly taking notes on how my client answered a question to give them feedback at the end. Um- if I m story mining- uh- I typically am just ferociously writing notes on my computer and typing while they talk- um I do have some coworkers who record interviews that style just doesn t work for me. I remember taking a journalism course at Ohio University where I went to school and we were learned- we learned how to um- to take notes without vowels so it made things a lot easier than typing word for word what um- what someone might be saying to you but that s just my style again I know some people record things and then

9 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 9 do a transcript afterwards but it really is whatever works for you- and whatever way you re gonna get the most accurate- um- ya know you don t definitely want to mistake anything that s said. (6:52) 6. Chloe: Mhmm, yeah definitely. Um, and besides maybe different mock interviews or talking to different national media- like media relations what other past interviewing experiences have you had like in your career? Cari: Um, ya know in my career I think that you know it really has just been um doing story mining like I talked about um and uh doing mock interviews and media training with um different clients. Um I have had to do media interviews in the past in which I ve acted as the spokesperson um and that s probably the most nerve wracking because you re the one that they re uh- gonna end up being quoted- um so I don t prefer to be interviewed ya know usually in- the best world ever we d have our clients be interviewed and give really great sound bytesum but every once in a while we ll have to speak on behalf of a client- um I would say over the years I have noticed that a lot more interviews are being conducted via . And like I said, I think that s just because there is the 24 hour- 24/7 news cycle now and often times that s a lot easier than getting someone on the phone um- and of course you know as you can imagine as a PR person our clients definitely prefer interviews so you can refine what you re sayingum but I have noticed that especially when you know those online sites like Brit + Co. or Refinery29 that really move very, very quickly- uh I notice that most of them do interviews and they re open to doing some but I don t know I think it s just probably quicker and easier at this point. Um, yeah so I hope that answers your question. 7. Chloe: No yeah, it definitely has. Um- and what s been like one of the biggest challenges like you ve faced like when interviewing someone? Cari: I think that the biggest challenge is when you- well I think there are a few. So there s always the unprepared spokesperson or the unprepared interviewee if you will when you end up getting on the phone with someone and um you know maybe they re very nervous or very um- you know hopefully not caught off guard but that does happen and I feel like ya know that just is very tough because you wanna ask questions but at the same time you don t wanna make that person more nervous than necessary. Um- so it s- it s become difficult to really push and dig deep into the topic I think. Um- so I think you know the solution for that is really to just make sure that before you get on the phone with someone or before you go in for the interviewum telling them that different types of topics that you want to cover and just making sure that they re comfortable with that and everything. Um- sometimes media will ask clients a question that they re just not prepared to answer and I think that the- you know people are always afraid to say I don t know the answer um- but that s often the best answer if you don t know um don t answer you can always say you know I m really not sure about that but let me get back to you um so anyway I think that- you know that probably can be the biggest challenge it s just having someone who is maybe not as prepared as you want them to be.

10 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin Chloe: Mhmm, yeah. Um and then- can you like explain to me a little bit more how you determine like which interview method such as whether it s face to face or phone or like you mentioned is like most appropriate for an interview? Cari: Yeah so, I think it depends on a few things. Um- oftentimes it comes down to what is the deadline for this do we have 3 hours to get it to the reporter? Or does the reporter have you know maybe a few days? So often times if we get a few days notice we can do a phone interview um- otherwise you know it needs to be turned on very quickly- typically um settled via . Um, I think the face to face interviews- those are really great for you know when you really trying to get in depth into a topic and really understand things- when you wanna get a lot more hands on. So a lot times we ll do um- ya know desk side meetings with reporters and our top spokes people um or ya know for one of our university clients we ll even invite people to come to campus and see the campus while they interview our spokes people so I feel like those are really best for very in depth feature style articles you may be working on. 9. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely and do you think though- as like kinda as time goes on and as theas communication is more shaped by the digital age do you think more face to face interviews will be conducted less? Cari: I hope not, you know I would hope that we would keep that kind of human interaction but yes. A lot of times when we re working with national media they are not able to travel. You know it s against their policy so we re done to ok you know you can do phone or . Um but one thing that we have noticed over the past several years is doing more Skype and or face time interviews. So those work ok you know it depends on you know if technology can be glitch. Um, so we don t always prefer to do those but um- but I d be interested to see if um if skype interviews become more prevelant as we move into- uh- you know even more of a digital age than we are already in. 10. Chloe: Mhmm definitely. Um, so then on another topic other than interviewing I wanna ask how often does Fahlgren Mortine use surveys at all? Cari: Um, you know I think that- that is um- is really dependent on the client of course we have a whole team dedicated to um consumer insights and um we have several databases that we subscribe to that kinda use our surveys for us, if you will. So, you know we re always looking into those insights to help really guide our strategies so I would say they re very much still important. Um and just making sure that you re doing the survey the right kind of way so making sure that your sample size is relevant to questions that you re asking. Um, you know those types of things can really make or break your data. 11. Chloe: Mhmm definitely, do you help at all... like aiding like the team of people that are creating these surveys? Cari: Typically I will work hand in hand with our team that is kind of the experts in that. So um, I really rely on them to make sure that we re doing everything in the proper way.

