How Do You Give Media Training?

"It’s also called media relations training and these sessions are normally booked by a company, association or segment of government and the training is tailored for a specific group such as a management team or Board of Directors."

There is a lot about media training that many people don’t understand, so here's what happens in most workshops.

It’s also called media relations training and these sessions are normally booked by a company, association or segment of government and the training is tailored for a specific group such as a management team or Board of Directors.

Media trainers normally travel to where the organization is, so the training takes place at the company’s offices or at a hotel nearby.

The media relations training normally starts in the morning with a presentation from the media trainer who provides information on how the media operates, how to prepare for and conduct an interview, along with a number of tips to inform participants of how to get your message across.

After that, people taking media training normally speak about specific issues that affect them and discuss what they would say if they were interviewed on those topics by the media.

The final step closes the loop by people doing practice interviews.  The media trainer plays reporter and the person being interviewed tries to take the information they learned earlier in the workshop to do an effective interview. There usually is feedback from the media trainer and the group and then a second, or perhaps even a third round of interviews is done.

One of the misconceptions about media relations training is that people are taught how to lie better in media interviews. That doesn’t happen. Media training is really about people being taught how to speak the truth in media interviews and do it effectively. If there are matters they can’t talk about then they should say it.

Finally, most people get very nervous being interviewed. That’s natural if you don’t have experience doing interviews. The interview portion of the workshop is actually the one that people have the most fun with and get the most out of. It always helps to be pushed a little outside your comfort zone because that’s the way you learn the quickest.

Next up: Who Should Take Media Training?