My thoughts after it was suggested to me recently that running media training is easy.
Someone just told me media training is easy
Tom Mangold has worked in media for 70+ years – what would you ask him?
This is my Dad, Tom Mangold.
- He’s an award-winning journalist and author.
- Reporter on circa 120 episodes on BBC Panorama.
- He’s 90 and STILL working.
- He cycles every day.
- He continues to inspire me and our work at Mangold Consultancy.
If you asked him, he’d tell you I stole everything I know from him. I will neither confirm nor deny this.
I’m going to film interview content with Dad and share it online.
We tend to talk about:
- the state of journalism and television
- crisis communications
- media interviews
- “news” on Social Media
- rubbish spokespeople
Watch this space for unique insight from someone who has worked in the media industry for more than 70 years!
Tips to boost business confidence
2025 is going to be tough.
So business confidence really matters.
Here are some of my thoughts as a business owner following a challenging report from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
I’m happy to talk to you for free if you need it, just get in touch.
A dream come true – training music industry experts
Dua Lipa, Fred Again, Coldplay, Gorillaz…
Being asked to run media and presentation training for Warner Music Group is one of the most incredible starts to the year Jess Mangold and I could have asked for.
Some of our happiest times together have been rooted in our shared passion for music.
So, 2 days of training down-to-earth, music industry experts was frankly a dream come true.
Thank you to Adam Merrett and the whole team for having us.
What keeps you awake at night?
It is never easy asking people this question when you meet for the first time.
But tasked with writing the crisis communications guidelines for new clients, we have to take the plunge, so we know early on where they could be exposed from a reputational perspective.
4 years on from asking one client this question, we are their retained crisis communications agency, available 24/7 responding to calls, and working with the whole team to test and reinforce their crisis communications protocols.
Tough questions = good results.
Photo by cottonbro studio at Pexels
What is retained crisis communications support?
Our team is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
We are hands-on in a crisis: using 20+ years in national journalism, global crisis communications and social media expertise.
AND, if you remain crisis-free we use your retainer to grow team resilience, since any time not used for actual live crises goes toward preparation.
You can choose from
• workshops to assess reputational risks
• crisis simulations to test your team and processes in a safe space
• media training on camera
• social media management to handle challenges online
Retained crisis communications support = knowing you and your team are prepared for the unexpected.
Photo Vlad Deep at Unsplash
What kind of journalist were you?
Jess and I are often asked this.
People’s interest veers between fascination and horror. I am hugely proud of these roots and the lessons I earned, such as…
• People love being asked about themselves. Thoughtfully chosen, well-timed questions allow people to share something about themselves, cracking open a door to their world.
And with the privilege of being invited in…
• it pays to listen closely. The tone of voice, the pace at which they speak. These are as important to what someone is saying as the words they use.
• And with that always ask the obvious – who, what, when, where, why, how – sometimes twice to be sure you have truly understood.
Every journalism job added to the skills I use in crisis communications and media training now.
And I was pretty chuffed to make it into the papers myself once while filming for a BBC Airport special from Edinburgh Festival!
45+ spokespeople and counting
In the five years since we started media training one client, they have invited us to lead sessions with:
• 47 people
• in three UK offices including Manchester
• plus virtual meetings from mainland Europe
• on a multitude of corporate, legal and financial matters
It is the clients we know best who keep us on our toes!
We love learning from them while sharing our knowledge to bring their professional expertise to life for the press.
Manchester photo by William McCue Unsplash
What if you’re faced with a megalomaniacal spokesperson?
What if this megalomaniacal spokesperson won’t listen to your advice about managing a media interview?
Even seasoned spokespeople recognise the benefits of new tips and practice for media presence and interview skills.
Here’s how to make the case to your spokesperson if your comms advice is challenged:
-The competition for airtime is fierce and your time is precious. A few rehearsals now will save huge amounts of time over the medium to long term and reinforce your profile as a great spokesperson.
-You are a seasoned pro and your objective is to ensure your message reaches your audience. Trying new ways of delivering your message helps you be heard and understood by more people.
-You are setting an example for others. By making time for media training, you demonstrate the value of preparing for the press.
Can you risk colleagues going on the record without media training first?
Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash
Talking crisis communications & reputation management
It is good to be back!
For the 2nd year running, we’ve been here in the Netherlands talking crisis communications resilience on a global scale.
Having recruited us as their retained 24/7 crisis communications support, this client doubled down on their commitment with annual training for the whole team.
Crisis communications and reputation management is not just a comms job and if you haven’t had a crisis recently it’s easy to forget the important stuff.
