M Metzger: "Wanna Be Quoted? Try Speaking English"

Are you speaking to reporters using the same language you speak with corporate co-workers?

If so, you're lowering the odds that the reporter will quote you.

Why?

First, the reporter may not understand what you're trying to say.

Second, if the reporter uses your information, she or he will probably need to restate your comment in words that readers will understand.

If you speak in plain, yet colorful language, you're more likely to attract a reporter

In "Wanna Be Quoted? Try Speaking English," which appeared in Bacon's The Navigator, Michelle Metzger of Entrust, Inc. gives some bad and good examples of how to speak with reporters. You can learn from her advice.