Media Coaching: Everything You Want To Know!

By Author: Allen Jackson
Total Articles: 30
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If you are an entrepreneur or executive, you must have come across the word media coaching often. However, many are not aware of its specifics like who should take it up from the team? What is it exactly? If I am not part of media, should I even learn it?

Media training is not just meant for the individual. Media is a medium by which you represent your organization. The CEO, founders, business heads, or PR may communicate with the media at some point. It is an invaluable asset that companies can use when they launch a product, announce company news, or deal with a crisis.

What is media coaching?
It is where the trainers assist the companies on the best ways to interact with media for garnering positive coverage. Sessions are further broken down based on the kind of media your company is targeting such as broadcast, print, and online. Sometimes the company may intend to address all platforms.

Who needs it?
Anyone who is directly in touch with the media from your team requires media coaching. Your company may either have ...
... a single spokesperson or many. The people should include executives, and senior PR officers since they deal with the media daily. Sometimes it is beneficial to include every person into the game as it boosts communication and messaging tactics.

When should you get the training?
It is ideal to take up it up immediately. Be it booking an interview or waiting for the right moment to pitch to your target journalist, media coaching ensures your external team faces the media opportunities effectively. If any of your team members have already taken the coaching, they can always take the refresh course before a big meeting or an external announcement.

What to expect from the training?

Media coaching differs from trainer to trainer. Some of the essential elements that every trainer cover is:

• Video shoot: Whether your company is focusing on broadcast media or not, every spokesperson gets videotaped. The instructor asks every person to answer a few questions on the camera, play the recorded video to the group, and discuss which element worked and what requires fine tuning.
• Questions: The worse bit about media interview is the curve-ball that the journalist throws on the spokesperson. It leaves them speechless. So, media training helps you navigate in such situations with some real-world messaging tips and an easy way to deviate from the topics you do not want to discuss.
• Homework: Media interviews could go on for half or full day. Although the team must have done a pro job during the interaction, appoint someone who could arrange internal meetings and continue working on the exercise. The spokesperson can improve their weaknesses easily by doing so.

Media training has given the world some of the best motivational speakers. These speakers come handy in an organization as they can motivate the employees towards the desired objective and boost their morale.