Tips, tricks, dos en don’ts

Tips & tricks

• Afbeelding

  
  Use all possibilities/opportunities to shine a positive light on the sector. 
• Stay up to date and monitor developments through social media and news media. 
• Use caution when posting comments and carefully consider the impact. 
• If you comment, always do so constructively and not defensively. 
• Base your comments on facts and support your position with data. 
• Be transparent and honest. 
• View negative media coverage as an opportunity for positive engagement. 
• If in doubt about a comment, always first talk to the communications team at the Flower Council of Holland.
  
  How to deal with media requests 
• Ask about the nature of the request, the medium involved, the context in which the story will be told and whether you can receive the questions beforehand. 
• Stay personal, stick to the facts, be honest and use a pre-formulated key message. 
• Communicate with short and concise sentences and stay positive. 
• Ask for time before responding and coordinate with the communications team. Depending on the topic, we will refer you to the right contact person. 
• Do you have an uneasy feeling about a media request? Feel free to decline an offer to contribute to an article. 
• Promise to look up information if you do not have the answer to a question. 
• Personally send visual materials for phone interviews.  
• Ask to read the article before it is published. 
  
  What should you absolutely not do in response to a media request? 
• Respond hastily, not allowing yourself time to fully understand the information. 
• Share information if you are not certain that it is factual. 
• Be swayed to say something you do not agree with. 
• Get caught up in a journalist’s negativity. 
• Share all kinds of contradictions to your earlier comments ‘off the record’. 
• Agree to publication without reading personally or having the Flower Council of Holland communications team read through the article first.