Box 9.20

Communicating your passion for the issue

By Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, New York

So much of being a trusted source for reporters comes down to your passion for the issue. Does it make your juices flow? Are you committed to it? As soon as that passion is gone, you are no longer a good communicator, no matter how well trained you are. Training can help you say smart things to the media. But at the end of the day, it’s about being accessible to the media, and being open to them. It’s being able to say articulate things in a language that they can understand. If you are open to their requests, and if you tell them the truth as best you know it, they will come back to you. A lot of it is just being able to explain your study in a way that makes sense to them and that helps them explain it to their readers.