Media Training
Media Training is a specific form of communications training that helps on-camera interviewees (and spokespersons) develop and deliver impactful messages. This is accomplished through media preparation and anticipating reporters’ questions.
Media training teaches you how to prepare for your appearance, what to expect, and how to avoid the pitfalls that could derail your interview. You learn how to craft and sharpen your key messages and develop powerful sound bites. You also develop and practice specialized non-verbal communication skills that make you more effective, such as body language, listening skills, vocal inflection, and connecting with the interviewer. If you need to speak directly to your audience by looking into the camera lens, you learn the tools to address and connect with your audience.
The objectives of Media Training
The goal of Media Training is to ensure that as an interviewee or spokesperson you feel confident, knowledgeable and in control during interviews and media appearances. Through practice with expert feedback, you will become proficient at delivering your key messages, and therefore more likely quoted on the information most important to you and your organization.
Whether being interviewed or delivering your message into the camera, the aim is to make it easy for the audience to understand what you are saying and to remember it. Media training helps you to become a compelling person/personality to watch and listen to. For more information, go to: 7 Tips for Acing your Next Media Interview.
You will learn how to prepare for your interviews, including what questions to ask reporters and producers before you make your appearance. You will also learn how to interact with reporters, how to deliver key messages, and how to navigate reporter questions during the interview to ensure you get your messages across.
Understanding what NOT to do on camera or on radio/podcasts will help you to avoid common mistakes that can undermine you. You’ll also learn about the importance of body language, how you use your voice, and even what to wear on camera because all of these factors contribute to how you and your messages are perceived. Click here for 7 Body Language Tips: Remarkable Results Fast.
If your appearance requires a teleprompter, you will become proficient in the art and craft of reading your script on a teleprompter. You will also learn the tools that will help you sound natural and comfortable while reading and that help you relate to your audience through the camera lens. Click here for The Art of Reading a Teleprompter: 6 Tips to Get you Started.
Media Training helps you overcome your fear of being on camera and public speaking anxiety
Most people have some kind of fear of public speaking, fear of failure, or anxiety about being on camera. This fear and anxiety often get in the way of a good performance. Media training helps you to first identify the fears that are causing your camera fright and then to overcome them so that you begin to get comfortable on camera and actually enjoy the process.
Click here for 5 Tips for Overcoming your Fear of Being on Camera or Public Speaking.
Click here for 6 Tips to Boost Your Confidence and Be Yourself On-Camera
Who can benefit from Media Training?
Anyone appearing on camera or in front of large groups will benefit, such as CEO’s, C-Suite, spokespersons, politicians, entrepreneurs, subject matter experts, specialists, TV hosts, interviewees.
Why Media Training is Important
Media appearances create name recognition, establish expertise, and can make people feel like they’ve met you personally when they haven’t. People gain much more of a feeling of who you are by watching and listening to you than they do by reading about you.
Every media appearance is a public relations opportunity. You can increase visibility for yourself or your company, gain credibility, build trust, establish expertise, forward your mission, increase sales, and more. It’s important to embrace the tools needed to make the most of your time on camera.
First impressions matter – Here’s why
Audiences make decisions about who you are and whether or not they believe you and want to listen to you in a matter of seconds. Consciously or subconsciously audiences will assess you by what you’re wearing, your speech, comfort level, facial expressions, etc. and then decide quickly whether or not it’s worth listening to you.
It is essential that you put your best foot forward from the beginning.
Think you can just wing it? Think again
Media appearances are great public relations opportunities, but mishandling your interview or being unprepared can hurt your company, and in the worst-case scenarios, hurt your career or reputation. Many people think they can just wing it, but it’s probably the worst thing you can do.
It’s just as important to understand what NOT to do in an interview, as it is to know what TO do. Media training includes understanding the pitfalls of media interviews and appearances and how to avoid them because it’s very difficult to recover from an interview gone wrong.
Recovering from a bad interview is the last thing you want to be doing with your time.
