Public Relations: Care-Listen-Create-Delight.
This worked when I was a journalist, and it works in all public relations.
Care: understand the person first, then the problem. Empathy.
Walk in the person’s shoes for a period and get to understand at a deep level what motivates him/her, personally and professionally. Do this by preparing the interview and then asking question after question in order to learn and appreciate the person’s values, pressures and interests. You are getting behind that veneer that hides the individuals loves and passions, at a deeper level. Remember, assumption is the mother is mistakes, including when it comes to understanding someone. 
Listen: if you understand what makes the person ‘tick’, it changes what you ‘hear’. It’s the story behind the words – the stressed relationship with the boss, not enough time, nervousness about an aspect of the job, no-one with whom to discuss issues. There are only so many words that can be spoken in an hour, so now none are wasted – you are now hearing the public relations problem in a much broader context.
Create: then you can work on a solution to solve the problem, with an awareness of that much broader context.
Delight: and you will now know how to really value-add, with the surprise extras that accommodate the person’s values, pressures and interests.
Of those four, the most important is Care, and it’s the one most frequently overlooked in public relations…enter the conversation already taking place in the person’s mind.
I know it sounds simple but it works and the easy-to-remember phrase is a very effective teaching tool.
Another oldie and goodie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People
