In this article, I will share the secrets of media training, corporate media training and media training for high-level politicians, CEOs, heads of government and other officials. These skills allow you to deliver your message more clearly and effectively. You will learn the same secrets they learn by paying media trainers a lot of money.
OUTLINE OF THE COURSE
The course will cover the following portions.
- How to look your best on camera
Here we will discuss the ins and outs of looking comfortable, confident, and relaxed anytime you are in front of a video camera because most people get nervous and are unsure where to look. We will go through all the tips on how to look and sound your best.
- Shaping a media message
The next considerable skill is how do you shape a media message. I will guide you on analyzing a complex topic, where you have 50 or 100 things you could say and boil it down to your top three messages.
- Answering questions in interviews
The third skill is how to answer questions in an interview. It does not work in a way that ignores the questions and tells the reporters whatever you want. It is the cartoonish version of media training. In the real world, you must answer questions from reporters in a focused, strategic way. Answering media questions is different from answering questions in the real world from colleagues, friends, family, workers, co-workers, investors, customers and clients. It is a different process that we will discuss here step by step.
- Packaging your messages with sound bites
The final thing you will learn is how to package your messages with sound bites. If you follow news and politics closely, you hear sound bites all the time, but most people can’t define a sound bite or tell you how to take a message and turn it into a sound bite. Here I’m going to share with you the system for converting any message point into a sound bite so that you know precisely what quote will get in the final story.
The goal of high-level professional media training is not just to be comfortable. You can be comfortable with the media and be awful, which means you did not get the messages you wanted in the final story. So, the goal is not just to feel comfortable, control the interview or make the reporter like you. High-quality media training aims to get the exact message and quote you want into the final story.
If you want to know these skills in greater detail, I have an online course that gives you many exercises to help build these skills. To find out more about the online training, you can visit mediatrainingworldwide.com.
HOW TO LOOK YOUR BEST ON CAMERA
We will start with the fundamentals of how to look your best on camera. If you look scared, nervous, or uncomfortable, nobody will remember anything you say, even if you have a great message, answers, and sound bites. So, remember that it’s critically important to know how to look and sound your best on camera. These days, it could be the BBC, CNN, or NBC, or a one-person blogger who wants to record a video of you so that video footage can go on their blog. You will get various opportunities to do video interviews, even if it’s not an entire fledge broadcast or TV news interview.
Be Natural – Is Not Always The Right Message
Before any media presentation, everyone advises being natural. But there is a problem with that advice. The natural thing you may do when there’s a bright light on your face and a microphone near your mouth is that you may get stiff. Unfortunately, that’s the natural thing you will do, and you look scared. So, the first significant thing you must focus on is not getting stiff, not stiffening up your face and body, because that will make you look scared.
Leaning 15 Degrees Forward – The Perfect Posture
Before the interview starts, you may be asked to sit back and be relaxed. Your double chin will show up if you lean back during your presentation or interview. You’ll look fatter, even if you’re not fat. You must have heard the expression, “The camera puts 20 pounds on you.” It does if you sit back. So, if you’re on a couch or a chair that leans back, don’t lean back. Now, the next thing people do is sit up perfectly straight, which makes them look stiff and scared. On TV, you need to hold yourself high and lean forward about 15 degrees to look your best. Now you don’t see a double chin, and the camera is focused more on the face than on the body. That’s what you want on the camera. It’s not a remarkably natural-looking pose if you are sitting or standing this way, but you will come across as much more natural when you are on camera. So that’s why it’s important to sit or stand this way in front of the camera.
CONCLUSION
Here you will find all the tips and tricks to present yourself best in media presentations. We will step by step dive into how to look your best on camera, shape a media message, answer questions during an interview, and how to package your message with sound bites. It is fundamental to look your best on camera so that people or the audience can focus on what you are saying and get a pleasant impression of you. You might get scared or nervous in front of the camera, especially if you are new to facing the camera. Do not lean back or stand and sit perfectly straight in front of the camera, as it will make you look stiff. Leaning forward about 15 degrees is the perfect posture to make the audience focus on your face and words.