1. Overview

What we do

• Specialist media training, courses and coaching for media interviews and appearances including TV, radio and print
• We work with individuals at all levels including new, experienced and seasoned interviewees and spokespeople with a particular specialism for leaders
• We have experience of dealing with pretty much every sector and background over the past 20+ years

More harm than good? The perils of traditional media training...

• Contemporary media relations for individuals in key leadership positions is much more than simply "staying on-message without making mistakes"
• Today's spectators are at the height of their sophistication. Their bullsh*t detectors are finely-tuned. Deftly-composed statements no longer cut it on their own
• An increasingly cynical audience, bolstered by the experience of being bombarded with countless media speakers, makes decisions based upon more than just words, assurances and detailed proposals
• Merely saying the right thing is no longer enough - how you're perceived inevitably colours, positively or negatively, how your message is perceived and in turn the potential tone of an article or broadcast
• Journalists and audiences are weary of media-trained trickery. We can spot it a mile off. Pre-scripted answers delivered without heart and soul often cause more harm than good, leaving a PR team happy that the "right thing" was said, but the audience annoyed, feeling cheated that they've learnt nothing aside from the speaker's smug ability to sidestep a question or robotically stay on-message
• We've all seen it - skilfully coordinated PR, hard-won brand image and a spokesperson that says the right things can all be struck down in a stroke, simply because the media and its audience judges that the perceived believability and personal impact of the person in charge doesn't match the rest of the message
• No matter what you actually say - and of course, its importance remains - the ultimate gut instinct or "feeling" of the audience is frequently the difference between success and failure, support or indifference, action or inaction. In fact, even with a print interview, the tone of an article is often "coloured" by the gut feeling of the journalist
• Traditional media training is typically defensive in approach. The focus is on theory rather than performance. There's a feeling the media should be feared rather than embraced. Training sessions are packed full of the likes of "top ten tips", "body language 101", "here's how to turn the question around". PR boxes are ticked, but does it actually work in terms of your audience's trust, empathy and believability? In many cases, we don't think so

Breaking the rules - our approach

• If you or your brand are being presented as a leader, you must deliver like a leader
• And true leaders stand out from the crowd. They inspire. They're not over-rehearsed, nor too polished. They articulate with a clarity that's understood by all, rather than resort to convoluted corporate-speak. They deliver from the heart, like naturally gifted communicators rather than formally trained ones
• Our clients tend to have these qualities already. If they're in leadership positions, they're probably strong communicators imbued with all the common sense, instinct and charisma that dealing with the media demands
• The problem is that their true personalities are often severely muted through "putting on an act" in formal speaking opportunities, rather than having the confidence to "break the rules" and "be themselves" - in other words, use the unique characteristics upon which they've built their career "off-stage" and intelligently apply them "on-stage"
• Media interviews can be stressful enough without the added pressure of maintaining an over-rehearsed persona whilst keeping your wits about you to spot opportunities and threats
• This is what we're good at - seamlessly dove-tailing media strategy into your authentic personality, leaving you with the ability to say the right thing, in the right way, at the right time in a way that's in-tune with modern audiences and the modern media

The results

After coaching with us, you can expect:

• A massive boost in confidence and competence, with interviews delivered in a "conversational style" that just "feels right"
• Audiences don't feel cheated. Interviews feel more transparent, more convincing, more in tune with the subject matter
• Personalities are preserved. No-one becomes a "spokesperson" - instead, by building upon and emphasising your uniqueness, delivery feels effortless and natural
• You'll find it much easier to marry what the journalist wants with what you're trying to achieve, whilst being able to more easily avoid many of the common traps and pitfalls
• We won't need to come back. We work quickly and permanently - our coaching is designed so you experience it once and reap the benefits far into the future, being able to apply it to any message you need to deliver
• Positive results. Whether you have a product to promote or a position to defend, your investment in coaching will deliver a return - as our testimonials and case studies continually demonstrate

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