If you get a call from a reporter or editor for your viewpoint on whatever, be as prepared as possible. Here are few pointers:
*Ask what the slant of the article/story is,
*When is their deadline,
*Set up an appointment to discuss your thoughts at a later time (unless the reporter’s deadline is five minutes away),
*Identify a few, very few points (unless the article is about you) that you would like to get across,
*Think in terms of sound bites on your key points (remember this is a legal marketing opportunity),
*If you don’t know the answer to a question, admit it and say you will get back to them with an answer, and
*Offer to review any quotes attributed to you, so you can correct any incorrect comments.
John Jantsch has a recent post on this topic where he covers several of the same points, and others. Take a look.
By the way, if you are contacted by the media on issues relating to your law firm that you would rather not talk about, but can’t really avoid, here are a couple of additional pointers:
*Never say “no comment,” and
*Be ready with prepared answers that the firm’s management has thought through in advance (you’ll know if there are issues the media is likely to be sniffing around about).
Again, be prepared.