Regularly involving other colleagues creates business-wide awareness so that:
• more people are alert to potential issues
• feel comfortable raising concerns if a crisis happens
• they are equipped and confident to support the response
Main photo Joshua Kettle on Unsplash
Media training unfairly gets a bad rep
Media training unfairly gets a bad rep.
Why?
Because of the reputation of trainers who choose intimidation and aggressive tactics leaving leaders scared to speak.
Actually with this approach, everyone loses:
– the public who rightly expect to hear from those responsible when something goes wrong
– the comms team
– the spokespeople themselves
Our media training is supportive and empowering, it’s not always an easy ride but it will give you confidence.
And we do it like this because we know exactly what it’s like to be on both sides of the microphone.
Like Jess Mangold here, interviewing then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
If speaking to a journalist feels daunting, you’re not prepared. Let’s change that.
A critical friend
A critical friend.
It’s the kind of friend, colleague and advisor I like to be.
It’s a balancing act advising CEOs when their business is under attack. Don’t say enough and you’re not worth the investment, push too hard and you can be seen as well….pushy.
So for me and Mangold Consultancy being a critical friend means being:
● straightforward by giving clear advice
● open and honest, even if it’s hard to hear
● invested in clients and their challenges, until issues are resolved
And when you look at it like that, it mirrors the relationships I have with friends too.
With special thanks to Ayesha Murray for being one of my very special and crucial critical friends.
What the **** is crisis communications and does your business need it?
A crisis can strike any business at any time.
Whether it’s a PR mishap, a data breach, or an operational failure, how you
handle the situation can make or break your reputation and have a dramatic
financial impact.
That’s where crisis communications come into play.
It involves preparing for and responding to unexpected events that could harm your organisation’s reputation. It’s about delivering clear, consistent and timely messages to everyone you need to talk to from employees to customers to the public.
But do you really need it?
● Is your business really likely to face a crisis?
● Will it even get media/social attention?
I say, yes. Every business needs to prepare for a crisis.
Here’s how it will help:
● Protect your reputation: a well-managed crisis can defend and even enhance your brand’s reputation.
● Maintain trust: keeping people informed shows transparency and builds trust.
● Minimise impact: quick, strategic responses can mitigate the negative effects of a crisis.
● Ensure continuity: effective communication helps maintain business operations and morale during turbulent times.
In uncertain times, having a solid crisis communications plan isn’t just an option – it’s a necessity.
Is your business prepared to handle the unexpected?
How to turn a visit from a film crew into a WIN
How to turn a visit from a film crew into a WIN
Your PR team has struck gold
A TV news crew are on their way…..what do you do?
Here are my tips to stop a TV filming opportunity turning into a disaster
What I learned from Anne Robinson…
I worked with Annie Robinson from the late 90s, initially as a researcher at BBC Watchdog.
What you see with Annie, is what you get in real life. She is tough and a class act. She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want and it’s that approach which brought her success, originally on Fleet Street (at the time a heavily male dominated world) and latterly on BBC TV.
She’s well known for her sharp wit on The Weakest Link, turning every contestant to jelly but that was nothing compared to her legendary performances on BBC Watchdog.
In every interview, she manifested the ‘killer opening question’, and I learned so much from those on camera grillings. Particularly since I sat in the chair opposite her during programme dress rehearsals, assuming the role of the company spokesperson.
During live transmission, I watched as nervous leaders tried, and often failed, to hold the corporate line.
So now I media train people to assume the unexpected from the moment they walk into the studio, or even before – remember the series The Thick of It and Nicola Murray’s faux pas as she left the national newspaper interview?!
It’s true that interview styles and approaches have changed but I wouldn’t be doing my job with clients if I didn’t channel a little of my inner Anne Robinson.
What are your favourite interview moments?
What do we really offer?
What do we actually offer?
That’s a big question that we explore often: what makes us and the business, Mangold Consultancy, different to any other crisis comms and media training consultancy?
We have many USPs but the two main ones are that we’re journalist-led and insight-driven.
Let me explain.
Journalist-led:
– With over 25 years of experience in journalism (BBC, national newspapers and regional media), social media, politics and communications, we provide unique insights into how the media works.
– We can identify and anticipate solutions to potential issues before they arise and bring a cynical journalist’s perspective to our work, always questioning communications to ensure credibility.
Insight-driven:
– Over the last decade, we’ve honed our approach based on client needs and the ever-evolving social and media landscape.
– Senior leaders find peace of mind knowing that we have faced challenging situations as both journalists and communications specialists.
– Our experience and resilience allow us to ask the tough questions necessary for complete crisis preparedness and management.
Why does this matter?
It’s a fact that no organisation is too big to get it wrong. Many of the largest ones miss the most obvious issues. Near misses and tragedies often stem from a weak culture or lack of prep.
