Every brand, be it a nonprofit or business, requires a spokesperson.
Not everyone can be a spokesperson.
Not everyone should be the spokesperson of an organization.
The primary spokesperson of any company is typically their CEO. Having a single spokesperson for media interviews is any day better than having different voices or perspectives represent an organization. Multiple spokespeople make sense when you have the right people to elaborate on specific business units.
When the CEO is inaccessible, the journalist tends to reach out to “anonymous” sources. He or She could be any employee with insight into the inner workings of the company. This is risky for the company because such “anonymous” sources will misrepresent and speak from a meager context.
I want to highlight three reasons why organizations need a spokesperson;
One Voice.
The best person to speak for an organization is its CEO. Why? Only she has a 360-degree view of the organization’s health. Every other leader in the organization reports to the CEO, making her the best person to provide a holistic perspective. An organization with spokespeople apart from the CEO has specialized representatives for their respective departments. E.g., an HR Head would talk about hiring, learning & development, culture, etc. The Finance Head (the numbers guru) stays focused on the financial performance of the organization. There will be times when specialists from core (E.g., engineering) teams are called in to respond to technical details, along with the CEO.
The CEO is almost always the primary spokesperson for any organization, be it a Corporate or Nonprofit.
At small or medium nonprofits (grassroots organizations), the leader tends to be the sole spokesperson. Strategy, planning, and budgeting are the nonprofit CEOs’ prerogative. She will be the best person to highlight impact.
Consistent Messaging.
The Voice of an organization ensures consistent messaging across media platforms, offline or online. Consistent messaging involves both form and sequence. What I mean by form is, ensuring that the message shared with different media on a given topic is in line with the overall messaging. No two media should have disparate views on the same topic from the same organization.
When we work with journalists over a long period for regular features, the cascade of information must not be repetitive. The key spokesperson is aware of what was said earlier to ensure the messaging flow is sequential and follows a timeline. This is useful for the publication as they look for updated inputs for their stories.
Response-able Spokesperson.
In times of crisis, every organization requires to respond immediately. To inform, educate and empower with critical messaging internally or externally. Or even when there is an opportunity for an organization to be part of a larger feature story that positively highlights its positioning. Media stories often require insights from organizations well-versed in a particular industry or Cause. Being part of those stories help position the company as an expert, building trust and confidence.
COVID-19 has kept PR professionals alert like never before. Working overtime ensuring their spokespeople reflect their hard work in the background.
“Speaking with one voice is paramount in crisis communications. Countless times officials have needed to contradict or re-explain the president’s miscommunication. The president has sought to blame China for the virus and previous presidents for a lack of preparedness. He’s also bashed the press repeatedly and said at times the Democrats were to blame.” –
Excerpt from an article on PR News.
Training spokespeople is critical because not everyone is media savvy. Some still go their own way, despite all the training. Training a spokesperson before any media interview is a necessary exercise. It doesn’t matter how good they are. We know experts have been known to drown in swimming pools too.
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