If you’re a company leader or a spokesperson, you undoubtedly know how intimidating it can be to be interviewed live on camera. Getting derailed, losing your train of thought or freezing in the face of tough questions can all happen in the blink of an eye.
Yet some people manage to sail through interviews, cool, calm, collected and 100% on-message. They never get rattled and expertly evade or handle probing questions without so much as breaking a sweat. What’s more, their interviews always come off as engaging, informative and entertaining to watch.
How do they do it? Like any other skill one picks up in life, they train for it.
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What Is Media Training?
Media training is a type of communication training specifically designed for engaging with the media, the purpose of which is to equip you with the necessary skills and techniques to represent your company or organization effectively.
Guided by an expert Dubai presenter and media coach, you’ll learn how to tell your story on your terms, deliver your message clearly using the right words, tone and body language, anticipate and prepare for difficult questions, and avoid common interview pitfalls.
Why Do You Need Media Training?
Training is essential for anyone who regularly interacts with the media, whether they’re in a corporate, political or non-profit field. This includes CEOs, public relations professionals, executive directors, industry go-to experts, and government officials — in short, anyone who would want to effectively communicate their message and leverage media coverage to their advantage.
Here are a few examples of how receiving media training in Dubai can benefit you and your organization:
1. Constructing Your Core Message
Knowing what you want to say and how to say it, and planning it ahead of time is crucial in an interview. Without this step, you’ll risk being led down paths you don’t intend to go or rambling on without making your point.
Through media training, you’ll learn how to identify your key messages, frame and distill them into concise, powerful sound bites that resonate with your audience, and practice delivering them in different ways so you can always steer the interview in the direction you want.
2. Speaking With Confidence
There’s a lot that goes into projecting a commanding presence on camera. From managing pre-interview jitters and body language to perfecting your tone of voice and on-screen look, all these elements impact how you come across to your viewers.
The following are some critical areas a reputable media training agency will ensure you master so you can inspire trust and confidence in your audience:
Dressing for On-Camera Presence
Studio lights and cameras often require you to dress in a certain way to look your best on screen. A styling consultant can advise you on the right clothing choices based on color, pattern and fabric, as well as hair, make-up and accessories to complement your skin tone and body type and, more importantly, align with your brand.
Body language
Experts believe that nearly 55% of communication is non-verbal. That’s why learning to control your body language is another vital aspect of media training.
Through practical exercises like role-playing and mock interviews, you’ll acquire techniques on how to establish a strong presence and enhance your message delivery with posture, hand movements, facial expressions and eye contact.
Tone and voice modulation
Voice modulation is the ability to adjust your voice’s pitch, tone, volume and pace according to the message, context and audience. Such skill can help you emphasize specific points, express emotions, avoid sounding monotone and create a contrast of highs and lows that makes you more engaging and interesting to listen to.
With professional coaches, you can practice different vocal exercises and techniques like breathing, articulation, avoiding filler words, taking deliberate breaks or pauses, and using intonation and inflection to make your points more memorable and persuasive.
3. Preparing for Interviews
If you’re already a person who’s quick on their feet and who feels in their element speaking in public and fielding questions from reporters, you may have gotten used to winging it or relying on your instincts, especially if it’s the type or topic of interview you’ve done before.
But what if it’s an entirely new scenario like a crisis or a live debate? What if a reporter throws you a curveball or asks you something not on your agenda? What if you have only seconds to answer a question upon which hinges the reputation and credibility of your company?
Preparation is a surefire way to ace any interview, and it’s nothing that a skilled, proactive media trainer can’t help you with. They can put together chief talking points and Q&A sessions, design scenarios to simulate a live interview setting that resembles broadcast media, and show you how to master the art of bridging, so you can smoothly redirect the interview and always paint the picture you want to leave with your audience.
Media Training: Commanding the Spotlight
Whether your company has a story to tell, is trying to launch a new product or service, is announcing an event or responding to a PR crisis, media training can help you get the right message out there and leverage all the attention in your favor.
He is a passionate blogger and tech-savvy guy who loves to discover the stuff related to technology and social media. Currently, he is pursuing his graduation from the University of Lahore.