We know you understand the main benefits of media training.
It helps your spokespeople communicate with clarity and confidence, making the most of media opportunities and giving attention-grabbing interviews.
They learn practical techniques to answer difficult questions from journalists and bring messages to life in a way that resonates with the audience and compels them to take action.
It helps them overcome the fears that often surround being asked to give a media interview. And, of course, avoid interview blunders.
But there are also hidden benefits participants and clients often uncover during - and even after - a media skills training course.
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Here are some additional benefits your leaders may unearth during our media training courses.
One of the ‘hidden’ benefits of a media training course is that the skills and techniques don’t just help with TV interviews, talking on the radio or when speaking to print journalists.
Our delegates often tell us they will use their new media skills in other settings.
That might be in boardroom and client meetings, when handling difficult questions from colleagues and during presentations (or even during Parliamentary Committee appearances), or when launching a new product or service.
When people come back to us to refresh their skills and knowledge, they often tell us media training has improved all their business communication - not just their media interviews.
But it is also crucial to remember that appearing in front of cameras and microphones is no longer restricted to media interviews.
Many businesses now use video as part of internal communication strategies. And comms teams increasingly use them during a crisis. You may recall Marriott Hotels boss Arne Sorenson's video at the start of the pandemic. Or Liverpool owner John Henry addressing fans during the fallout of the European Super League debacle.
Additionally, more organisations are turning to podcasts as part of their public relations and marketing strategies. While we would recommend spokespeople have specific media training sessions for podcasts, some skills learnt for radio interviews also work on this format.
The media training focus on brevity and clarity can even improve writing.
In short, media training, like presentation training, teaches spokespeople to speak in a way that causes others to take notice, whether it is a media interview, presentation, meeting, professional networking event or some internal communication.
Our media training reinforces the importance of the comms team's role and shines a light on the challenges they face.
It increases awareness among senior leaders - and other spokespeople - of the work that goes into creating proactive media opportunities and managing a media crisis.
We often stress in our media training blogs the importance of comms professionals being viewed as experts in their company and having a seat at the top table.
In one of those articles, Michelle Nichols, the former head of communications at Thames Valley Police, said that “Comms is a bit like Chandler Bing in Friends".
She added: "No one knows what it is and what we do.
“And, as an industry, we have been pretty bad at explaining that to people."
“We are always busy getting messages out for other departments. We just don’t do it for ourselves.”
Comms teams often observe our media training, and it is a brilliant way of demystifying the work and building closer professional relationships.
Improved understanding helps build trust - and comms teams might find they get fewer requests to make the mundane go viral or to place a PDF on the homepage (we've all been there).
Our media training courses are challenging. The practical nature pushes spokespeople.
Our clients often tell us that this testing, yet supportive, environment is a great team bonding exercise.
It brings senior leaders together away from the day-to-day distractions of the office and creates an opportunity to focus on refining strategies and messages, develop ideas and key points, and brainstorm.
It can ensure team members are focused on the same priorities. It can identify those with stories that best explain your product, service or campaign.
At the same time, it is understandable some senior leaders may have a fear of a weakness being exposed to the rest of the leadership team.
Our media training team is respectful of group dynamics, and our sessions involve plenty of one-to-one coaching and guidance alongside team learning activity.
Media skills training can help identify potential problems on the horizon and possible reputation risks.
The current working journalists who deliver our training courses carry out detailed research and can uncover areas that may not play out well in the media and catch an organisation off-guard.
That could be issues around executive pay, business practices, diversity or sustainability, to give a few examples. It could even be a senior leader's thoughts on an issue impacting the sector or government policy.
Identifying these issues - and potentially exploring them further during crisis media training - can help prevent them from later turning into a crisis or public relations disaster.
Empathy has become an increasingly critical leadership skill as people face more stresses and challenges.
Interviews are about speaking to people you care about. That may be existing customers, potential new ones, investors or policy makers.
And they need to know you care.
The audience-first approach taken by our journalist tutors puts leaders in the shoes of the people they want to reach so they better understand their challenges, problems, hopes and dreams.
They can then adapt and tweak what they want to say to ensure it resonates.
And these empathy skills can be used in internal communication, where they can boost employee engagement, build trust, and increase productivity.
People often overlook that media training also provides valuable insight into how a reporter thinks and the media works.
It builds an understanding of what makes something newsworthy, what a reporter needs to tell a story and how stories can move up and down the news agenda - that brilliant media interview you've given could be reduced to a sound-bite clip because of factors beyond your control.
Participants also develop an understanding of how news organisations can report a story differently.
And it builds knowledge of the changing media landscape in a post-pandemic world, with the rise of 24-hour news channels, online news sources and remote interviews.
How does this help comms teams?
Well, the better senior executives understand the news process, the more likely they are to come to the comms team with realistic story ideas and PR opportunities and push comms up the priority list.
Who wouldn't want that?
Media training presents leaders with the opportunity to raise their profile further, be seen as 'go to' industry experts, set the agenda and raise the profile of their company.
There is no better way to increase your profile and showcase your knowledge and thought leadership than by giving regular media interviews.
Journalists have large contacts books. But they tend to turn to those they know will help them tell a story and share thoughts that will keep their audience interested.
Charles Abel, one of the expert journalist tutors who deliver our media training, said: “I easily have more than 1,000 contacts in my contact book.
"But when I need a spokesperson to comment in a hurry, there’s only a handful that I’ll call as I want someone that can instantly deliver an engaging, entertaining and intelligent quote or interview with clarity and confidence.”
It’s the leaders and businesses that get involved in the media conversation that are usually perceived as industry leaders.
We've briefly mentioned that media training can help develop and refine messages.
But this is a vital area that is worth exploring in more depth.
Companies sometimes spend thousands developing messages, only to find they are not particularly media-friendly or don't stand up to scrutiny under the media spotlight.
Media training tests those messages before they are used in the real world.
It can also unearth better examples and brilliant stories that make them more compelling and brings them to life.
You never know, Colin the finance director may have the case studies and personal anecdotes that make your new initiative resonate.
Media training courses stress the importance of interview preparation.
And being prepared often involves briefings and constructive feedback.
That can be tricky with the time pressures senior leaders face.
But if your spokespeople are familiar with media terminology, like bridging, down-the-line and sound bites -and the techniques associated with controlling an interview - it makes interview briefings and feedback easier, quicker and more pleasurable.
Media training can help organisations identify their strongest content and messages.
Sometimes clients come to a course with vast sums of information based on detailed research.
Our journalists can help them break that information down and identify the content that will appeal to their intended audience. And the information that should be left out of media interviews.
They can then bring the information to life and help turn it into messages that stand out.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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