Your cosy 'chat' is a minefield

During media training I hear several participants say lately: “I really like chatting, my podcast is like an interesting, informal conversation at the coffee machine.”

It sounds likeable. After all, we all want to come across as approachable and human. But anyone who embraces this 'chatter' as a conscious media strategy plays with fire. There is a fundamental difference between chatter and purpose communication. In the media arena, that difference determines whether you keep control, or whether you unconsciously give away control.

The pitfall of the chatter

In communication science, chatter means language without a substantive purpose. Think about talking about the weather, the traffic jam or how busy your week was. Anthropologically, this behaviour is essential: You signal with it: I am safe, I am unarmed, we are friends.

And that is exactly where the problem lies. A journalist is not a colleague at the coffee machine. A journalist is a professional information collector with their own agenda. As soon as you shoot into 'chatter mode', your brain unconsciously registers the situation as 'safe'. Your professional shield sinks. The 'friendship illusion' comes into effect, causing you to talk far too quickly and only think after you have shared things.

The laws of the media arena

Why is the chatter risky in relation to the press? That is engrained in the dynamics of the profession:

• There is no trash can: The comments you make are forgotten after an hour. But for a journalist, there is no 'off-the-record' unless it has been explicitly and unstainedly agreed in advance. A casual comment during the coffee beforehand is just useable material for the journalist.

• You provide the subtext for their frame: Even if the journalist does not literally quote your informal chatter, it can be used as fuel. An answer like "Vacation time", which you give as an explanation for a deadly silent headquarters where a journalist is hosted for an interview, does not have to mean anything to you. For the journalist, it can be the confirmation of a frame: there is no sense of urgency internally.

Target communication

Opposite the chatter is purposeful communication. This is communication that functions like a laser beam: it adds focussed energy to reduce noise and chaos. As a communicator, you have a great responsibility in this; everything you say is all about the strategy and the predetermined goal.

In target communication, you do not simply respond passively to what is asked. You use questions as a springboard to your core message (bridging). You speak in ready-made, clear sentences that cannot be taken out of context. You claim your territory and expertise.

Friendly, but sharp

Does this mean that you have to sit in front of the press like a robot? Absolutely not. You can (and should) be extremely friendly, courteous and open.

But consider every contact with a journalist—from the first email until the moment you leave the parking garage—as target communication. Monitor your own boundaries and realise that the journalist is doing his or her job. Make sure you do yours.

This was an edition of The Value Bridge, a series in which I connect developments and practical observations with positioning, communication, reputation and value creation. Because value often arises in the smallest moments.