Hideout councilors receive media training; consultant urges short, on-message answers

Helen Langan, a communications consultant who said she runs Lincoln Communications, taught a media-training session for Hideout town officials and staff at the retreat, offering practical techniques for interviews and proactive planning.

Langan told the group that officials should prepare a small set of key messages in advance and use “bridging” phrases to steer tough interview questions back to those points. She said officials can and should buy a little time with reporters rather than answering on the spot: “I don’t want to give you the wrong information about that. So let me check and get back to you,” she said, describing a way to avoid speculation under deadline pressure.

Why it matters: Elected officials often speak to reporters without preparation; Langan’s session aimed to reduce errors and improve the town’s public messages. She framed the training around the “earned media” value of neutral, consistent messaging and recommended practical habits — a one-page crib sheet with three messages, rehearsing for difficult questions, and asking for deadlines and topics when a reporter calls unexpectedly.

Officials practiced interview techniques and were advised to favor brief, complete answers and to repeat key messages until they stick in a reporter’s piece. Langan also advised using “flag planting” language — short, repeatable lines that signal the story’s main point — and to treat silence during interviews as normal rather than filling it with extra remarks. Her larger recommendation was that the town coordinate responses through a small communications “newsroom” cadence so staff and council present consistent statements.

Quotes from the session came from Langan and from participants during role exercises. Langan repeatedly urged restraint and preparation: “You don’t have to know everything,” she said, encouraging officials to defer or refer questions when they lack accurate facts.

Ending: The town’s communications priorities discussed at the retreat (website updates, a media cadence and three open-house events, described separately by presenters) are intended to give officials more opportunities to use the skills Langan taught and to provide reporters with clearer, more timely material.