There's got to be a reason for it
I’ve been a bit lax lately when it’s come to blogging. But during the hiatus it’s given me a chance to consider the fundamental purpose behind media training. Whenever I’m approached by a prospective-client I’ve not dealt with before I usually ask them a few questions first, starting with the obvious: ‘Why do you want it?’ The answers can range from the somewhat vague, ‘Because we think we need it…’ to the more specific, ‘We’ve got a major event coming up where we’re going to be talking to the press and we want to prepare for it.’
Having a clear reason for dealing with the media certainly helps justify training, especially as it’s relevant to my next question: ‘What are you going to do with it once you’ve had it?’ There’s little point going to the time and expense (but especially the time) in getting trained to deal with the Fourth Estate, if you then don’t put the learning to good use, and as often as possible.
Before pressing the button it’s also worth considering who’ll be receiving the training. Have they prior experience of talking to the media? If so, are they looking for a ‘refresher’? Are they looking for help preparing for a single media encounter, or are they expected to be in regular contact with journalists, not in terms of just delivering important news stories but also providing insightful commentary and context for ‘big picture’ stories? Why go to the trouble of schooling someone in the importance of ‘Thought Leadership’ to the media if they’re never going to be asked for it…and haven’t got it either!
Likewise, few people ever appear on ‘Newsnight’, or end up facing a senior journalist from a national broadsheet or ‘red top’. So why train them for such an encounter if your target media is the trade and specialist press or local newspapers? Maybe you’re looking to increase your presence on digital and social media? The training ‘basics’ aren’t that much different, but the context and information needs most certainly are, as is the time available in which to deliver a message. Then again, your motive for training might be to learn how to avoid those nasty elephant traps the media sets. We all know that a single disastrous high-profile media encounter can destroy an organisation’s hard-won reputation in seconds. (See previous blog on preparation!)
Whatever your media training needs, my advice to would be trainees is to look to develop the skills you need to deal with the publications, websites, or broadcasters you’re MOST likely to encounter in your everyday job. Or to put it another way, make sure you match the right person with the right media outlet, and arm them with the right messages too. Moreover, there should be a reason WHY you should want to talk to the press. If you haven’t got something that a journalist wants to hear, then why waste their time and yours? Bottom-line: if you are considering media training it should be justified, targeted, and above-all-else put to good use afterwards…otherwise, why do it?