Why the journalist already has the advantage — and why that’s actually good news

The moment a journalist reaches out for your comment, something shifts.

Most leaders feel it as anxiety. Their instinct is to slow things down — schedule it for later, ask for the questions in advance, loop in their PR person, buy themselves time to prepare.

Here’s the honest read on what that instinct is: it’s a control mechanism. And it doesn’t work the way you think it does.

What got you to the point where a journalist is calling at all was control — your control of your narrative over time. Consistent presence. Credible positioning. Showing up in the right rooms with a clear point of view. That’s what put you on the radar. That work is yours.

But the moment the call comes, the dynamic changes. You’re in their story now, not yours. And that’s not a problem. It’s actually the opportunity.

A journalist reaches out because they believe you can help them tell a better story. Your job isn’t to regain control. Your job is to show up ready — so you can make it a better story than they were expecting.

That’s a different kind of preparation than most leaders do.

It’s not about memorising talking points until you sound rehearsed. It’s about understanding what that outlet is actually trying to do, identifying two or three places where your expertise genuinely adds to what they’re building, and having practised enough that you’re not burning mental energy on logistics when you should be having a conversation.

Fifteen minutes at breakfast. Look at the publication. Understand its mission and tone. Make a few notes on where you fit. Put it down. That’s your first move.

The next move is less obvious.

Before any media appearance — podcast or otherwise — spend ten minutes on what I call the 17-second rehearsal. Not a script. A mental walkthrough of the three most likely opening questions and your first sentence in response to each. Just the first sentence. Not the whole answer. When you know how you’re starting, the rest tends to follow.

Most leaders skip this because they think preparation means knowing everything they want to say. It doesn’t. It means knowing how to begin — so the first 17 seconds aren’t spent recalibrating while the microphone is already hot.

There’s a related trap worth naming, especially for podcast interviews. An unskilled host will open with “Tell me about yourself and how did you get here.” It sounds like an invitation to share your story. It isn’t. What they’re actually asking — just badly — is: “Can you bring our audience up to speed on why I invited you?” That’s a two to three sentence answer. Not your origin story. When you understand what’s actually being asked underneath the question, you stop over-answering and start landing.

That reframe — what is this person actually trying to do, and how do I help them do it — is the foundation of every good media appearance.

This is exactly what media training builds. Not polish. Not a set of approved talking points. The ability to read what’s actually happening in a media interaction in real time, and respond from a place of genuine readiness rather than managed anxiety. It’s the difference between a leader who sounds prepared and one who sounds present.

The leaders who show up well in media aren’t the ones who managed to control the situation. They’re the ones who prepared well enough that control stopped mattering.