Of all of the elements of the PR magician’s black bag of tricks, none is more mysterious than the crafting of the sound bite or quote. (A sound bite is the quote you get on TV or radio newscasts, a quote in a text publication is when you see actual quotation marks around words, followed by your name. I use the term sound bite and quote interchangeably)
The world is divided into two groups. Those who instinctively know how to turn any abstract message point into a sound bite and those who don’t. For those who know, it is as easy as breathing or laughing. These people often find themselves in marketing and communications fields. They have liberal arts degrees and they are creative.
For those who don’t know how to make something quotable, it as mysterious as trying to speak in tongues. These people have engineering and business degrees.
They are logical, rational, linear thinkers. They view themselves as systems thinkers.
Fortunately, I have created a system that will allow these logical, rational, linear thinkers to turn any message point into a sound bite that is irresistible to even the most hard-bitten journalist. The system is called A BEACH PRO, which is an acronym that stands for analogy, bold action words, emotions, examples, absolutes, attacks, clichés, humor, pop culture references, rhetorical questions, and opposition quotes.
Nearly every quote you read in newspapers and trade publications contains one or more of these above eleven elements. Nearly every sound bite you see on TV or radio has one or more of these eleven elements. Once you understand that reporters require these structural elements in their stories, it becomes incredibly easy to get the exact quotes you want in a story.
It is important to realize that reporters need quotes for their stories. Quotes are one of the essential building blocks of a good story. Quotes are needed to make the story more interesting, more understandable, and more memorable—reporters need you!
You should never go into an interview without knowing in advance the exact and precise quotes you want to see in tomorrow’s news paper or tonight’s newscast.
Note: this is not the same as knowing your general message points; sound bites are much more specific than that.
If you ever go into an interview without knowing what quotes you want to see, you have already failed miserably. If you are providing PR consultation to an executive who is about to be interviewed, and you haven’t supplied the client with specific sound bites, you are guilty of malpractice.
