What is Media Training?

So what is media training? It's a very specialized form of presentation skills training. It's about training you to speak to the news media, to journalists, to reporters, to talk show hosts. So it's not just giving a speech to 10 people, it's when a journalist is talking with you. And not only can your words be quoted out of context, but they have to be quoted out of the context of your interview. Be put in that sound bite for the evening news, or a quote for a newspaper or online publication. In media training, we teach you four very specific skills. The first is knowing how to look comfortable, confident, relaxed, anytime you're in front of a camera. Not scared, nervous, what do I do with my hands, where do I look? Sort of thing. The second skill is how to shape a media message. How do you go from something as complex as the top 200 ideas about your profession and really boiling it down to the top three messages? The third skill is how to answer questions in an interview. The tough questions, the questions you want to avoid, to dodge. There's a strategy for doing that in a way that doesn't look like you're blowing off the reporter. So you'll learn exactly how to answer questions strategically. The fourth skill, the final skill, what's really most important, is knowing how to package your messages with interesting quotable sound bites so that you know in advance what message of yours, what quote or sound bite gets in the final news story, whether it's video, audio or text. The bottom line is you're not media trained until you know how to get the exact message and quote you want in any story.