I have a not-so-surprising confession. I love the limelight.
If you don’t know me, you’re probably thinking ‘who is this self-obsessed weirdo?’ But the truth is, I absolutely love any chance to get in front of a camera or an audience. Why? Well, besides the fact that being quiet was never my forte as a child, I always found that when I got the opportunity to directly perform, present or communicate with others in a direct setting, this would always be where I felt the most comfortable and authentic. There was no chance for miscommunication or misconstrued tone. I was able to effectively demonstrate to my audience what I could do/say and leave feeling very accomplished, having hopefully made an impact in some way. However, for those of you that are not little divas like me, getting in front of an audience or camera can be a very daunting experience.
And this is where ‘media training’ comes in if you are aiming to raise your profile or happen to be a spokesperson for your company.
As a PR agency specialising in earned editorial, ensuring our clients feel comfortable speaking to media, is an essential component of our business. As we all know, media attention can be game changing for your brand or business, but with so many brands vying for that same attention, getting earned media coverage is becoming more difficult to secure. More than ever, journalists are being inundated with press releases and information from a range of businesses and PR agencies, with some journalists reporting hundreds to thousands of new PR pitches per day.
With the knowledge that journalists are always seeking a unique angle, a way that you can truly set yourself apart as a brand, is to have several members of your team who are comfortable putting themselves out there and being interviewed by media. And regardless of how much experience you have had before, media training is an incredibly beneficial thing that your team can do to help develop the skills to communicate your brand’s key messages to audiences, in a meaningful yet succinct way.
At its core, media training is a series of sessions or lessons you can take to help you better prepare yourself for interviews. While it will definitely help make you a stronger presenter overall, the skills learnt in media training will ensure that you feel confident and comfortable entering into any interview format and knowing you can get across the key pieces of information you need to communicate in an authentic way. It also allow you to learn the vital skill of controlling an interview so it doesn’t go in a direction you simply don’t want it to.
Not only does this lead to stronger real interviews, but also establishes your credibility in a particular sector, meaning that journalists can also trust you and will come back to you again and again.
Media training is important and beneficial for any type of client, regardless of whether you are in corporate, NFPs, start-ups, etc. Spokespeople can also be anyone on your team, however it’s important to ensure that your speaker has a credible backing, so roles could be a CEO/COO, Executive, Ambassador, Industry Expert or Founder.
Media training courses may vary, but essentially you should always receive training on how to prepare for different journalistic mediums such as TV, print/digital articles, radio, podcasts, etc. Through media training you will consider things like what you should wear, how you should hold yourself, how you should speak and so forth. Each medium requires different presentation skills, and we will be unpacking this in coming weeks.
In a media training session, you will be given the right set of techniques and tools you can use to help you stay on the right course during your interviews, and also ensure you stay aligned to your key messages. You will become a pro at understanding how to work through a question and point it back towards the topic you want to discuss and gain a deeper knowledge of the lingo/terminology that journalists use.
Having media training before a live interview will mean you are more confident at smoothly controlling the interview and ensures you can get your own key points across, rather than just answering the questions posed to you. As they say, practice makes perfect, so the more interview preparation you do, the better!
Even if you’re like me and you do think you’re a very confident presenter normally, sometimes the pressure of a live interview format can turn the tables on you. So, media training is an essential skill we recommend all our clients pursue ahead of campaigns.
If you’re keen to get started on your media training journey but are not sure where to begin, you can follow along with our media training blog series, contact us about our media training services, or alternatively download our free media training bootcamp guide here.
For further information, please contact the Agent99 team today.
By resident diva agent, Emilie.
