Why is training executives so difficult for most PR firms?
Media Training for executives is important on one hand and difficult on the other. Why?
Because it is never easy to tell the boss that you are wrong. Many business consultancy firms
visit multi-billion dollar companies just to tell them that they are doing well and everything is fine.
This is easy!
It is always difficult to correct high-authority persons like CEOs, managers, and supervisors.
Particularly for their employees, for they are always willing to establish a good impression in the
eyes of their executives, knowing that the best way is to flatter them.
WHY EXECUTIVES FAIL AT INTERVIEWS?
It is a bitter truth that many of the executives do not even know the importance of acing your
media interview. They do not even know what giving a stellar media interview curtails. They
think that if everything went fine and they did not make any stupid statement, they have done
their job perfectly.
It is like considering yourself a winner just because you did not lose anything. Who would go to
his finance manager by the start of a year and tell him that “All I want you to do is not to lose
revenues. We do not want to progress. All we want is to maintain our position”? Thinking that if
you did not go wrong in the interview, you aced it, is a wrong mindset, and something we do not
want.
Secondly, most of the executives are great communicators, which is why they’ve landed their
respective positions. But unfortunately, this creates a sense of arrogance. They think that they
are too good to be trained by someone and that they will easily ace any interview.
The fact is, one can be a great communicator, salesperson, and negotiator, but be ineffectual at
media interviews. This is what every executive must appreciate, and is a prime motivating factor
for hiring the best media trainer for executives.
WHY HIRE A MEDIA TRAINER FOR EXECUTIVES?
There are two primary reasons why media training for executives is of the utmost importance:
NEUTRAL & HONEST FEEDBACK:
It is important to hire a media trainer executive that has his own stature and status. He will not
be intimidated by your status and will give you honest, candid, and tough feedback. Therefore, it
is important to note that you must hire a media training expert on a contractual basis, and one
that is not working full-time for your company.
We remember working with a Prime Minister who had to give an important speech. Right after
our trainer visited them, PM’s assistant told him not to point out any mistakes in the speech as
they have been working on it for 3 months.
The Prime Minister rehearsed his speech in front of the trainer and was asked to give his
thoughts on this. After the PM has given his thoughts, our trainer clearly opened up by saying
that the speech was quite boring. Mister PM endorsed his points and the speech paper was torn
into pieces! We started again from scratch!
A few weeks later he delivered his speech, and guess what, everyone in the media appreciated
it. They said that was the best speech ever given by him!
OUTSIDE INPUT AND PERSPECTIVES:
Most organizations have certain norms, jargon, acronyms, and a language. Just like a
family, they all communicate with each other in that language. When you are working with your
employees for a media interview, they mostly consult you on what they think is right, based on
their knowledge in a specific domain.
It is important to have a media trainer who has little to no knowledge of your domain. In this
way, he will be able to let you know what to say in your interview so that it is comprehensible for
the layman.
The question we are asked the most is, “Do you have any experience in our industry?” We
simply say that having experience in your industry is not a guarantee of being an effective
media training firm. The more we are unaware of your field, the better ideas we can suggest as
per the layman’s understanding.
NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES:
Most of the time, CEOs and executives are known by the public and they have no room to make
a mistake. Hence, it is important to assume that your next interview is a matter of life and death
to you, and do everything you can to make it the best one.
Just one foolish statement, expression, or remark and your whole reputation (along with your
brand or business) could be compromised. Make a wise decision and find the best media
training firm around you!
FOUR POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF EVERY MEDIA INTERVIEW:
Every interview, whether it is a TV, social media, or radio interview, has 4 possible outcomes.
ONE: BEING QUOTED OUT OF CONTEXT
This is the worst-case scenario. In this situation, you are quoted out of context. You make some
stupid comment that is considered racist, sexist, offensive, or irresponsible, and all your
reputation is ruined. It may take years to develop a PR but it takes just one interview to destroy
the PR.
TWO: NOT BEING QUOTED
It happens when you give an unambiguous interview that has no crystal clear objective. You are
not quoted at all. People do not understand your message. You neither gain nor lose your
reputation.
THREE: BEING PARTIALLY OR HAPHAZARDLY QUOTED
This is the situation when you are quoted, but only half-way. It does not necessarily mean that
you have delivered your message and created the outcome you wanted. You may have not lost
anything apparent, but you might have missed an opportunity to showcase your organization,
product, or service in the best possible light.
FOUR: BEING QUOTED CORRECTLY AND ACCURATELY
This is the most ideal outcome. Being quoted accurately is a sure guarantee that you got your
message across and that it is understood in the way you want it to be understood. In order to
obtain the latter results in a consistent and frequent a manner as possible, consider:
CREATING PRE-PLANNED SOUNDBITES:
This is our target as a media training firm, and your goal as a media trainee. The end goal of
this being that you have pre-made word-for-word soundbites in your repertoire that is always at
your disposal.
