Pierpont Communications, Inc.

There are many skills a public relations professional needs to effectively support their clients: knowledge of the media and communications landscape, multi-tasking skills and a knack for being an effective communicator in multiple situations.

However, a key skill often overlooked is being media trained. Many of us in public relations think of media training as something our clients undergo to prepare for a big interview or speaking opportunity. From my experience however, there’s a tremendous benefit to being a media-trained public relations professional.

The skills you learn during media training can be applied to many facets of everyday work. For instance, most of us have to answer uncomfortable questions every day from reporters, clients, colleagues and others. Effective media training can teach you how to field these questions and answer them properly while still appearing confident, knowledgeable, pleasant and unflappable (even if you don’t know the answer).

When you think about it, we are always acting as representatives for our clients. Every time we pick up the phone to call a journalist, speak to a vendor or engage a stakeholder on a client’s behalf, we should approach the situation like a media interview.

Media training also helps public relations professionals understand what a client is feeling before and during a big interview. Anyone who has ever done a TV interview can attest that the nerves are almost too much to bear, especially the first time. Then the lights come on and you forget everything you’ve been told as you feel thousands of eyes upon you. Being media trained can help you better guide a client in this stressful situation because you know from experience what it feels like to be in their shoes.

There’s also the chance that you’ll be put into the spotlight yourself. Clients can turn to you in a crisis situation and ask you to represent them during a press conference or event, or the media may look to you as a representative of your client during an interview and start tossing some hard questions your way. When this happens, falling back on media training skills is the only way to succeed.

Being media-trained can not only help ensure your client is seen in the best light - no matter the situation when you’re the representative- it can also make sure you are seen the same light by those you interact with.