A spokesperson comes off best if he or she is spontaneous. Coaching a spokesperson is a compromise between having a written statement and doing and interview. It's okay to let them study specific message points. But don't write a complete, sample answer for them. That's tatamount to giving the spokesperson an answer to read.
Most producers say it takes about four takes before the spokesperson starts sounding natural.
Kristi Dunn of Ketchum Public Relations in Chicago works with Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. We usually give him a couple of bullet points and then try to create questions that will elicit the answers that we all want, she says, adding that he usually knows what he wants to say. Journalists say that interviews are the best way to extract information from news sources. Jim O Donnell of National Television News in Detroit, says, If the person knows what they're talking about, you get the best answer off the top of their head. It's the most natural and dosn't sound stilted.