Reactive or proactive: two kinds of media interview

By Alastair Greener, presenter of Present Yourself in a Minute · Updated 5 November 2026

Reactive and proactive interviews call for different preparation. Work out which one you are in before you agree, because the questions in each come from different places.

The two types

A reactive interview responds to something that has already happened: a complaint, a mistake, a news story. The journalist sets the questions, and the questions can be hostile. Preparation matters most here, because you have to answer what was asked and still get your message across.

A proactive interview promotes you, your company or an event. It is a chance to talk about your area of expertise and the work you want to be known for. You have more say over the message, but you still have to make sure the audience hears it.

What changes in each

• Reactive: you start with the story, not your message. Find out what the journalist already knows, and what they have been told by others.
• Proactive: you start with your message. Decide the one thing you want the audience to remember before you agree to any questions.

Before you say yes

Ask these questions before you agree:

1. Which outlet is it, and who is the audience?
2. What is the angle, and what has the story already said?
3. Who else is in the piece?
4. How long will the interview run, and how much of it will be used?
5. Is it live, or recorded and edited?
6. Can you see the questions in advance, or the topic at least?
7. When is the deadline?

Answers to these tell you whether to say yes, and how to prepare.

Prepare the message, then the questions

Write your one message in a single sentence. Then write the three most likely questions, and the hardest one. Draft an answer to each that gives the facts and returns to your message. Say them out loud. A written answer that you have never spoken often sounds like a statement.

The ABC technique of acknowledge, bridge and communicate is one way to do this under pressure. The ABC technique shows how to acknowledge the question, bridge back to your message, then communicate it.

A worked example

A small business is named in a local news story about a delayed project. The owner is asked to comment. This is reactive. Before agreeing, she asks which reporter is working on it, what the story already says, and whether she can respond by a set time. She then writes three lines: what happened, what the business is doing about it, and when the next update will come. She practises the hardest question, which asks whether she is to blame. Her answer acknowledges the delay, gives the facts and moves to the next step.

Common mistakes

• Agreeing to a reactive interview without knowing the story.
• Answering every question and never delivering your own message.
• Trying to memorise a script, so the answers sound rehearsed.
• Treating a proactive interview as a free advert, and ignoring how the piece will be edited.
• Using the same preparation for print, radio and television. The formats differ. What changes for print, TV and radio interviews covers the difference.

Our media training studio page describes rehearsing interviews at the barn with Jawsmith, and what happens in media training sets out what to expect before you book.

Related guides

• The ABC technique: acknowledge, bridge, communicate
• Print, TV and radio interviews: what changes for you
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.