Talking Tech on TV: How to facilitate broadcast media opportunities for Tech clients 

First things first

Before any filming can happen, you need to make sure you’re targeting media outlets that align with your audience. Research online, browse X or use MarTech tools to identify the right channels. Media opportunities often require significant preparation and quick response, so it's crucial to be ready to act as soon as one arises.

Pitch perfect 

When preparing your pitch to a broadcast outlet, it’s important to ensure that you are able to help the journalist see the bigger picture. The commissioning editor will be looking for the visual cues that you can provide as potential key anchor points for the overall narrative, from a scene-setting backdrop to interesting tech being tested in visually exciting environments.

In one of our recent content sessions for example, our first conversation with the producer felt more like co-creating a film treatment. We didn’t focus on messaging, we discussed what they would be able to see, hear, and film. We talked not only about the action shots, but also the backdrop and how and where we could capture a sense of place. Examples range from filming remotely operated vehicles in action and capturing the installation of deep-sea equipment, to the sound of valves hissing under pressure and engineers tuning equipment with practised precision.

The key point is that if a producer or broadcast journalist can picture it, they are more likely to be open to the story’s potential.

Choosing the right voices – not just the most senior ones 

With a mainstream national or international broadcaster, getting the right spokespeople is key. They need to be able to explain complex innovation in a way that your grandma or 11-year-old niece or nephew can understand and, hopefully, get excited about.

It’s also important to pay attention to the optics of your spokespeople to ensure they accurately portray the business visually. That doesn’t necessarily mean each piece of clothing your spokespeople are wearing is branded within an inch of its life – and with outlets such as the BBC, that can be counterproductive with its “one brand mention and one brand visual” protocol. It does, however, mean paying attention to the breadth and diversity of your workforce and ensuring they are appropriately represented.

In a recent shoot, for example, we worked with one of our tech clients to select a senior innovation lead to frame the big narrative, two engineers (one junior and one more experienced), who could speak naturally about the testing process, and a selection of partner representatives who could explain what this meant and the wider impact beyond the client organisation.

When it comes to messaging, it’s important to ensure that all your spokespeople are aware of who they are talking to, with a strong focus on the programme audience the content is aimed at. Going through the basics of ensuring people have prepared their key messages and are able to reference some interesting (and understandable) examples, is never time wasted. Tips such as swapping jargon for everyday language and encouraging spokespeople to talk in short sentences and share vivid moments rather than polished monologues can not only make the final result more engaging, but it can also help reduce filming time and make it more likely for them to make the final cut.