The New Zealand inventors of zorbing highlighted an important media training point when responding to the zorb death at a Russian ski resort this week. David and Andrew Akers came up with the idea of a double-skinned inflatable sphere in 1994 and developed the activity of rolling down hills. The Russian death could have threatened the industry here, with people assuming all zorbing is the same with similar safety standards. This meant the New Zealanders had to distance themselves. They appear...

A popular comment from our media training clients in 2012 was their change in attitude from believing media encounters were a threat, to seeing them as an opportunity. This change in mindset is mainly brought about by understanding what journalists and presenters want, and knowing how to give it to them, but also communicating what they (those being interviewed) want people to hear. Media training highlights the importance in fronting up in difficult situations, but doing so with the confidence that...

The summer holidays are a great time to put your media training skills to the test and generate some free publicity. That’s because there is little going on for reporters to cover, meaning the threshold for your idea making it into the news is lower than normal. Media Training NZ has a specific course focused on how to attract media interest. It covers issues like what journalists want, how to target them and how to communicate with them. For those who...

New Zealand Cricket (NZC)has made one major media training mistake in the whole Ross Taylor sacking affair. By not fronting up immediately and laying all the fact on the table, NZC has only made the story drag on for weeks, and it’s not finished yet. In these situations, we tell our media training clients to front the media straight away, tell them everything and make whatever apologies are necessary. This way, the story is told, and the media will move onto...

Two fundamental media training tips we give our clients have been ignored by John Tamihere in the last few days. Firstly, every media encounter should be seen as an opportunity to communicate a message. In Tamihere’s case, that would probably be his view that the country is going in the wrong direction, and he wants to be involved in changing focus as part of a Labour-led Government. When he was asked by a journalist this week if he was sexist, this...

We tell our media training clients that there’s one thing more damaging than doing something wrong and that’s not fronting up and apologising for it immediately. Sadly, this is exactly what All Blacks management has done with the Andrew Hore incident during the weekend’s Test against Wales. Hore’s swinging arm at Bradley Davies was clearly unacceptable as the video reply never lies. While Hore has now expressed his regret more than four days after the event, from a media training perspective,...

There is one overriding media training tip that David Shearer must take if he is to remain as Leader of the Labour Party. This has nothing to do with what he says, but everything to do with how he says it. It's about his body language. In other words, when he is quoted in the newspaper he has nothing to worry about. But from a media training perspective, his problem is when he is in front of the camera. He needs...

The recent denials by David Shearer and other Labour MPs about a rumored coup to replace the leader raise an important media training tip. In lots of situations, we advise our media training clients to avoid repeating negative media statements. For example, if a journalist said to me: “How does it feel teaching people how to lie for a living.” The statement is untrue, but if I reply with: “I don’t teach people how to lie for a living,” I’ve just...

The formula we teach our media training clients to use in crisis situations was followed to the letter by President Obama when commenting on Hurricane Sandy this week. It was vital Obama got this right, because his performance could have determined the fate of the US election. When preparing to address the journalists in these situations, we recommend that our media training clients produce three key points to focus on. The first must be Regret or a show of empathy for...

Education Minister Hekia Parata is lacking in one media training area when being interviewed over school closures. It showed up again last night during an interview on Close Up with Mark Sainsbury. She appears fed up with the constant complaints about the policy. She has certainly been thrown a hospital pass with the Education portfolio as a new minister. It’s her failure to empathise with those affected by the changes that is lacking. We always tell our media training clients to...