Presenting at a Corporate Press Conference

Recently I was part of a press conference. This post captures my thoughts on how one should prepare and speak at a corporate press conference. If you are going to speak at a press conference this post will be of special interest to you.

I will begin with four main lessons.

1. Your audience (the print and electronic media) is short of time. They want you to quickly wrap up your presentation. So keep your content very short and simple. Total presentation time should not be more than 15 minutes.

2. The stakes are very high at a press conference. No company can afford to be caught on the wrong foot. That is why, you need to prepare well for all possible questions. The media will ask you questions and you need to answer them promptly.

3. Plan your content well. Press conference is organised so that media will talk about you. So that TV channels say what you want them to say and newspapers write what you want them to write. Hence you need to know what is it that you want the press to write and what you want TV channels to say.

4. The media will say what you want them to say if they understand you and believe you. Credibility is most crucial in a press conference. There are enough people who doubt you. You need to shut them up. Support your claims with proper data.

Time is always a constraint at a press conference. My experience with Indian media is that they are always busy and want you to complete your speech fast. Every company has a printed press kit which contains the press release. Press release talks about what the conference is all about. Since they have the press release they don't really need to sit through your one hour presentation. You want to use this opportunity to share your decades of achievement but your audience does not care so much. They have come for the news. Give them the news and give them quick. Give it to them in a manner which excites them. Then only will it get covered the following day.

Since time is a constraint you can say more in less time by using a video. Convert your presentation into a short audio-visual film. All you need to do is to add a good voice over and your presentation will now finish early. Add some music, photos and decent effects and you have your audience's attention. Take professional help because the situation demands it.

Preparing for questions is extremely important in a press conference. Media will always ask you questions and most of the times the questions can be tricky. You know why your company is doing the press conference and sitting with your team you can list down most of the questions which you can be asked. Decide who will answer these questions and what will be the answers. As you gain experience,  your preparation time will keep coming down.

Planning the content is perhaps the trickiest job. You have only 15 minutes and you need to complete your story. If you are playing your 5 minute long corporate film, the you are left with 10 minutes only. So where do you start? Start with the end in mind. What do you want the newspapers to write tomorrow? Write down that statement on a piece of paper. That is the main take-away for your audience. For this to be the take-away what will you tell them. Try to tell them only three main things. Now figure out how to say these three things. Also make sure you repeat the main take-away a few times. This will ensure it gets registered with the audience well.


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Presenting to the Media: 3 Important Lessons

Press Conferences are one place where presentations have a big role to play. Large companies regularly go in front of the media (press and TV) so that they get free PR (publicity). They organize Press Conferences in the best of hotels in town. Press Conferences are also a time when the top management gets exposed to the media and that makes it a high risk situation. You know how 'bad press' can affect a company. That's why all large organizations have PR agencies to help them 'handle' media well.

PR agencies also help prepare the 'Press Kit' which is given to media persons. The kit includes a Press Brief (a printed document containing all information you want to share), Gifts, a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

Preparing a presentation for the media is slightly different from a normal presentation. First, you need to be very careful with facts and figures. Second, the presentation has to be very short and simple.

Extra careful with Facts & Figures
Data mismatch (or any other gaps) in the presentation is going to be noticed very easily by the media. The outcome: your management will be asked to explain that in the Q&A session. So ensure the future growth plan figures, the size of the next project being commissioned, etc are right at every place they come in the presentation. Different pieces of data across the presentation when related to each other should look in tandem and not as if they come from two different companies. Do a thorough check before you go for printing the press release. DO NOT prepare the press brief at the last minute, then you are bound to make these mistakes.

Short & Simple
No audience wants to be bored with a long presentation. This is especially true of media. Everyone hates a presentation which goes round and round. A presentation which talks about the obvious or about unnecessary things. Information which is readily available as a print out (in the Press Kit) need not be detailed in the presentation.

Whatever you want to share with the media is already in the press brief. So why are you making the presentation? For example, your company is launching a new brand. The press brief (the print out) is with each member of the media. They can read that and write an article on your launch. Then why present?

You present to generate interest in the product launch. You present to make them understand clearly whats written in the brief. You will get more footage (and hence more free publicity) if the media likes your story. In order for them to like it, you need to present it in a way they understand and get attracted.

Do remember these three lessons:

1. Check your facts before you present
2. Keep it short and simple
3. Make your story interesting