You’ve probably seen a press conference on TV, featuring a politician,event organizer, artist, celebrity or company representative. This is a media event, during which various individuals bring together several speakers to give a talk on a particular subject and answer questions posed by journalists. To make a success of this event, you need to follow certain best practices. What are they?

The various planning stages

A press conference is an excellent way to communicate with the press. It also helps to raise awareness of your company’s activities. Its success depends essentially on organization and planning. Different profiles are involved, including organizers, keynote speakers and journalists. Unlike a press release, journalists can ask questions and get answers immediately. Organizing such an event is no mean feat. Good preparation does not rule out the unexpected.

Start by choosing the message you want to get across during the event. Is it the announcement of a new product or program? An interesting upcoming activity? A response to offensive criticism? Then define the date and time of the conference. You need to make sure that your event doesn’t coincide with another equally important one, or you risk diverting the audience’s interest. Given the variety of tasks involved, it’s best to enlist the help of a professional in the field to organize your press conference. There are a number of event agencies who can help you prepare everything properly.

Preparing conference content

Once all the main elements are in place. Now it’s time to get down to business. Select the speakers. Take the time to choose people who have an absolute command of the conference topics, as well as related subjects, and who can confidently answer any questions posed by the press. Otherwise, your company’s image and reputation could suffer.

Speakers also need to be more eloquent and express themselves clearly. It’s best to rehearse before the big day to avoid getting lost in your speech, and to prepare for any questions that may arise. A moderator who is used to the task is highly recommended to best organize the question-and-answer session. Now it’s time to draw up the list of media outlets to be invited to the event, and send out their invitations.