Eliminate your fear of journalists with media training in 2013
Posted January 3, 2013
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 reputations will be maintained and the spokesperson will not be humiliated.
Whether in response to a positive or negative event, our media training clients soon see a media interview as an opportunity to put their case. They learn how to make sure their quotes make it into the subsequent news story and almost eliminate the risk of being misquoted or taken out of context.
They also have a new appreciation for body language and how to look confident and in control, whatever the topic of their interview.
So many of our blog posts in 2012 (see below) highlighted mistakes made by the newsmakers (some well known and some in the media spotlight for the first time). Most of these mistakes should never have been made. They range from damage caused by not fronting up to failing to have a clear plan for the interview to the results of bad body language.
They include politicians, school principals, lawyers and business executives and managers from the Aged Care industry.
Failure to understand the basics of media training can cause major damage to individual and organisational reputations. That's why most of our media training clients learn the skills so they will be ready when they get that first phone call from a journalist. But others come to us after an interview disaster. They realise that talking to a journalist is like no other conversation on this planet.
Would you rather be prepared for every possibility and see interviews as opportunities, or remain in fear? Change your mindset in 2013 and reap all the benefits. Contact us today about our upcoming media training courses across New Zealand.