So, if you don’t think you need Media Training, think again! There are many things that can go wrong and if you are not prepared, they probably will. Click here for 7 Tips for Acing your Next Media Interview.
How Media Training will benefit you
Media training helps you with clarifying your message, crafting clear, concise and catchy sound bites and overcoming stage fright. It also helps with more subtle communication skills like body movement, facial expression, eye movement and vocal quality.
Media Training gives you the skills and practice to ace your interviews for TV, radio, podcasts, social media, website videos, YouTube videos, print interviews, phone interviews, Skype, or any time you interact with reporters.
For some people, appearing in the media requires additional training in the art of reading a teleprompter. Others may need to also develop spokesperson skills which can be covered in Media Training.
Just one successful interview can lead to more interviews and a wider audience
Reporters scan the news for information and interesting stories. If a reporter sees you on camera speaking eloquently, knowledgeably, and with credibility about your company or expertise, and sees that you’re a good interviewee, they may ask you to speak about a similar topic needed in a different story. When this happens your message gains a wider audience.
Should I share my previous interviews and appearances with my Media Trainer?
Absolutely! We review your previous media appearances and interviews (if you have prior experience) because they are a great starting point for assessing your strengths as well as areas that need improvement.
Media Training for entrepreneurs
There is nothing better for PR and marketing than a TV, radio or media appearance. Entrepreneurs can kick start interest in their companies by developing trust and name recognition through interviews and media appearances.
Media training will help entrepreneurs get the most out of their TV and radio appearances, and it will help them to develop their brand persona and style of communicating.
Knowing the rules of Media Training before diving in and making mistakes helps you to manage your company image, messaging, communication and public relations from the start.
11 Tips for Acing Your Next Media Appearance
1
Don’t let your fear of being on-camera get in the way of a great opportunity
Public speaking is ranked as the #1 fear, over and above death. Seriously? Yes! So, if you’re feeling anxiety or stage fright about being on-camera, you are definitely not alone.
When you add media to your public speaking equation, you’ve got a greater likelihood of being seen by more people, and that can make some people even more nervous.
When you’re nervous, it’s hard to hide it. Audiences sense when people feel nervous, awkward, inadequate, etc. They might not be able to point out the nervous laughter, awkward body language or strange vocal issues specifically, but they will make a determination about you based on them.
Tackling stage fright with a professional media trainer will not only save you time, it will also save you from bad interviews.
It is truly possible to overcome stage fright, and once you do, you will actually start to enjoy yourself.
2
Understand the media playing field
3
Prepare for your interview – don’t wing it!
It’s easy to think that you’re prepared and ready to go if you practice answering a few questions in your head based on what you think the reporter might ask. But for media appearances that isn’t actually media preparation, it’s just winging it. And winging it for your interview is a quick way to seriously bungle your opportunity.
Preparation is key to nailing your interviews and building confidence beforehand. Here are some of the ways you will learn how to prepare for your interview:
- Conduct background research about the media outlet or social media outlet where you will be making an appearance
- Find out as much as you can about the focus of the reporter’s story before your interview
- Clarify your key messages
- Craft compelling and quick sound bites
- Practice on camera before your interview (see below)
- Brainstorm difficult questions and practice answering them
- Warm-up before your interview and get into the right mindset
- Find and wear appropriate clothing for the specific interview
- Work on problem spots in delivery, body language, speech, etc.
4
Learn what reporters are looking for
Reporters like interesting, prepared and articulate interviewees who understand the media playing field and how to be interviewed. The more prepared and professional you are, the easier it is for reporters to write, edit, and craft a story. They are also looking for authenticity.
Overall, reporters want to know your key points or key messaging, and they want to get get good, short and snappy sound bites. Creating these will help you to organize your thoughts and concepts and will ultimately help the reporter get good, organized information from you during the interview.
This approach to being interviewed also increases the likelihood of getting quoted about something that matters to you and your company. If you aren’t prepared for your interview, the reporter might lead you into areas you don’t want to talk about or aren’t prepared to talk about. And then, a quote gets used from the fumbled part of the interview, resulting in a missed opportunity, at best.
