A Reoccurring Theme: Tell The Truth
The ABC TV show “To Tell The Truth” has made a comeback, now hosted by Anthony Anderson. It first aired in 1956. The premise is that three celebrities try to determine which of the three contestants is telling the truth about their own personal history, amazing fete or other interesting accomplishment. A couple that stick in my mind are Beyonce’s former boyfriend, the real Tabitha from “Bewitched” and a surfing Santa.
I’m sure the contestants are prepped as we would prep a client for a media interview. These two excerpts come directly from HMA Public Relations’ media training book in the “Things to do During an Interview” section:
- Tell your story. Make the interview worthwhile. Pretend you’re telling a story to your niece, nephew, son or daughter.
- Tell the truth. A half-truth is a lie. You are remiss if you allow a reporter to accept a partial truth as a truthful answer. You will be branded as the one who did not tell the truth and therefore, will have the reputation of not being credible for all future interview opportunities.
Media Training
And later in our training manual, these tidbits about doing the interview are touched on, some for the second or third time:
Be energetic/enthusiastic/animated.
Answer positively.
Control your temper, don’t get defensive.
Give brief answers.
Don’t fill in the silences.
Tell the truth – unless you’re on the TV show by the same name.
