What I learned about PR from a TV Segment Producer
Yesterday, along with several other PR professionals from PRSA-Indianapolis, I took a tour of Indianapolis’ Fox 59 and WTTV 4‘s state-of-the-art studios on the West side of Indianapolis. During the visit, we heard from the station’s segment producer for the morning show, who shared some tips on The Television Pitch. Some of her suggestions were right in tune with some of the tips I have featured in previous blog posts, such as following news trends and relating your business to the news of today. Some other tips were:
- Think Over the Top: such as “Live Cheetah in Studio” as the subject line. What will not only get the attention of the producer, but make entertaining TV?
- Think Visual: What props or demonstrations could you bring to relate to your topic and show while you’re appearing on the show? No one wants to see a talking head — they’ll change the channel.
- Don’t make it an Info-Mercial: When you’re on the air, don’t make it sound like a sales pitch and mention your company on the air five times.
- Be camera-ready: No one likes to see an interview subject freeze up when the cameras are rolling, so practice and feel comfortable with your talking points before you go live on-air.
- What’s in it for the Viewer? Can you offer a giveaway or other promotion for viewers watching the show?
- Consider re-enacting an event: For events, can you do a re-enactment or use video from a previous year?
- Deliver what you promise: If you promise to bring materials (or a live cheetah) to the set and you don’t deliver, you’ll not only make for less compelling TV, you’ll disappoint the producers and risk hurting the relationship for future PR opportunities.
If you’re interested in PR for your business, I can help.
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