Media training is for everyone

For some of you, the thought of being interviewed by a member of the media is as intimidating as attempting to summit Mount Everest without a sherpa. Nor would you go off on the spur of the moment to do something as monumental as climb the highest mountain in the world. And even if you were fully prepared, you would still need a heap of confidence to take the first step.

512Px Everest North Face Toward Base Camp Tibet Luca Galuzzi 2006 1

Facing the media need not be a huge obstacle. Image courtesy of Luca Galuzzi CC-BY-SA-2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Colin Ford writing studio manager at Flow Communications, explains, “There are two vital components needed when talking to the media: you need to know what you’re going to say and be confident enough to say it.”

Flow’s media training sessions are designed to help media spokespeople overcome their fear and speak to the media in a convincing and positive way.

“The programme puts delegates right in the firing line with some of South Africa’s top media practitioners, who help them to build self-confidence and present their companies and their brands in a positive light,” says Colin.

All levels of experience are catered for, with some delegates incredibly seasoned and others having little or no experience in dealing with the media.

“This year we have already held three media training sessions,” adds Colin. “Two of these were refresher-type courses for a number of skilled media spokespeople from Deloitte SA, while the third was for a group of less experienced executives (as far as being in the media goes) from the DRA Group.”

It’s not only media spokespeople who can benefit from the training, though. Seasoned broadcast journalist Jeremy Maggs, who forms part of the training team, points out that anyone dealing with people in the workplace will find the course useful.

“It’s amazing to see delegates’ progress between the start and the end of the programme,” he says. “We recently trained a lady who was adamant that she would never be interviewed on television. By the time we had completed our interviews she was brimming with confidence and ready to take me on – and anyone else, for that matter.

“The increased levels of self-assurance experienced by our delegates would, I believe, be of enormous benefit to any person in any organisation and not just media spokespeople.”

To find out more about how media training can help people in your organisation conquer the media mountain (without a sherpa), contact Maria Foundanellas on 011 440 4841 or maria@flowsa.com.