How do you prefer to learn? In person or virtually? In a group or one-on-one? Ongoing training or one-and-done? I've media trained many type-A executives over the years who thrive on competition. There's a lot of energy in the room during those in-person workshops. But if COVID concerns or other factors mean turning to Zoom for virtual media training, there are still plenty of benefits to take away. Like?
- Becoming a more valuable employee. Your boss will be able to put you in front of the media to reach a wider client base. Or, you could up your company's social media game with consistent and clear messaging.
- Speaking with more confidence in the Board Room. Internal talking points will differ from external ones but once you develop the skill set it can help throughout your career.
- Getting a leg up on your competion. If you're a small business owner or solopreneur who is media-savvy and your biggest competitor isn't, that couldn't hurt your bottom line.
- Building better relationships with the media could really come in handy if your business faces a crisis. Your first time dealing with the media shouldn't be when an aggressive reporter sticks a microphone in your face during a crisis that's exploding on social media.
What's on the agenda of our media training sessions?
- Speaking in "sound bites." For broadcast interviews you need pithy responses that grab attention but won't get you into trouble. If you try to get too cute with your answers, expect some blowback. And if you are a rambler, your audience will tune out.
- "Bridging." This is how you swing back to your talking point instead of giving a knee-jerk response to a question that doesn't quite fit your agenda. It means taking back some control of the interview.
- Camera presence--where to look, how to sit/stand, eye contact, gesturing and other non-verbal cues. Do you know that you should look at your interviewer and not directly at the camera in side-by-side interviews? Think of it as a conversation.
- Effective stalling techniques to avoid unnatural pauses, such as "um." During our mock interviews we keep track of your "ums" and it may shock you to learn how often you rely on this verbal crutch.
- Asthetics of TV. Do you know why you should avoid loud, busy patterns when you dress for a TV interview? It can distract from your messaging. Same is true for flashy jewelry and other accessories. Your messaging will always be more important than how you look on TV, Facebook Live or in videos. But when you're the star, everything matters--including your clothing, posture, tone of voice, tempo and on and on.
- Overcoming obstacles. For example, the morning show host just butchered your name. Do you let it slide even though you're flustered by it, or do you correct her immediately and risk embarrassing the host? We play out both these scenarios.
Subscribe to our blog and get notified when we post new tips. And if you're ready to give media training a try, we offer virtual sessions in one-hour increments.
