A Handy Guide to Briefing a Spokesperson Before Your Next PR Event
Written by Jessica Felicia
Let me paint a picture: You’re an hour away from a press conference. The venue is set. Journalists have started to arrive. The food and catering are ready. The event organizers have prepared everything. The spokespersons have started to arrive.
It’s T-30. The client tapped you on your shoulder, “Let’s brief the spokespersons before they go on stage. You go ahead and lead the briefing session.”
You’re now inside the VIP room. To the right, you will see the CEO of your client’s company. To his left, the CTO of the partnering company is sitting there with her lunch. Across them is the Minister of Something Something. You’re thinking to yourself, “I have to be the one to brief them? Me?”
Now that is an intimidating picture, especially if it’s your first rodeo. In your head, Gwen Stefani sings, “I’m just a girl… I’m just a girl in the world…”
There’s good news and bad news.
To rip off the band-aid, the bad news is that you have to do it. No other choice. The good news: you’re not alone! At some point, everyone in PR has to brief a spokesperson.
This article aims to be a guide to help you navigate this situation. We will be talking about doing a thorough research of the spokespersons, how to prepare ourselves prior to the final briefing, and ways to handle the actual situation itself. By the end of this article, hopefully, you have the confidence boost that you need to nail your first spokesperson briefing!
Step 1: Research Your Spokesperson
The most important step comes before D-Day, and that is to research your spokesperson thoroughly. What does their title entail? What topics are included in their field of expertise? Make LinkedIn and the company website your best friends for this step. The deeper your research, the better.
In the context of a media engagement and public relations event, explore these: Have they undergone media training before? Any experience handling the media? What was the outcome? Positive articles with the key message conveyed properly, or in contrast, resulting in a blunder?
Ideally, before stepping into the limelight, the brand representative should have been trained in media handling. This is to ensure that they understand the fundamentals of communication, are able to identify news values and how journalists work, how to stick and convey key messages, and navigate tricky questions. The preferred spokesperson is able to project authority, has enough experience under their belt, and is likable by the media.
This is the ideal scenario. Alas, changes closer to the day are sometimes unavoidable, where the original spokesperson becomes unavailable for one reason or another and has to be replaced by another representative who may or may not have received training.
Hence, comprehensive research serves as the foundation for your brief, helping you understand their strengths and weaknesses and how to mitigate them.
In the meantime, ask your client, or whoever is in contact with the spokesperson, to remind them to read the briefing book or notes that you prepared beforehand. It is also useful to have them re-read the presentation materials if there are any.
Step 2: Prepare Yourself
Briefing the spokespersons means you have to know the ins and outs of the event better than anyone in that room.
The easiest way to do this is by understanding the event’s agenda. Not just “At 1 PM, we will start the event with an opening speech by CEO A, followed by President Director B, continued with a launching procession,” etc.
But can President Director B sit down first before the launching procession? Or should they stand on the right side of the stage? How will the launching procession take place?
These might be a little bit outside of your own scope of work, but putting your event organizer hat on for a bit is always useful to familiarize yourself with the flow of the event.
Aside from the agenda, review the flow of the talk show and anticipated Q&A. Are there any topics or issues worth highlighting? Don’t forget to read the news, so you’re updated with current affairs that might come up during the discussion.
It goes without saying that you should understand the key message and what is being written in the press release through and through. Whether it is launching a new program, introducing a new product or feature, and so on. Be sure to also run through any presentation materials front to back. And see if everything flows cohesively.
Step 3: Briefing the Spokespersons
Now, the moment you’re waiting for (or maybe not…).
It’s the T-30 moment that I mentioned above. You’re in the room with all the VIPs, and the brief is about to commence.
Start with a clear and bright voice. “Good morning, everyone! Thank you for taking the time for today’s event. Before we start, let’s take 15 minutes to go through today’s agenda and talking points so everyone’s on the same page.”
Then you can lead with the agenda or rundown. Keep it brief and concise. If the spokespersons have any questions, you can provide more details then (this is where thorough knowledge of the event flow you developed during preparation comes in handy!)
If there’s a talk show, you can provide an outline of each spokesperson’s scope of discussion. For example, Person A will talk about the gap between financial literacy and inclusion in Indonesia. Person B will share how Product X aims to bridge the gap. Lastly, Person C will speak on the tech and cybersecurity aspect of Product X.
This ensures every spokesperson knows each other’s topics and how they contribute to a cohesive and valuable discussion for the media.
Lastly, anticipated questions and answers. You don’t need to go through them one by one. Only highlight several points, especially the trickier subjects, such as the number of customers, revenue growth, or previous crises/issues that journalists might ask about.
Take this moment to also remind spokespersons of the dos and don’ts. If you found that one of the spokespersons has a track record of straying away from the key message, misspeaking certain data, and so on, this is the time to step in with clear, simple reminders.
Do: stick to the key message.
Don’t: mention competitors.
Do: mention the product’s tagline.
Don’t: say “no comment”. And so on…
Before ending the briefing session, be sure to remind them of what time they need to be ready. So by then, they should be finished with their lunch, have had their toilet breaks, and be ready to be escorted to the room! This is also a good time to reassure them that we’ll be on the sidelines if anything. It helps spokespersons (and your client) to feel safer and less tense before going on stage.
Reminder:
- Remember to introduce the Master of Ceremony (MC) during the briefing, too!
- Don’t rush, but be quick and brief. They are usually very busy. They still take urgent work calls 10 minutes before the event, they haven’t had lunch, or they simply want to network and reconnect with everyone else in the room. Keeping things short and to the point is usually the key to keeping them engaged.
Still Nervous?
Think of yourself as their ally, not subordinate. I always like to think that they may be the experts in their field, be it finance, health, automotive, and so on. But we are the experts in public relations. The key to a successful media event is combining their proficiency with our competence.
Shift the spotlight. Tell yourself: “It’s not about me. I’m here to make their job easier and help them succeed.” When you focus on their performance and comfort, the pressure on you drops.
Got any other tips? Is there a blog topic you’d like me to tackle? You can reach out at jessica@praxis.co.id, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!
