Managing a press conference

Your PR department is organising a press conference and several dozen journalists will attend, from mainstream and specialised media, from radio and TV to newspapers, journals and the Internet.

Journalists are always short of time - you have to give them something they can use straight away, backed up with the solid facts they need to make the story work.

The information should be prioritised and the speech must not exceed the allotted time. The argument must be clear from the outset and be perfectly structured. And it must appeal to all markets, from the mainstream to the specialised.

And the better prepared you are, the less stressful the conference. Less stress also means more positive body language.

And once the clear and well-structured speech has been given, all that remains is the interaction with the audience, whose interests and specialities will vary. You need to keep everyone listening and interested.

Each filmed session is led by two experienced journalists, one a specialist in the subject area (finance, marketing, high tech etc.). Firstly, they introduce the journalistic techniques, demonstrating how articles and reports are put together.

Real interview situations are then recreated to flesh out all the information and to define the central message, collating the evidence and crafting a message that is clear, straightforward and will be understood by the target audience.

This prepares the speaker to anticipate objections, negativity and tricky questions.

A section is also dedicated to additional advice, such as why it can be valuable to provide a keen journalist with exclusive quotes or giving a TV crew the shot they require.