PR Tip. How to pick the right spokesperson for media interviews

More than ever, it’s important that your company spokesperson is able to explain your business, product, and industry to journalists, so that you can win the public trust, and win new clients. But who should be sitting down for those conversations? 

If you’re a founder, you likely know your business and product better than anyone. You’ve pitched investors, hired a team, and brought on your first customers. 

“I was burning $50k a month, and only had six months of runway to start turning a profit.” That’s how a cloud optimization company founder described the first few months of starting his business. He had just left a sales role after a decade. “I started cold calling everyone I had ever met, through work, at a conference, previous employers.”

“I told everyone I could save them 50 percent on cloud costs instantly. When I would chat with companies in my old role, they told me their costs were about to explode in the next quarter because they were going all-in with new AI tools that needed tons of new storage. My pitch worked. I brought on a dozen companies in the first three months, and saved them tens of millions as their competitor’s costs exploded.” 

Within a year, he was doing over $4 million in business. That’s especially impressive when 90% of startups fail. When he told that zero-to-hero story that defies the odds, his energy was infectious. 

Nobody on his team had the same enthusiasm.

Here’s how to know if, as a member of the leadership team, you might be the best spokesperson for your company: 

You’ve already built a company in your industry. “Thanks for reaching out. I covered John’s previous company in Business Insider when he sold it for $30 million.” That’s what we heard from a journalist when we pitched a story about a founder’s new SaaS venture. He was an entrepreneur who had already scaled a few businesses and sold them to Fortune 500 companies. A track record like that makes journalists interested in what you might do next. 

You have a track record as a thought leader. We work with a tech advisor who writes a newsletter for thousands of subscribers. He’s given a TedX talk, gives comments to the media, and regularly advises large tech companies. 

Back in 2023, he claimed that “AI will separate faster the smart from the stupid,” and warned about overreliance on the technology. Now, in 2025, research from MIT suggests that LLMs are significantly impacting our cognitive ability, memory, and creativity. If you have a record of those kinds of insightful predictions, you might be able to leverage that into more media coverage.

You can make technical jargon easy to understand. We once worked with an AI video compression company where everyone had a technical background, whether in STEM or coding. 

When we would try to get information about their products, the technical language would start to creep in. “We use an AVC codec to compress files, while our competitors are using the old HEVC tech.” Huh? It confused us and the journalists they spoke to.

But their founder was able to break it down into examples that everyone could understand. “Our technology is able to compress files while they’re transferred, and then decompress them when they get to their destination, saving video streaming companies 20 percent on their costs.” That’s a rare skill, and it’s important to consider when picking a spokesperson. 

What to look for when selecting a spokesperson who isn’t your CEO 

Different team members should showcase their expertise depending on what questions a journalist is asking. 

If a reporter is telling a story about how your company structured the team’s exit after an IPO to maximize tax savings, your CFO might be your best bet. If the story is about custom-made software that gave your company an edge over all of your competitors, that might be a job for the CTO. 

In addition to the technical expertise, the best spokespeople need to: 

Be nimble when answering questions. A client yelled at me after we started asking him questions from a journalist. “This is an ambush,” he said, as he hung up five minutes into the call. 

A reporter had shared some questions for the CTO of one of our clients. We needed to get the comments back to the reporter within the hour to make sure we were included in the story, so we set up a call for him to answer the questions on the fly. 

He instantly went on the defensive, and said he would need a week to get back to us with answers. We instantly set up a call with a VP, who was able to talk through each question in simple terms on the spot, and secure the media coverage. Being able to come up with answers on the spot is a key trait for any spokesperson. If you feel set up by your own PR firm, you’re not ready for an interview with a journalist. 

Be open and communicative when talking to reporters. “The journalist kept asking the same question, but I was able to dodge it every time.” That’s a real quote we heard from a client after they had an interview with a Canadian tech publication. 

Within the hour, I got an angry call from the journalist who interviewed him. “Why did you even set this up? I asked each question three times and he wouldn’t give a straight answer.” 

Dodging questions isn’t a skill you need in the PR process. You need to be able to communicate your company’s message without getting defensive or evasive. Questions aren’t criticism. 

Be accountable if something goes wrong. If the whole team is responsible for PR, nobody is. In PR kickoff meetings, we make it a habit to always assign a point-person for each kind of query we might get from a journalist (CTO for the tech questions, CEO for business strategy, etc.). That way, if we lose an opportunity because we took too long getting a response, everyone isn’t pointing the finger. 

Involving your team in PR can help you identify potential 

More often than not, when someone steps up to handle PR responsibilities, it builds retention, and it can help founders identify who should be up for promotion. 

It’s rare that employees leave because they’re given more trust from the founder. In fact, 60% of employees say that they’re more likely to stay at a company if they have access to professional development opportunities. 

So when your team steps up, it’s not because they’re planning to jump ship, it’s because they want to take on more responsibility for themselves and the company. 

PR is essential to building your brand 

Public relations isn’t just about visibility. It’s about credible, trusted voices telling your story.

When only one person speaks, you can create the impression that your company is smaller than it actually is. Pick voices from your organization who are sharp, open, and genuine, and they will add credibility that a founder can’t build alone. 

Need help getting your team of experts into earned media? Contact Mind Meld PR today