Do you consider attending media training to boost your communication, visibility and business results? What should you expect from such training? How can you make sure your new skills will trully help you in practice, and you will be happy with your return on investment? This MediaEd presentation aims to answer these questions, and many others that might arise when you plan a media training session for yourself or your company management.

1. How Can You Get the Most
Out of Your Media Training?
Cristina Muntean
Media advisor, trainer and coach
cm@mediaed.cz
Twitter: @CristinaMuntean

2. Looking for media training?
• Are you a PR manager thinking about urging
your boss to get media training?
• Are you an individual who feels the urge to
communicate more in order to boost the
impact of your personal image?
REGARDLESS OF YOUR STATUS
THE QUESTION IS…

3. What do you want?
• The most important question is: what are you
trying to achieve with training?
• The answer can be:
– I have no public image and I would like to build one
– I have an image, but I don’t like it
– I have an image and I would like to strengthen it
– I need to sharpen my message
– I need to gain in self-confidence
– I would like to understand how journalists think &
why they act the way they do
– I would like to understand what other channels aside
from media are available to help me boost my image

4. Are you after…
• Information?
– If all you need is a quick update on what’s going on in the
media world, an informational session with a knowledgeable
media professional should suffice .
• Advice?
– If you are ready to change your communicational behavior
but don’t know how to approach the idea, you might need an
advisory session rather than media training .
• Training?
– If you know what you want and what skills and messages
you’re ready to sharpen, then you need a media trainer.
• Coaching?
– If you already know what to say and how to say it, but you
need guidance to deepen your communication skills, you
need a media coach.

5. Quality? Quality!
• The Czech market offers a variety of media
trainers and prices. Unfortunately, most often
you are able to assess their quality only after
the training session.
HOW CAN YOU ASSESS QUALITY
PRIOR TO THE TRAINING?

6. Quality assessment - I
• When you scan the market for the right
media training provider, bear in mind:
– Image
• If the trainer doesn’t have a proper website and
can’t even manage his own LinkedIn profile, how
can he help you improve your image?
– Credentials
• If the trainer hasn’t spent time collecting
credentials from his trusted clients, he is either
working on highly classified deals only or there is
something wrong with his services

7. Quality assessment II
• When you scan the market for the right
media training provider, bear in mind:
– Experience
• When you plan to be publicly listed and your media
trainer comes from a theatrical or lifestyle TV
backgroud, there might be a gap between your needs
and his skills
– Time
• How much time will the trainer spend on preparing
your training? Will he come to the training straight
from the newsroom or will he actually take time to
understand your business model, challenges and place
your training in a wider context? Prior to the training,
how much time does he spend questioning you to
ascertain your real needs?

8. Quality assessment III
• When you scan the market for the right media
training , bear in mind:
– Added-value
• What exactly will you receive prior and after the training?
Will there be an added-value document like an image
assessment or a roadmap for your future improvement or
will you just go through a series of simulations that you will
forget as soon as you get back to your computer?
– Long-term partnership
• You and the trainer invest at least one day of your life in the
media training. Is the trainer interested in developing a
long-term relationship with you to amortize that
investment? Is he motivated to make you feel comfortable
to go back and ask for more business? Or it he only after a
quick buck?

9. My trainer = my PR advisor?
• On the Czech market media training is often
conducted by people who are already
working with the client either in-house or
within the company’s PR agency.
HERE ARE THE PLUSES AND MINUSES OF
MEDIA TRAINING CONDUCTED BY
YOUR PR ADVISOR

10. PR advisor-conducted media training
Pluses Minuses
• Deep knowledge of the • Corporate bias – not looking
client’s background for a media-attractive
story, but for a story that
• Strong motivation to see the would fit with the company
client succeed = success communication processes
reflected in the results of the • Corporate marketing jargon
PR department / PR agency
• Higher interest in maintaining
• No confidentiality agreement a positive relationship with the
& risk management rather than in
• Cheaper – training included in achieving real results via
the salary / agency fee (unless media training
done on a project basis with • Thinking inside-the-box = fear
the PR agency) to approach certain sensitive
internal issues

11. PR advisor-conducted media training
Pluses Minuses
• Easier to organize time- • Low financial motivation =
wise – flexibility towards low investment into training
the client’s schedule. preparation
• Distance from the real
media world
• Distance from trends and
fresh views on
communication = fear of
change.

12. Media training pricing
• Prices on the Czech market vary and can be
anything in-between CZK 2,500 (€ 100) and
CZK 150,000 (€ 6,000) for one day of media
training
HOW CAN YOU ASSES WHAT MEDIA
TRAINING PRICE IS JUST FOR YOU?

13. Pricing offer
• Items that play a role in the media training
pricing offer:
– Added-value: pre- and after-training preparation
& materials = real number of hours spent on the
training
– The trainer’s experience and credentials
– Location: your office, the trainer’s office or a
rented TV studio
– Refreshments: included or not included
– Technology: cameraman and TV equipment
– One-off or long-term cooperation: the time
used to prepare the training initially is easier to
amortize during a longer-term cooperation

14. How to prepare yourself for media training?
• Clarify what you want
• Select the trainer
• Brief the trainer:
– Client’s media history: media clippings
– Client’s communication profile: previous training,
videos with him on TV or speaking publicly etc.
– Company’s business & communication issues
– Communication strategy & plan, to place the
client in the right context
• Allow the trainer to meet the client prior to
the training for an initial assessment

15. Why a proper briefing is so important?
ONLY TRAINERS WHO ARE AFTER A QUICK
BUCK DON’T CARE ABOUT THE CLIENT’S
CONTEXT AND HISTORY.
TRAINERS WHO AIM TO TAKE THE CLIENT
TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN COMMUNICATION
NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHOM THEY ARE
DEALING WITH IN ORDER TO PREPARE THE
RIGHT TOOLS AND SET OF EXERCISES FOR
THE TRAINING.

16. How to act during the media training?
• Observe the trainer
• Make notes on issues to be emphasized /
corrected + share them with the trainer
during the break
• Don’t interrupt
• Bear in mind: Journalists will appreciate and
are more likely to quote a self-confident
manager who can communicate on his own
rather than a manager who is afraid and will
only speak on certain issues that you dictate
because you think they are safe.

17. Privacy during media training
• Trust is being built in a one-to-one
relationship.
• My experience shows that when a third-
party is present, you can only go to a
certain level of depth in the training /
coaching.
• Leaving the trainer / coach alone with the
client is good for dealing with certain
sensitive issues the client would never
discuss in front of a colleague.

18. Further security belts
• Confidentiality agreement
– Better safe than sorry: have your media
trainer sign a confidentiality agreement prior
to discussing sensitive corporate matters
with him.
• Refresh sessions
– Training is only as efficient as it gets in 6-8h.
In order to perform self-confidently in front
of a journalist or camera, you need to train
regularly.

19. Enjoy your media experience!
• More premium media
training advice at
www.mediaed.cz
• Write an email at
cm@mediaed.cz or call
at
00420 776 574 925
• Follow us on Twitter
@CristinaMuntean
and @MediaEd_CEE.