“Why didn’t they get media training?”
It’s a question that echoes across social media every time an interview goes pear shaped. We say it all the time and you hear it from pundits, fans, and even in the comment sections, “oh
dear that person clearly wasn’t prepared”. However, sometimes being too media trained can make people sound very robotic, disingenuous, or worse, very dull.
But what is media training, really?
And why has it become such a necessary (and nuanced) tool in today’s communications world?
At the core of our work, we carry out media training and teach people how to engage with the media.
As said in the title, the great paradox: “our goal is to make boring interesting and the interesting boring.”
It’s what to say, what not to say, how to pivot, stay on message, avoid traps and connect with an audience.
It’s a skill set needed not just by politicians or CEOs but by anyone suddenly thrust into the spotlight: people in sport, creatives, medical professionals, academics or activists.
In today’s zany world of instant virality, missteps have outsized consequences. A single sentence clipped, shared and stripped of context can derail projects, careers, or entire companies.
Media training prepares people for this reality. It helps them ride the waves or, more often, avoid making waves at all.
So when it comes to a busy media briefing, our role is make sure the client gets out of that room without any major headlines other than what the occasion sets out to achieve.
However, we are ever mindful that some media want to generate as many headlines as humanly possible!
Its not just about “spin” it’s about strategic communication. Saying something meaningful without becoming a headline. Or knowing exactly when you do want to make headlines.
As PR consultants, we coach people on how to pivot from a tough question to a safe talking point.
And when athletes retire? The same PR experts who trained them not to speak honestly now teach them how to, because punditry demands the opposite.
In our world, we are at the front and centre of the new generation of media trainers who reject the old rules.
Instead of teaching clients how to avoid risk, we help them show authenticity, but safely.
Because being yourself is valuable, but being too much of yourself?
Just ask an actor who gave too much away in an interview and watched his personal life collapse.
Done right, media training isn’t about sanitising someone it’s about helping them find a version of themselves they’re comfortable sharing. One that resonates, feels true, but also holds up under scrutiny.
Because the choice isn’t really between being real and being rehearsed.
It’s about learning how to be real in a way that works for the story, for the platform, and for the moment.
And that’s a snapshot of the thirst quenching art of media training.
