Message sheet
Your audience, one main point, two or three supports with sources, the exact names and numbers you will give, and your bio.
The audience and main point ("Audience and main point") and the supports are essential on a first pass: they hold the work of Your main points. The names-and-numbers list matters for any interview where you will give figures, and the bio is essential in Your media kit. Keep the sheet open during the interview.
Audience and main point
Essential on a first pass (Your main points). Time the main point with the answer timer and write the seconds here.
Supports
Essential on a first pass (Your main points). Two or three rows. Every fact, example or number has a source you can name.
Names and numbers
Essential in Print and online. Each name, title, place and number exactly as it should appear, its source, and whether you gave it to the reporter.
Bio and contact
Essential in Your media kit. Public contact details only; leave out a home address, a private phone number and anything about a child.
How to use this sheet
- One main point. Write one sentence. If you cannot say it in one breath, cut words and time it again with the answer timer.
- Sources go in the Source column. A support with no source you can name is a guess to check before the interview, not a fact to say.
- Names and numbers. Write each one exactly as it should appear in print. Tick "Given to reporter" when you have said or sent it.
Dana Ruiz (fictional) writes her audience as readers of a regional daily and its website, her main point as "Anyone on the east side can borrow a drill for free, so fewer people buy one they'll use twice," and two supports: 410 tools and 260 members, both from her sign-up sheet. The starter rows use these figures. Open fact: whether 260 is current, which Dana settles by counting the sheet before the call.
A clear message is not a true one, and it does not make a reporter use it. The sheet does not check your facts: you check them against your own records or the published source. Communicating uncertainty covers stating what you do not know.