TARGETED GOALS AS A MEDIA TRAINEE:
People consider media training to be subjective and lacking a clear target. But the thing is,
becoming an efficient speaker for various media platforms is always the end goal of media
training. Suppose you have an interview tomorrow. We want you to email your board of
directors that you have an interview tomorrow and these are your quotes they will be hearing on
the TV the next day. We want this sort of expertise in creating the desirable soundbites. Let us
suppose that you have an upcoming interview tomorrow. You would ideally email your board of
directors to inform them about it, along with any other pertinent information regarding the matter, but they should ideally be in the loop beforehand. This will include any key soundbites that you would like them to take note of, and which can be used for future marketing or promotion of your product, brand, or service.
The ideal result would be to integrate the pre-planned soundbites, which will ensure that all
statements ultimately come from a cultivated and controlled environment, making it difficult to be
misquoted. Taking into account a worst-case scenario, you might still be quoted out of context. Such things are inevitable and can’t be helped. One can still consider it a success, though, if the core idea of your message or proposal was understood concisely – and that is what our team aspires for you to achieve.
MEDIA TRAINING TIPS FOR EXECUTIVES:
These are two media training tips for executives that every CEO must undergo before appearing
in an interview:
REHEARSAL:
Make a habit of rehearsing your points, preferably on camera, prior to your interview. Don’t
become too complacent and expect that you’ll get it right the first time, and always note the flow,
consistency, coherence, and comprehensibility of your lines. If you feel like there’s still parts that
need improving, work on it before the real show begins.
If an upcoming interview is of paramount importance, it’s a good idea to make a habit of full-
scale rehearsals with your media trainers, at least a day prior to an interview. This way, you get
the hang of replying to tough questions without losing your composure. Full rehearsals are
ideally done on camera, to simulate how everything would go on the prospective day.
Some media training firms may opt for a more ‘traditional’ approach. This is usually done in the
form of a booklet that details all the possible questions that can be asked during an interview,
along with an approximation of all potential answers. The problem with this approach is it
doesn’t take into account the dynamism that occurs during interviews, nor does is it practical or
even remotely applicable in real life. If you find media training firms that still employ this method,
stay far away.
PLANNING SOUNDBITES:
Make a habit of planning soundbites. Soundbites are short, succinct key-points that you can use
to drive a point across. Compared to regular speaking, soundbites guarantee that everything
you say will matter. This is because pre-planned soundbites have the advantage of being well
put-together, minus the strained awkwardness of reading or memorizing a script. You can still
talk casually during an interview, but soundbites help you steer yourself to specific key-points
that you want to raise so that you don’t go off-tangent. This also works as an excellent failsafe
against being led off-topic by interviewers.
It is a good idea to have at least three key points, and to have pre-planned for each key point.
The soundbites should be concise and convincing, which will help to enable easy takeaways on
the part of the interviewers, or, in the event of other scenarios, the general audience.
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING FOR EXECUTIVES:
People expect that everyone who is a great communicator must also have an active social
media presence. There are some executives that have great PR. In order to maintain it, they
must utilize social media platforms.
If you think that you cannot face the camera, media training worldwide has got your back. We
also offer social media training for executives so that they can maintain their good PR among
their audience. Keeping up with the times and doing everything to be on top of your game in a
post-pandemic world requires the implementation of all possible platforms to increase your
scope and presence. With potential competitors on all sides adopting dynamic procedures, the
only way to succeed is to be better at their own game.
One of the best advantages that social media can provide for executives is that it no longer
requires the input from reporters or press (independent or otherwise). You can convey your
message directly to a large audience the way you want to say it, and the way you want people
to hear it. And what’s even better is that thanks to the internet, a single message, if engaging
enough, can spread like wildfire in a matter of minutes!
HIRE THE BEST MEDIA TRAINING FIRM FOR EXECUTIVES:
With all the points raised above, we expect that you already have an idea of what sort of media
training firm you’d want to work with. Media Training Worldwide is the media training firm that
delivers effective, efficient, and consistent results, and isn’t afraid to make sure that you get the
results you need to succeed.
Our experienced media trainers will ask the tough questions and drill you on the most effective
methods to get your message across, with honest and candid feedback that isn’t cowed by
status, stature, or breadth of influence. Our goal is to help you become the best at what you do,
and if it means we have be honest about how you can better achieve that, then we will get right
to it. If you think you need a media trainer who has been actively and proactively training
politicians, CEOs, and managers for the past 30 years, Media Training Worldwide has got your
back.
Contact us today and let us know how we can best help you achieve your media presence
goals.