It’s Academy Award season and that means the marketing machine for top movie contenders is in full gear. In case you missed it, here’s an interview between the BBC and Spike Jones courtesy of @LAist regarding Her. And while it’s pretty awkward, it provides some good media training lessons for businesses:

• Not everyone likes your product. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but if the reporter doesn’t agree with you, like your product or share your point of view, you’re going to hard time swaying them. You can see from the reporter’s post interview tweets, she didn’t care for the movie. With that in mind, the best you can hope for in terms of the interview’s outcome is for it to be neutral, fair or perhaps slightly positive.

• Keep dropping key messages. The best way to push for a neutral to slightly positive outcome is to speak to your expertise and keep dropping key messages. Spike Jonze keeps reiterating – the movie is not about the software or the architecture, it’s a love story. If the reporter keeps going down a path or holding on to a preconceived notion, stick to your guns – here’s what makes you an expert, here’s why you created the product, here’s why it’s beneficial to your customers.

• Don’t make it personal. Stay calm. There’s nothing to be gained by trashing the reporter or flying off the handle. Even if you and the reporter are on opposite ends of the spectrum, you have to control your emotions. Spike keeps his cool and even tries to make the interview more playful.

• Check in with the reporter. In many interviews, the conversation goes like this: reporter asks a question, interviewee responds, reporter asks next question, interviewee responds. Look for opportunities to check in with the reporter. Spike does a good job of trying to connect with the reporter by trying to get her take on the movie.

With these tips in your mind, I hope your interviews go more smoothly than this one.

What’s one thing you’ve learned during your interviews, either with the media or customers?