by Gary Genard
From the Harvard Business School's online resource, Working Knowledge for Business Leaders
abstracts prepared by Hugh Fisher

Without a doubt, today's media prefer to get quotes and information "straight from the source" - from ranking company officials, especially during times of crisis or expansion. For such people, going into an interview knowing what message they want to deliver, and prepared to deal with the questions they might be asked, will ensure that the sound bites used by the media present the image you choose.

Genard looks at simple strategies for staying "on message." He suggests keeping your responses short and to the point, and practicing "bridges" between topics you don't wish to discuss and the points you want to make, using examples from interviews by Condoleezza Rice and other political figures to demonstrate the proper way to avoid negative fallout or misconceptions based on brief sound bites.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=3622&t=career_effectiveness