11 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin Chloe: Mhmm, great. And um, and are most of the surveys then sent out electronically? To like individuals? Cari: You know again, it really depends on the project um we still do in person um- surveys or meetings um, I really wanna call them townhall meetings but that s not the right word for it (laughs) but we still do you know in person sessions or we might do one electronically uh we might do one over social media um- you know there s so many different ways to do it and I think it really just depends on the outcome you re trying to get. 13. Chloe: Mhmm, do you think like when you send surveys out electronically, do you think they could be more accurate than how you would conduct one in person? Cari: No, I don t think um only because there s definitely a message behind in person- um interviews like that. Um- oh focus groups! That s the word I was trying find. So yeah there s a message behind the focus groups in a way that you know our experts on our team here are- really know how get conversations going- and get the you know get honest answers out of people so I don t think so I think again you know it s just really determining what kind of data you wanna get and um the best way to get that. 14. Chloe: Mhmm, and that was actually my next question. I was gonna ask how often do you guys use focus groups there? Cari: Um, again that s such a tough question it really depends on our client and what needs they maybe working. Um but you know we may use focus groups for anything from you know if we re launching a new look for a company or working on branding or reputation. Um we may use focus groups if we re um trying to test out a new product and see you know does it work, what are people s opinions about it? Um we may need focus groups to talk about community issues so um we did a few years back a prescription drug abuse campaign um through the Ohio Department of Health and we used focus groups to really talk about issues and hear straight from community members you know what s going on, what s working what s not so um- so yeah I hope that answers your question but um- but I know we still use them and- and they re very helpful so they re really for more open ended conversations to have. 15. Chloe: Mhmm definitely. Um and like so would you say like of your size and being in marketing and communications, is it really important to utilize those surveys and focus groups? And be knowledgeable about both of the methods? Cari: Yeah I think, that you know consumer insights and feedback is one of the most important- I mean when- in any time you re going into strategy and planning for one of your clients, if you don t understand your audience you re not gonna get anywhere. So I think that you know we really use that information on a day-to-day basis to ensure- it could be anything from you know are you tweeting the right thing or should you even be on Twitter to larger campaign issues. Do people like your look? Do they likes your brand? So, I think that, that will always be something very, very important because those research- that research really helps us understand the audience in a very intimate way.

