February 2025 Preparing to Work With the Media Face to Face

Let’s keep talking about interviews.

Here are a few thoughts especially for those of you preparing to attend CPE or NRB tradeshows, both of them coming up in February.

That is, the Christian Product Expo in Tampa February 16-18 or National Religious Broadcasters Convention, February 24-27 in the Dallas area.

If you are representing yourself without a publicist at a trade show it can be quite exciting but also pretty scary. To tell you a little secret, the first few times that I approached the media at trade shows as a publicist, it was also a little scary for me. I had years of experience as a PR person, but in different industries and in a different way of working.

So, if you have heard from some journalists who have indicated they would like to meet you or interview you, congratulations.

This is one time when you want to do whatever you can to change your schedule to fit what works for them, but like other people are interested in you and that you have other things going on besides waiting for them to notice you in the press room.

However, if they offer you a time slot when you’ve planned to have lunch with a friend, you take the interview and reschedule with the friend.

Then you make sure you are a few minutes early even if they are running late.

In addition, if they are interviewing behind a door with a sign that says, ‘INTERVIEWING IN PROGRESS – DO NOT DISTURB.”

Honor that but at the same time, be on the lookout for an opportunity for that door to open. Especially at CPE, sometimes signs get left up or put up by people who leave, and your journalist is inside wondering where you are.

By the way, much as we love the digital age, you’re going to be handing someone something on paper.

You will want to have your press materials prepared and printed off in color and put on nice paper.

You also need to have copies of your book and if you have other things like a bookmark or business card this is a good thing. You want people to be able to contact you easily.

But one small note.

In a trade show setting, you will often find the media, even if they are interviewing you, actually do not want a copy of your book. Of course offer it, but you may note that they may hesitate a little, or hem and haw a bit, so don’t assume they want the book. Or you might ask if they’d like for you to mail them the book later, so they don’t have to carry it home with them. But don’t be offended if they say no. They probably don’t need it to do the story since they will have interviewed you.

And just in case you are wondering, you are always giving media books for free and paying for the postage if they ask you to mail it.

And what about after the interview? I have had authors want to send thank you notes to journalists and while I believe people may appreciate this, to be honest, I don’t know that it’s a requirement. I certainly don’t like being asked to share journalists’ contact information that they have given me and might not want me to share with others so I would say if you’re going to do that figure out a way to do it while you are still talking to them. The best way is to ask for their card.

Some journalists will be happy to give you their card at the end of your interview, but others will not do it. If they do give you their card, then feel free to send them a brief email to thank them and remind them who you are.

But.

As I have stated in this space before, the fact that they are being friendly and chatty with you does not put you on an equal footing with them. I am always aware of the need to be deferential and respectful of their schedule and demands on their time.

One final and important thing. At events like this, be aware of looking out for the other people God puts in your path. Those divine appointments. So you always want to have your press materials and copies of your book and business cards and/or bookmarks with you.

You may run into someone in line for coffee, and definitely at lunch at CPE, and I’ve even had some great conversations in the ladies’ room while mutually refreshing makeup. But wherever it is where you’ve spotted someone you are hoping to meet, be particularly respectful of the fact that this person is taking care of their own personal needs. But generally, you can find a way to strike up a conversation in a way that’s not obnoxious and you want to be winsome and not pushy.

But for heaven’s sake be sure you’re reading name tags wherever you go. At NRB at least, they are usually color coded, and a media person will have a different color band on the bottom of their badge from other people. This is quite helpful to have you recognize people, and it’s why they do it.

Let’s say you’re in line for coffee and you are considering a banana and so is the gentleman in line in front of you. You notice he’s a media person and you recognize the media outlet. I would suggest that you gently start a conversation or at least try to catch his eye and smile.

But do not in the first 5 seconds rush into “hello, I’m an author and here’s my book and wouldn’t you like to interview me?” kind of approach. The Golden Rule is a good thing to remember about now. If that was you and you were very busy working, how would you want to be approached?

And you may find the person does not want to talk to you. Sometimes they really don’t have time. Please don’t force it, it will backfire. If you are an author and are planning to write more than one book or already have written more than one book, remember it’s a long game. You want to strike a conversation, develop a relationship and then hopefully achieve an interview. But maybe not this year.

Go into these situations bathed in prayer, be prepared with your materials and comfortable shoes, and then just relax and enjoy the experience and trust God for the outcome.