Tag: interview

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Media training unfairly gets a bad rep

Tony Blair and Jess Mangold

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.

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What I learned from Anne Robinson…

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?

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I hate doing video…

I hate doing video
  • I hate listening to my own voice.
  • I hate having to watch it back.

And I know lots of people feel exactly the same way.

Given that I train others how to speak on camera I’ve forced myself to take my own medicine and now – I’m actually starting to enjoy it, a little!

Here’s what I’ve learnt and what you need to know…

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Get comfortable with your sound bites

You've got no idea what you're bloody talking about!

When it comes to media training, we often see our clients fighting to convert wordy corporate messages into convincing sound bites.

So how do you get comfortable with what you’re saying?

Practice with the corporate message, a bit, and then abandon it and practice saying it like you’re talking to a friend.

Remember why you’re doing the interview – to promote, rebut or disrupt – keep a laser focus on your why, through every twist and turn of the interview.

Finally don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Not like a parrot, but by using examples to explain your points in different ways.

Contact me if you’d like any more media training tips.

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The car crash interview always begins with… no practice

Jess & Abby Mangold from the Mangold Consultancy

We have known each other our whole lives and professionally for almost a decade.

We have run multiple training sessions BUT…

We still rehearse, every time, individually and together, dropping in the odd mistake to see if the other is actually listening!

It’s all about the practice, so when we do it for real we are focussing on the people we are training and what’s going on for them.

There is no corner cutting. And as sisters, we would be the first to call each other out if we were to try!

Make the time, do the practice, make every interview worth it.

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What’s the point of media training?

The media Training was so useful…

What’s the point of media training? Actually, this great comment from a happy client sums it up perfectly.

Our media training has always been about the live interview experience, a bit of a grilling and lots of confidence boosting to produce your best performance.

You never know, when it comes to the real interview, you might just enjoy yourself!

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Dissecting a successful interview – the media trainer’s diet

Dissecting Successful Interviews

Listening to and watching interviews is my lockdown fix. News bulletins, current affairs and podcasts – I am compelled to tune in. And as a media trainer, I tell myself this is a healthy, if unconventional daily diet.

The definition of a successful interview depends on whether you are reporting the story or ‘in the chair’. Every journalist has an agenda and as I always explain in media training, interviewees too, need a plan to make themselves heard. And tuning into 3 recent interviews, I heard three people, in very different circumstances, making a success of their air time.

Continue reading “Dissecting a successful interview – the media trainer’s diet”

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The Business of Local Newspapers

The Business of Local Newspapers

Local newspapers have long teetered on the edge of survival, at risk of relegation to a picture postcard England past, where cub reporters cover village fetes, write the splash on local crime and all before tea time. So the announcement that local publisher Johnston Press is being bought out has triggered further analysis on the future for local news. Facebook has stepped up with a suspiciously well time announcement of £4.5m, to hire and train 80 people as community reporters. Johnston Press is reportedly one of three local publishers in conversation with the social media giant.  Continue reading “The Business of Local Newspapers”

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Pattiserie Valerie – Serves up a showstopper interview

Patisserie Valerie by A P Monblat

Luke JohnsonLess than a week after revelations about the financial future of Patisserie Valerie made headlines, executive chairman Luke Johnson gave an interview to the same newspaper where he regularly contributed a business column.

The move navigated some tricky reputational waters and a creeping narrative about British retail and high street horror stories. Continue reading “Pattiserie Valerie – Serves up a showstopper interview”