In today’s media environment, your company’s top leaders must be prepared for anything. Their effective communication is crucial for shaping public perception, protecting brand reputation, building relationships with the media, and even fostering internal team cohesion.
For some, speaking to the media on behalf of your brand may be what their nightmares are made of. “What if I say the wrong thing?” “What if the reporter throws me a curveball?” “What if I lose track of what I was saying and need to start over?” These questions can cause even the most capable leader to decline participating in the interview to begin with.
Media training equips your organization’s spokespeople with the skills to confidently navigate interviews, manage crises, and deliver key messages clearly and compellingly. It can also help reduce anxiety around interviews and ensure that everyone is prepared to represent your brand in a meaningful way.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- how media training prepares leaders to handle tough interview questions;
- why understanding the expectations of journalists is a crucial element of media relations;
- tips for delivering the right message in your media opportunity.
How Media Training Helps Leaders Speak Confidently in Interviews
Did you know that how a brand communicates, primarily through visual media, significantly impacts consumer perceptions and decisions? Some speculate that up to 90% of the overall communication impact is influenced by a spokesperson’s nonverbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions, highlighting the importance of on-camera presence. Mastering these cues, such as body language, can make just as much of an impact during an interview as the message itself. It can help deliver your message more effectively and make a lasting impression on the audience you are attempting to reach.
As a proven effective practice, incorporating mock interviews into spokesperson training is key to giving your top leaders the opportunity to master these skills. With practice and real-time feedback, trainees can work towards implementing what they have just learned during media training. Allowing future spokespeople to review their interviews is crucial to understanding their nonverbal behaviors and nervous habits and ultimately provide a lasting understanding of what to do, and not do, during media interviews.
What Journalists Look for in a Great Spokesperson
Did you know that the number of news articles published daily in the United States is over 5,000? That’s nearly 2 million stories published each year. As news cycles (and attention spans) get shorter, it’s imperative to have an understanding of what information reporters want and how they want it shared with them.
During spokesperson training, your team will get a thorough understanding of the different types of media and learn proven tips for making the most of every opportunity. Just as important as the interview itself, a cornerstone of our media spokesperson trainings is discussing how to make a lasting impression on any reporter that you work with — solidifying that your company is a reliable source that can be relied on to provide quality content and succinct soundbites, resulting in a great story.
Media Interview Tips: Know Your Audience and Deliver the Right Message
Storytelling is a powerful tool for capturing your audience’s interest, introducing new products or service offerings, and simplifying complex ideas or data to emphasize your point. In any media opportunity, crafting relevant, concise, and well-refined talking points is essential to making a lasting impact.
Talking points can serve as a roadmap to success with the media. By defining 2-4 key messages in advance of a media interview, you can ensure that the story you are trying to tell is clear and well represented. Preparing what you plan to say can also help you navigate those questions that may be unexpected. In addition to helping you streamline your talking points, media training will also help you master key tools to navigate conversations during interviews, such as bridging, hooking and flagging.
In today’s world, a CEO isn’t just the head of a company — they’re often the face and voice of the brand. Thorough preparation, clear messaging, and confident delivery are key to success in media interactions. This is why investing in media training for CEOs and other key spokespeople should be a strategic imperative for your brand.
If you’re searching for media spokesperson training in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area, the experts at Scooter Media are here to help! Get in touch with us today to learn more about the media spokesperson training opportunities we offer.
Also, be sure to check out more public relations and spokesperson training tips on the Scooter Media blog, including:
