The old philosophical question asks, “If a tree fell in the woods and no one was around, would it make a sound?” If you apply the question to your speech, the answer is no: you would not want to bother giving one if you knew no one would attend. The press can help deliver the public to hear your message. Likewise, you want to be sure that if you are interviewed, your words will reach your intended audience. To be effective, you need to think carefully about who would be interested in your message, what your objectives are in reaching them, and how best to go about doing this.

Prioritize the outlets that are most likely to offer the biggest bang per buck of your time. Often, that means starting small: it is likely to be a waste of time trying to get on Oprah, but a local talk show would be excited to have you as a guest. No one from Vanity Fair will respond to your pitch letter, but the local city magazine will.

Overwhelmed by the size of a good media relations program? If you have not directly engaged in courting the press before, that is a natural reaction. If you cannot get some help — even other volunteers — relax. Slow, persistent, and informed pursuit of properly prioritized goals should eventually yield results. It can take months or over a year for even a PR professional to get an interview commitment from the major media (which is why PR agencies charge a lot when they are paid only when they place an article and why it is much more cost-effective in the long run to put a publicist on retainer).