Testimonials

The following comments have been written by media training or speaking clients of Grant Ainsley. You’re seeing their own words, unedited, to describe the work Grant has done. 

More reviews on Grant's work can be found on Google Reviews.

I had delegates come up to me and tell me that Grant’s keynote presentation alone was worth the price of admission to our conference.

Grant’s presentation and follow-up workshop will help our members tell their story to their communities through social media and the news media and, hopefully, they won’t shy away, but rather ‘run towards the conversation’, as Grant suggested.

As the conference organizer, I know how much time and research Grant put into his preparation to ensure that his message was current, relevant and clearly focused on the audience.

Robert Haller

Executive Director – Canadian Water and Wastewater Association

Grant delivered customized, two-day media training that felt deeply relevant to our organization. His delivery was engaging, his messages were concise and digestible, and his advice was well-suited to imbuing our new spokespeople with confidence.

We appreciated Grant’s preparedness, timely responses to questions during the planning stage, and commitment to helping our people get comfortable in front of the camera. We look forward to seeing his tips and strategies come to life in future media interviews. 

Carole Stevenson-Roy

Director, Brand and Member Experience - Alberta Motor Association

Grant Ainsley has a special ability to connect with an audience. The knowledge he imparted on social media, media training and communications strategies was very well received by our small business audience during Small Business Week 2018 here in Strathcona County. His attention to detail was evident as depicted through his vibrant slides and video examples.

We would welcome the opportunity in the future to work with Grant again.

Shane Olson

Manager - Commercial Development, Strathcona County Economic Development and Tourism

Easily one of the best skill-builds we've ever participated in! Grant engaged our leadership team in thought-provoking discussions and brought the content to life in a humorous and approachable fashion.

We walked away with refreshed confidence on how to best share our story with teammates, customers, stakeholders and the media. Big thanks to Grant for leading the way!

Camille Weleschuk

Vice President, Office of the CEO and Government Relations, ATB Financial

Grant brought tremendous knowledge and expertise to his media training session with our Board of Directors, and was thoroughly engaging in presenting it. It was clear that he put a great deal of effort into learning about our industry and the issues we face as an organization and that made his session all the more effective.

Whether it was learning to develop and communicate key messages, to understanding the value in a successful interview, there was a lot to gain from Grant’s hands-on, practical training, and we came out better for it. 

Rob Philipp

Former CEO, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

Grant Ainsley’s media training program has been a great asset for our association.  His workshops have become a regular part of our leadership development. Through high-energy interactive sessions, he moves participants through the process of creating and delivering key messages. The on-camera sessions really add to the authentic experience of speaking to the media. 

The feedback from our members has been overwhelmingly positive as they feel much more prepared for responding to media requests following the sessions. 

Dr. Sharron Spicer

Past President, Calgary and Area Medical Staff Society

Grant's session was a great learning experience for our leadership team!  It was engaging, insightful, and provided many key takeaways that we are already putting into practice. One of the best aspects was that the session was so interactive and well tailored to our organization's needs. Everyone was able to get involved in a very relevant capacity through the development of key messages and the on-camera interviews.

I would strongly recommend Grant to any organization seeking media training!

Julia-Jones Bourque

Marketing and Communications Manager, University of Alberta International

Grant’s media training taught us foolproof, easy-to-use techniques to confidently speak to the media. His training pushed us out of our comfort zone and into real world situations, yet we did it in a way that was fun and interactive. We have used the principles taught in his training in a variety of circumstances and it has proven useful in several stressful situations.

I can’t speak highly enough of this course!

Tally Hutchinson

President, Daytona Homes

Grant is an exceptional presenter with a passion for providing media training. His session was extremely valuable to our leadership team. Not only does he make the material interesting, but he works with you in advance to personalize the content so those attending can connect to the topics. The practice of working through key message development together before the on-camera interviews was valuable, and his book The Honest Spin Doctor, is going to be a great resource for us.

Everyone who attended agreed the training was outstanding and they're much more prepared to deal with future media requests.

Julie Williams

Director of Communications and Media Relations, Good Samaritan Society

Grant Ainsley's media training is excellent value in preparing association volunteers and staff to be effective spokespeople for their organization. Grant's unique experience in news reporting, media relations and association governance, provides invaluable assistance to management in maximizing value for volunteer time invested. Media clips, authentic interview formats, joint preparation of key messages and discussion of social media all stand out as fun, fresh and informative features to this fast-paced program.

My Board members tell me Grant Ainsley's media training is among the best professional development they have received in their careers.

Ken Gibson

Executive Director, Alberta Construction Association

Grant presented a well thought out and professionally-structured program, that brought great benefit to our organization. Many in our group had no prior media training and left with a sound background and structure in place for when they deal with the media next. Those of us with prior training also left with new processes and excellent feedback.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Grant to any other organization looking for sound media training.

Chris Brookes

Executive Director, Alberta Snowmobile Association

We have worked with Grant on a number of occasions and truly appreciate the engaging approach he brings to his media training sessions. He gets the group involved and we always get very positive feedback from participants. Our spokespeople and communications staff appreciate the added level of confidence he leaves with them, which has been beneficial to our association.

Bill Benoit

Executive Officer, Vancouver Island Real Estate Board

Grant worked with me to create the perfect in-house crisis media training session for our company. In the lead up to the training day, he was extremely organized, helpful and most importantly flexible - tailoring the event to suit our organization.

He is the expert in the field of media training and understands the industry inside out. His outstanding presentation skills and overall professionalism made for a very successful day and the whole experience exceeded my expectations.

Elva Kennedy

Marketing and Communications, Silvacom

I thought - I'm a smart guy, I can improvise my way through an interview. Boy was I wrong. Grant understands what the media wants and how it gets it. If you want to protect your company from becoming the brunt of that sensational headline, you got to take this course.

Jay Summach

Former Director of Education, Edmonton Construction Association

Grant was absolutely wonderful!!  He was a joy to work with, everything went incredibly smoothly, he was wonderfully prepared for our audience and I had fantastic feedback from our attendees on his presentation and training.

Angela Greter

Former Executive Director, Alberta Farm Animal Care

Olive Wooden

Executive Officer, Fort McMurray Real Estate Board

Grant facilitated a one-day workshop for Council and our senior leadership team. This session was excellent and left us far more prepared to deal with the media and other public requests for information. We'll be asking Grant to come back, as we want to extend this training to others in our management and leadership team. Highly recommended.

Robert Beck

Chief Administrative Officer, Beaver County

Grant Ainsley worked with our Board of Directors and key management people to get them fully prepared to speak to the media. His wealth of personal experience and relevant case studies made the workshop engaging, informative and full of practical tips we immediately put into practice.

His workshop resulted in our key spokespeople being confident in representing our brand when speaking to media.

Anne-Marie Bruzga-Luchak

Communications Manager, Calgary Real Estate Board