When a reporter asks you to do an interview, ask as many questions as you can about the story or article you will be interviewed for. Try to find out as much as you can about the angle the reporter is taking. This will help you to understand more about how your interview will help to further their story. It will also help you to decide whether or not you want to be a part of it.
5
Clarify your key messaging
Key messages are brief summaries of important talking points that articulate: what you do, why you’re doing it, what you care about, your expertise, and what makes you unique.
You can’t control everything in an interview, but you can control your key messaging.
Developing key messages serves several purposes. When you spend time considering the main points you want your audience to take away from your interview, you’re telling them what you want them to remember.
Key messaging helps you to:
- Get clarity about your messaging and topic points
- Stay focused in the interview
Reporters may ask questions that confuse you or that try to work around your key messaging. Knowing your key messages in advance will help you navigate tricky questions and bring the interview back to the answers you want to focus on.
6
Why sound bites are important
But first, what is a sound bite?
A good sound bite is a short statement taken from an interview, chosen for its clarity and punch. It’s a quick quote that will help the reporter to further his/her story in no more than 6-15 seconds *
Sound bites are used in all forms of media: TV, radio, podcasts, print, social media, multimedia and other forms of communication.
*Nobody speaks in 6-15 second sound bites all the time. But having several ready to go will help your interview and the reporter immensely.
What makes a good sound bite?
A good sound bite is not what shows you off as intelligent or witty. A good sound bite is a statement that the audience can understand quickly. Reporters and writers are trained to get these sound bites out of interviewees and use them.
Three main characteristics of an excellent sound bite:
- They get their point across in 6 – 15 seconds
- They are easy to understand
- They use a visual image that helps the audience actually see your point
If you want to get your point across, sound interesting, speak effectively and make a positive impression prepare and practice sound bites before your actual interview.
Never underestimate the importance of a sound bite
Tight deadlines create many restrictions in television and other media outlets. After an interview, reporters, writers and editors quickly search for the best sound bites to help further their story. So, getting your point across quickly and effectively is extremely important and makes you look good.
7
Maintaining composure and confidence
Maintaining your composure and being ready for any kind of question is an important part of learning how to navigate working with the media. Reporters are trained to dig in and find nuggets that you may not have thought of or weren’t prepared to talk about. Learning the tools needed to steer the direction of the interview will help you stay calm and be confident as well as give you more control over what you say in the interview.
8
Body Language
What is body language?
Body language is the hand and arm movements, eye movements, posture, body movements, facial expressions and mannerisms by which a person communicates with others.
Why is body language so important? It’s 65% of how we communicate!
There are variations on percentages, but some research says that our communication consists of 35% verbal communication and 65% non-verbal communication. This implies that our spoken word is only 35% of the information a person takes in when we’re speaking. The other 65% is information that person assesses from our body language.
Body language helps people to identify emotions, status, credibility and even lifestyle.
Since people read your body language more than they listen to what you’re actually saying, it’s just as important to focus on your body language in Media Training as it is on the points you’re trying to get across.
Body language can help reinforce your message, believability and trustworthiness but if used poorly, it will undermine what you’re saying. Confusing or awkward body language can send mixed messages and turn people off. And, it may even discredit your interview without your knowing why.
When you learn how to align your body language with your key message, people trust you more and will naturally focus on what you’re saying.
But wait; are people even aware of my body language?
The difficult thing about body language is that it’s often unconscious for the person doing it as well as the person watching it.
Humans are very sophisticated in observing body language and drawing conclusions quickly. We do this every time we interact with people. When witnessing body language that’s incongruous with what a person is saying, viewers often draw the conclusion that the person is awkward, untrustworthy, not worth listening to, or even deceptive. But, they won’t necessarily be able to pinpoint why they feel that way.
Media Training teaches you to use body language to communicate with Purpose and Intention
Media Training helps you identify how you’re using your body language, what habits you have and how they may be helping you or undermining you. Once you’ve developed this vocabulary you can start to adjust your body movements to better align with your emotions, words and messages.
