Media training module

1. 1
BP MediaTraining
Toby Odone and Piers Taylor
CODE OF CONDUCT – THE RULE BOOK
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2. 2
BP AND THE MEDIA
2
Good news or bad, we want to communicate with the
public – shareholders, government officials,
employees and other stakeholders.
Media interviews are
just one part of a
communications plan.
Should be proactive,
even with limited facts
about a situation.
TIMING IS (ALMOST) EVERYTHING
3
MINUTES
TO
HOURS
03 Media/social
media reaction
04 Public reaction
05 Public opinion forms
06 Public opinion hardens
07
Public opinion
influences authorities
VERY
DIFFICULT
TO
REVERSE
02 Event
Opportunities
to influence
01 Pre-event

3. 3
PHASE 1 RULING – SEPT. 4, 2014
4
News broke on social media on
Sept. 4 at 9a.m. By 10 a.m.:
• ~8,600 mentions - ~7,700 on
Twitter, ~30 on Facebook, ~870 on
news/blog sites
• ~118,938,498 impressions and 165
mentions came from users with
more than 40k followers
• Difference - these aren’t reporters,
it’s anyone
0k
1k
2k
3k
4k
5k
09/04
12am
09/04
2am
09/04
4am
09/04
6am
09/04
8am
09/04
10am
09/04
12pm
9a.m., Sept. 4, 2014
4,189 Posts (100 percent)
REPORTERS ARE…
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• Highly competitive
• Constantly seeking new
angles
• Relying on multiple sources
• Under pressure to file
quickly
• Increasingly generalists
• Not out to harm or help

4. 4
WHAT SHOULD WE TELL REPORTERS?
6
The truth!
Confront the bad news –
talk about the good
• To take control:
─ Reporter: What happened?
─ BP: What’s happening!
You must always have
objectives (clear messages)
you want to communicate.
OURS IS NOT THE ONLY VOICE
7
A typical TV Package
(2 minutes max for BIG story)
• Anchor – headline, intro 10s
• Footage – from the incident scene 15s
• Interview 1 (emergency services) 15s
• Interview 2 (victim) 15-20s
• File footage, similar events 10s
• Interview 3 (BP) 15-20s
• Interview 4 (‘opposition’) 15s
• Anchor – next steps, summary 10-15s
~2mins

5. 5
Media interviews & bridging
Bridging phrases
• Our primary concern is…
• The most important thing
right now is…
• In the meantime…
• In addition…
• What I can tell you is…
• What we know now is…
• What we’re concentrating
on now is..
• Look….
Know what you want to say (and say it over and over again)
Check previous media contact – press office.
Pre-interview: Discuss questions with interviewer
Talk at audience level
Use bridging techniques to drive interview back to your message
Practice – out loud. Be comfortable with your words
DO
9

6. 6
Lie. Ever. Under any circumstances
Give confusing statistics or use excessive jargon
Be afraid to say, “I don’t know”
Speculate or fill the silence
Lose your temper, use humour or get into a debate
DON’T
10
Repeat negatives
WRAP UP
11
Trust your media affairs team
Develop clear messages and stick with them
Prepare yourself with practice – there aren’t many
naturals
!
Seek critique – you’ll improve for next time