12 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin Chloe: Mhmm definitely. And then going back to interviewing a bit, how necessary do you think it s good to have great interviewing skills as like a PR professional? Cari: Oh I think it is so necessary- um I I just feel very grateful that I had a journalism degree you know with a PR focus because I feel like it helped me be a strong interviewer um you know, like I said we do a lot of writing, we do a lot of story mining and um- I think it s sometimes in our day and age now people are almost afraid to get on the phone with someone or meet in person with them and really talk about you know like what s going on here, how did you come up with this idea, like let s talk about it. Um and I ve found that you often times we re most successful when we really take the time to interview the people involved and understand the full process. (18: 58) 17. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely. And what do you think is like your biggest piece of advice to people in people in PR that need to perform an interview? Cari: I would say, you know do your research before the interview. You know there s nothing worse than going into an interview and not understanding the topic that you re asking you know whomever about. Um, and you know the other thing I would say is don t be afraid to go off your questions. So be prepared questions that s perfect you should always do that. But you might find the conversation is- um the conversation is becoming more- um in depth than you expected. Um a lot of times I ll write 5-6 questions and I ll only end up asking 1-3 of my prepared questions and then you know I might ask a bunch of 1 off questions just based on the answers that I get so really just be open minded and don t just stick to the questions that you come prepared to come asking. 18. Chloe: Mhmm, and like how would you um- tell people to approach maybe that situation if they ve come up with a list of questions and the interview doesn t really take the direction that they expected it to? Cari: You know it s kind of ( ) too because you definitely wanna make sure that your interview doesn t go off topic, right? Um, what I m seeing is more you might get into the interview and realize oh there s a little bit more there than I thought that there was going to be, so always ask a follow up question even if it s not your next prepared question to ask but umyou know I would say that if you re starting to feel like things are getting a little bit off topic you know don t turn down your interviewee and be like ok well that s not really what we really came here to talk about um- but I usually say like this is really great information- um but I do want to get back on the topic of X. And then kind of get yourself back on track um- cause because the worst thing about interviews is sometimes spiral out of control very quickly so just be prepared to be very polite about saying- you know it s great what you re talking about but let s continue to talk about this. 19. Chloe: Yeah definitely. And say if someone gave maybe too little of information during an interview, how would you kind of like overcome that challenge?

13 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin Cari: I think that s the power of a follow up question so really being prepared- you know if someone gives you a 1 word or 1 sentence answer in reply um you just ask some follow up questions if they re continuing to um- really not answer in a certain topic area it may just be that they re not as familiar with that. So I think that is a great opportunity you know once the interview is complete to follow up and say hey- like I- I really enjoyed talking to you um- but I really needed more information on about this if that s something you could send me later. Um, it might not just be that they re not comfortable with the topic- you know talking out loud with it to you or maybe they needed to check some stats when they got back to their desk so um- I would always say you know, just follow up as much as you can until you get the information that you need. Without being too pushy. So read body language, and read the way that they re answering you it might be something better answered via . (22:24) 21. Chloe: Mhmm, definitely. Um, and like kind of like my last question is um- besides honing your- learning how to hone your skills for like interviewing, and whether that s through an education are there other - what other ways can people kinda learn how to become a better interviewer? Cari: I think that the best way to do it is just practice, um you know I feel like every interview I ve done each and every one of them has been different um so yeah I feel like keep practicing and keep having conversations with people. Um, you know start to learn the best practices that make sense for you so how do you like to take notes, how do like to come prepared um you know how many questions do you like to have prepared in advance so just learning those little things about yourself to make sure you re most successful when you finally have the opportunity to sit down and interview someone. Cause a lot of times you know you may get 15 minutes with someone that s kind of your chance so you wanna make sure you get everything down um you know get all the quotes that you got and just make sure that you leave the interview with as much information as possible and really the best way to do that is just to be prepared for it in advance. 22. Chloe: Mhmm definitely, and is there anything else you d like to add about interview methods at all like to your career and just some like final words of advice? Cari: Yeah, um I would just say that you know that even if you re not going to be a journalist um interviewing has been just a very, very important piece of- not just my career but I would say every single person at work from my floor with me- you we re interviewing people every single day so don t think just because you re a marketing major or even an advertising major that you re often off the hook for interviewing. It s definitely something that s a very important skill so um keep practicing it and um be open to it. (24:33) 23. Chloe: Awesome, well thank you so much for your time Cari and just for like sharing how interviewing relates a little bit to your career and your company and I think those are all the questions I had for you today. I ll let you know if I need any more information.

14 INTERVIEWING STYLES USED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Slavin 14 Analysis of Schedule Questions For my first question, I asked about how interviewing pertains to her current position at Fahlgren Mortine. Even though this is a very open ended question since it really determines the direction of the interview. As I had previously researched and learned in Works Cited Gillen, G. (2014). From Interviews to Articles: Finding Meaningful Content. Public Relations Tactics, 21(2), 19. Krattenmaker, T. (2000). Handling the Difficult Interview. Harvard Management Communication Letter, 3(3), 7. Schwartz, A. (1963). The Public Relations of Interviewing. Journal Of Marketing, 27(3),