Top Five Benefits of Media Training

We’ve all seen the hic­cups and blun­ders of good inter­views gone bad on local and nation­al news and on social media (or wit­nessed in real time!), cap­tur­ing infa­mous moments which could live on in cul­tur­al lore for decades. There are the acci­den­tal swear­ing clips, the “I didn’t know my mic was on” shots and moments in which we feel ter­ri­ble laugh­ing but sim­ply can’t help ourselves.

While most inter­views don’t go off the rails dra­mat­i­cal­ly enough to go viral, media moments mat­ter and because our dig­i­tal foot­prints last for all eter­ni­ty, it’s more impor­tant than ever to be pre­pared. Media train­ing offers skills, strate­gies and con­fi­dence for those media moments, strength­en­ing mes­sag­ing for a pos­i­tive and pow­er­ful inter­view. So, what does media train­ing look like?

At Bell­mont Part­ners, we have decades of expe­ri­ence on and off cam­era as both spokes­peo­ple and jour­nal­ists and prep­ping clients for inter­views across a vast array of sce­nar­ios. Cri­sis com­mu­ni­ca­tions, change man­age­ment, employ­ee announce­ments, prod­uct launch­es and pro­mot­ing events – we’ve seen it all. We’ve also seen the dif­fer­ence and pos­i­tive effects media prep has had on our clients. If you’re not sure whether media train­ing makes sense for you or your C‑suite, here are five ben­e­fits to consider:

1. Pow­er­ful, effec­tive and effi­cient mes­sage deliv­ery: It’s crit­i­cal to pri­or­i­tize the key mes­sages you want to com­mu­ni­cate, and prac­tice effi­cient respons­es to max­i­mize clar­i­ty in deliv­er­ing those key messages.
2. Tech­niques to stay on mes­sage: Reporters and audi­ences are curi­ous peo­ple and it’s easy for a con­ver­sa­tion to wan­der from core con­tent into areas that might require more time or con­text. Stay focused on the mes­sages and don’t be afraid to guide the con­ver­sa­tion back if it gets off track.  Prac­tice tech­niques like bridg­ing to stay focused on the messages.
3. Prepa­ra­tion and prac­tice: While we may have the per­fect answer in our head, trans­lat­ing those thoughts into words in a high-pres­sure sit­u­a­tion can be extreme­ly chal­leng­ing. Prac­tic­ing a wide range of ques­tions you may be asked in a media inter­view (even the ones you do not want to answer!) ahead of time can build mus­cle mem­o­ry and help ease the pan­ic of an unex­pect­ed or tough ques­tion in the moment.
4. It’s not just what you say: “What do I do with my hands?” Media prepa­ra­tion includes not just what you say, but also talk­ing through hand ges­tures, facial expres­sions, body move­ments and wardrobe to help send the right mes­sage and match the tone of a media scenario.
5. Con­fi­dence: Prepa­ra­tion leaves you feel­ing ready and con­fi­dent. Exud­ing con­fi­dence allows you to focus on the mes­sage, build­ing cred­i­bil­i­ty and estab­lish­ing trust with the audi­ence. Remem­ber: You’re the expert and you want to do as much as you can ahead of an inter­view to make it easy for your mes­sages to connect.

These ben­e­fits stretch beyond the imme­di­a­cy of an upcom­ing inter­view. A sol­id media prepa­ra­tion ses­sion can help you car­ry the lessons into both inter­nal and exter­nal meet­ings, inter­ac­tions with prospec­tive clients and cus­tomers and in every­day conversations.

If you’re inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about media train­ing for you or your orga­ni­za­tion, we would love to talk with you. Reach out to us at info@bellmontpartners.com.