Westgate Communications, Inc

04/16/2023

03/25/2021

Feeling anxious about an upcoming broadcast media interview? Here are 7 tips to help you prepare and reduce stress.

1. Do your research

Ask these questions before you agree to an interview, and you shouldn’t go wrong:

‘Why are you doing this story now?’
‘Who will the interviewer be?’
‘Who else will I be on with?’

It’s common practice – even on the most serious news programs – for producers to line up interviewees with opposing views. Knowing who you’ll be up against can help you prepare more effectively – or even make a decision about whether you’ll give an interview at all.

‘What’s coming before and after me?’

Knowing if there’s a ‘set up piece’ (a pre-recorded feature/interview) can help you get a feel for how a producer intends to cover a story.

‘How long will I be on for?’

This will give you an idea of how much material to prepare (although see number 2).

2. Prepare with care

Most media interviews only last a few minutes. If you have too much information whizzing around your head, you may find it more difficult to concentrate on and answer the questions.

Keep it simple; prepare thoroughly but have just a few ‘take away’ points and try and get it in as early as possible (repeat key points when possible).

3. Avoid professional jargon/big words

Remember you’re actually talking to the interviewer. So if you want to keep the audience engaged, you need to use simple, everyday language and not assume knowledge on their part.

4. Be visual – even for radio

Instantly more engaging. "Show, don’t tell’. Instead of telling people about your project or initiative, show them through lively, visual examples and you’re far more likely to keep your audience engaged.

5. Beware of repeating negatives

If you’re asked a question about something negative, it’s easy to fall into the trap of repeating the very word or phrase you’d rather not talk about. Use the technique outlined in number 6 to help you avoid this.

6. Acknowledge difficult questions…but move things on quickly

Acknowledge the question, saying something like ‘well that’s a interesting point’ or ‘Yes I have heard that said’ before moving the conversation on using a ‘bridging’ phrase like ‘but what I’m really here to talk about it is…’ or ‘but I think the issue we really need to address is…’ It’s important to use words and phrases that feel comfortable to you (see number 7) but this can be a really effective way to take and keep control of an interview.

7. Be yourself

Never forget that radio and TV is showbiz – and like it or not – interviewees are characters in the show. So resist the temptation to tone down your accent, personality or anything else that makes you uniquely you. Appearances do matter – particularly for TV. More tips on appearance coming soon.

Best wishes for interview success. Please let us know if you want help preparing.

01/25/2021

How will digital marketing change in 2021?
The New Expectation: More Personalization

Shoppers are shunning and unsubscribing from mass-blasted email campaigns while choosing personable web pages over generic ones. In 2021, marketers will need to customize customer communications and experiences based on their preferences, interests, and behavior.

01/25/2021

Did you know that about half of Instagram’s monthly users are using Instagram Stories. That’s 500 million people posting 1 billion Stories every day. And about 62% of those people say they’ve become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in their Stories. Check out

Learn the basics of how to use Instagram Stories, then move on to some Instagram Stories tips and tricks to help you stand out from the crowd.

01/15/2021

Podcast shownotes can often be a bit of an afterthought but they can really help you to grow your show! Podcast show notes serve three main purposes:

1. To offer a summary of the show content – either to persuade someone to listen, or to remind a previous listener what was covered.

2. To offer links to resources, people or products that were mentioned. You can't link within the show itself, so you offer the links on the show notes.

3. To attract new listeners through search traffic.

Here's a best practice show notes format you can build from:

Episode Summary – paragraph or bullet points
Episode Player – embed from your host
Timecode guide – list highlights and timecodes to skip to
Full Topic guide – a blog post, essentially, covering the same topic
Resources mentioned – summary & links to all resources

Please contact Westgate if interested in help with your Podcast Show Notes.

05/28/2020

Media Training Services help clients positively convey messages to the press and other key market influencers. We help prepare corporate leaders and spokespeople for expert interviews, effective corporate news delivery, compelling story-telling, unexpected questions, reputation management and crisis situations. (we provide one-on-one media training or group training with up to 12 participants).

04/20/2020

We believe that social media is not just a funnel to your website; it’s a place for you to actively engage with consumers, sharing wisdom and expertise. We can establish you as a highly recognized and reputable wellness brand by strategically utilizing social networks like FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+, and YouTube. We’ll help you identify which social media channels are home to your target audience, so you don’t spread yourself thin trying to gain followers on every platform.

02/12/2020

Journalists are constantly looking for interesting and engaging stories they can develop for their viewers and listeners. When you make yourself available for commentary in the media, you are positioning yourself and your business in a powerful way, so people take notice of what you have to say. Media training can be highly effective in helping you develop the skills to get your message across succinctly and with impact.

Westgate media training programs entail a thorough analysis of client goals and objectives, so we can create key messages and talking points that are appropriate for journalists' questions, while also emphasizing the target message(s) you want to convey.

With a background in television and print journalism, we know what works to tell an engaging story quickly and concisely – no matter what the medium. We’ll work with you to come up with content for your team so they’re ready to tell your story. We pride ourselves in taking a collaborative approach and work with each client to customize our work to suit their specific needs.

01/24/2020

Helpful tip for PR folks: when asked for high-res images, please make sure they are actually high-res. More often than not, people send 72dpi imagery with this request, even after it is specified 300dpi for print. 72dpi while ideal for web, is way too low for print and can come out pixelated. If your client doesn't have it, make it a priority, otherwise they may lose print placement opportunities. To find out the resolution (at least on an Apple computer), open the jpeg or png file in Preview, go to Tools --> Adjust Size --> Resolution and make sure that it's on the pixels/inch setting.
Additionally, images are often compressed when sent as attachments in email, so use a photo-sharing platform like Dropbox to send. I hope this is helpful!