That is why we put our all into preparation, covering every scenario to ensure our clients feel fully equipped and ready for any situation.
At Mangold Consultancy, we’re passionate about helping organisations communicate effectively and manage their reputations. Our insight-driven, journalist-led approach ensures our clients are always prepared, credible and resilient.
The art of an apology
Some thoughts from Abby Mangold on what makes an apology work…
Journalism runs in our blood
Quite an odd statement to make but with all the experience I had during 15 years at the BBC and my time since then working on the other side of the media in crisis comms – I eat, sleep and breathe interviews.
My sister, Jess Mangold, is the same after years as a print journo. We’re both voracious consumers of news, media and social content.
And of course it helps growing up with a Dad in the business, where dinners are filled with ferocious debate about current affairs.
Listening to big interviews constantly, across a range of formats and setups, we digest and analyse content and ask did that work? What went wrong? Why did they approach the interview that way?
Take the infamous example of BBC Newsnight, Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew. The work put into that – the preparation by the team including the fabulous Sam McAlister, meticulously researching and investigating – made for a jaw dropping interview. It’s not about attacking the interviewee as some have done in the past, it’s all about the preparation.
I approach every challenge from the perspective of a journalist and that’s how I deliver for my clients.
Media training: Busting 10 common misconceptions
Media training is often misunderstood.
How many of the following would you say are true?
All of the above are in fact FALSE.
Let us explain why and set the record straight on a few other misconceptions.
The Truth:
- Media training is about so much more than the corporate position
– It involves learning how to communicate effectively, by being genuine and maintaining composure under pressure. - Media training is beneficial for people at all levels
– Senior executives often take the lead with the press but having others trained is both a great learning for all work conversations and provides the reassurance of having more than one spokesperson ready to respond. - Media training is an ongoing process
– Just like going to the gym, continuous practice and updating skills are essential as the media landscape and business strategy evolve. - Media training is more than managing negative press
– It prepares people for all types of media interactions, including positive stories and helps people understand the media landscape they are operating in. - Proper training prepares you for off-the-cuff questions
– Mock interviews and scenario-based training empower spokespeople with techniques for thinking on their feet. - Even good public speakers benefit from media training
– Press interviews require specific skills that differ from general public speaking, such as concise soundbites and handling unexpected questions. - Media training covers a wide range of interactions beyond interviews
– From corridor chats to meeting important contacts and more, it helps you take your agenda to a conversation. - The comms team need media training
– While the comms teams manage the overall strategy, their ability to brief and advise individual spokespeople on the look and feel of an interview and what to expect is critical. - Good media trainers use different approaches tailored to individual needs
– This means adapting the training methods to suit the unique requirements and challenges of each client. - And finally, media training doesn’t need to feel like being put through the ringer
– Yes it needs to be challenging, yes spokespeople need to be tested but media training is a confidence building exercise designed to help people make the most out of every media opportunity.
Learn more about our media training services here or contact us to find out more.
Lessons from undercover filming
Having sent undercover BBC camera teams into food businesses and having produced many programmes on failing food and production standards, we know what visiting journalists look out for on busy production lines. And the good, the bad and the ugly discoveries that can undo reputations.
But done in the right way, inviting cameras in can be a big win. Ahead of filming for BBC Inside the Factory, we visited one client’s production floor, before the crew and host Greg Wallace arrived.
Using our documentary maker’s mindset and an experienced camera operator, we spent the day filming with each team member on location giving them on camera experience and answering questions in the busy factory.
This hugely successful British snack company knew a prime-time TV slot was a huge opportunity, requiring careful prep to showcase the brand and its people. How did we help?
- Define what each person brings to the programme.
- Rehearse “on camera” skills for working with TV talent.
- Film on location & fine-tune the set up to suit each person.
As the PR and marketing lead said: “Abby and her team put everyone at ease. The thought and preparation they’d put into the session meant that we got straight on with focussing on the team and making sure they had the practice and insight they needed to speak with confidence.”
Similarly, Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped asked to film with one client in their European factory. It was not an easy decision so our client asked us to help them take their assessment to the Executive Management Team.
First we:
- provided a complete briefing on the programme, the presenters, viewing figures, audience and more
- analysed the risks vs benefit of taking part in the programme
- managed all the liaison between the client and the TV production company
Next we:
- visited the factory
- found the right members of staff to talk to the programme
- agreed key messaging
- trained everyone to give them the confidence they needed
The client was thrilled with the final result which showed their manufacturing standards, their people and their brand in very good light.
Undercover filming is a very different experience but whether positive or negative we know how to advise, support and work with clients to achieve the best outcome possible because we’ve been on both sides of the camera.