When you gain this basic awareness and use these new tools, you will start to improve immediately.
9
Practice
It’s important to practice media skills before your appearance or interview so that when the camera and/or audio rolls, you’re ready. There’s a huge difference between thinking about what you’re going to say in an interview, versus being asked questions and needing to respond quickly on the spot in front of a camera. Practice gives you a chance to make mistakes and learn from your mistakes. It also gives you a chance to try out new messages.
How on-camera practice, with expert feedback, will help you build confidence through active experience
Practice with expert feedback is a great way to get experience, build your confidence, find out what is working and make adjustments to what isn’t working before you put yourself in the public eye.
Audiences are used to watching people on camera that are trained professionally. For better or for worse, your competition for attention in the media is often professionally trained presenters. In our media-saturated culture, audiences expect a professional level of performance.
Showing up prepared with polish and confidence will help present you in a better light and make you and your message more appealing.
On-camera practice gives your media trainer the opportunity to give you feedback and help you make adjustments. These are some of the tools covered when you practice:
- Body Language
- Authenticity
- Comfort level
- Sound bites
- Key messaging and steering the interview towards your key messages
- Navigating difficult questions
- Overcoming anxiety and nerves about being on-camera
- Making a connection with the audience
- Vocal problems that may be getting in the way
10
I need to learn how to use a teleprompter. Now what?
Who uses a teleprompter?
Anyone presenting on-camera or on stage may opt to use a teleprompter if they have more than two sentences to say. This includes newscasters, executives, presidents, spokespeople, TV hosts, actors, salespeople, people making films for YouTube or social media, politicians or anyone running for an elected position, and anyone who is presenting on-camera or on stage.
Reading from a teleprompter like a pro is essential but it takes practice
You may believe that because you can read, you can read a teleprompter naturally. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.
If you skip practicing teleprompter skills and go straight to filming, you might be in for a bit of a shock and your performance may suffer.
Reading a teleprompter takes skill and practice. Without it people sound wooden, look stiff, often look like they are struggling to read, and consequently lose their audience.
11
Wardrobe and Makeup
Wardrobe
First impressions matter! And, as the saying goes, “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression”. First impressions are made within the first second or two of meeting someone.
People make assumptions about who you are, how professional you are, and whether or not you’re trustworthy based on how you look on camera and what you wear on camera. This means that your wardrobe is very important! It’s essential that your wardrobe is professional, comfortable and appropriate for the camera. Click here to find out what to wear on camera and what not to wear on camera.
Makeup
First impressions matter when it comes to makeup too. Being under camera lights can cause a slight perspiration, which can make you look slightly agitated, nervous or sloppy. When people look “natural” on camera, it’s often because they have makeup on that is applied specifically for the needs of being on camera.
Makeup is applied to both men and women appearing on camera to make you look natural and neutralize shine so that viewers are focusing on what you’re saying, not on the fact that you are sweating.
Conclusion
Appearances on-camera, in social media, news, marketing videos, radio and podcasts are incredible public relations and marketing opportunities and they should not be taken lightly.
Even if you are a natural and dynamic communicator off-camera, it’s easy to freeze up or appear stiff when being recorded. A good job on-camera can do wonders for you and your company. A bad job on-camera can be downright damaging to your reputation.
Working in media is a specific skill set that, when mastered, can help to create credibility and trust, establish you as a go-to for a specific subject matter and help you rise above your competition. It will also help you build confidence in communicating your expertise to the public.
Taking the time to build the skills, confidence, flexibility, and knowledge of working with the media is fun and challenging. Media Training will give you the necessary skills as well as honest feedback about what is working, what isn’t, and where you need to improve.
This is the kind of feedback you won’t get from friends, co-workers and family members. Outside professional feedback helps you grow exponentially in a short amount of time. Repeated practice on-camera with professional feedback helps you to prepare for the unexpected, get comfortable quickly, and be ready for anything!
