Whether you are making a business presentation or communicating with the media, your most important objective should be to make your point clear and memorable. The best way to achieve this, is by crafting a solid soundbite that summarizes your key message.
Journalists rely on soundbites and that is why at Solv Communications, we always spend time during a media training session helping clients prepare their own interview soundbites. This ensures that they get their point across succinctly and coherently, in a media-friendly way.
Her’s a few Solv Pro Tips to help you craft a memorable soundbite that will enable you to gain more control of the interview and give the journalist what they’re looking for.
Transcript
Here are some of the most memorable soundbite techniques to remember for your next media interview. Hi, I’m Nicole Harris, founder and lead trainer at Solv Communications, and today we’re exploring how to create a zesty soundbite.
Keep it short and simple. That’s the first thing to remember. Kiss the soundbite so that you keep it short and keep it simple. A solid soundbite sums up the core of your idea in just one or two sentences.
Take for instance American President John F. Kennedy’s historic speech that inspired American children and adults to embrace public service.
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
Great soundbites also give the listener an image to hang on to. Take this clip for instance on how the metaverse can transform learning for children in the classroom of the future.
I want to take you on a journey right now of what it would be like if instead of reading paragraphs about ancient Greece, you actually got to visit it. And you actually got to figure out how we know so much about ancient Greece, given that we’re living thousands of years later. So what if students could be active and engaged as they were learning, as opposed to passive when they’re reading or listening?
As a former TV network news anchor, that soundbite gets a solid 10 from me.
Another great technique is to use a simple analogy to showcase the core of your idea. In the 2008 economic collapse, critics claimed that the U.S. government did too much to bail out big banks and too little to help underwater homeowners.
It’s as if we had a boat that’s taking on gallons of water and they’re trying to bail it out with a teaspoon. It is a badly designed program that from the beginning was too small, too slow, couldn’t be scaled up.
And don’t forget to polish your soundbite by practicing. There’s nothing more embarrassing than failing miserably at delivering your soundbite, like this example.
There’s an old saying in Tennessee, I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee, that says fool me once, shame on, shame on you. If you fool me, we can’t get fooled again.
See, practice makes perfect.
If you follow these simple Solv Pro Tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating memorable soundbites that capture your audience’s attention. Thanks for watching.