If you speak on behalf of your company or organization, you need media training.
Media training is about learning to present your messages effectively to reporters, and through them to your target audience. It’s about making sure every spokesperson or key executive for your organization speaks consistently and effectively through all of your interactions with the media.
Even when you’re able to speak to your “value proposition” and know a great deal about your substance, handling media interviews can be tricky. Don’t believe what you may have heard about “media messaging.” True messaging isn’t about giving rote answers regardless of the question asked, and steer clear of any training that encourages you to try and “fool” reporters with such tactics. Reporters aren’t passive listeners and they’re not paid to help you in your self-promotion.
Your goal shouldn’t be to just survive your media interactions. That’s a very low bar. You want to enhance your credibility and build your brand by engaging with the media with each and every opportunity.
Of course, we encourage you to give us a call for consultation, but wherever you get your media training, do insist on gaining clear guidelines about preparation, delivery and follow up. Here are some basics any good media training should cover:
Messaging
You’ll know beforehand why you’re being interviewed and what you’re contributing to the story. Your task is to figure out how to meet both your needs and the needs of the reporter at the same time. That’s where messaging comes in and it’s a key part of any training. Media training will help you figure out how to establish strong messages before each interview, knowing what you do know about likely questions. That’s your opportunity to respond in the clearest, most effective way as the interviewee.
Delivery
Media training helps you understand how to answer reporter questions and deliver your messages in ways reporters will respond to. For instance, all media (print, broadcast and online) need you to be brief. How to respond clearly and succinctly on even the most complicated topics is a core value of any good media training. This is why it’s often those who know the most about topics who find the process of dealing with the media so difficult and who would most benefit by media training.
Practice
If dealing with the media were easy, we wouldn’t see the kinds of high profile mistakes made on an almost daily basis by people in the public eye who should know better. Any effective media training teaches these skills by putting trainees through repeated and rigorous practice. This isn’t an academic exercise. You need to put your skills to the test in training before facing reporters.
Media training trains executives and spokespeople for the art of communicating in public. If you’ve got a story you want people to know about, get started and get media training for your executives today.