You are never going to give your finest performance if you fear the situation.

In the course of our work we find that many people fear the media in much the same way you might fear getting on the back of a powerful racehorse if you were a novice rider! You are never going to give your finest performance if you fear the situation.

One quick way of reducing anxiety and develop comfort is by education and coaching. This leads to a better understanding of the situation and as a result greater confidence. For example, 90% of interviews are relatively “run of the mill” conversations where the journalist is “fishing”. By this we mean exploring with you to see if they can find a new story or new angle on an old story.  Less than 10% interviews are likely to be confrontational or hostile “Jeremy Paxman style” interviews. So, at the outset the odds are stacked in your favour- your challenge is to package your story so you give the journalist something that others will find interesting. Remember their job is to sell interesting copy and get paid, not to trip you up or catch you out. Go in with the right attitude-along the lines of “How can help this journalist and find a win:win for both of us?” Remember this before agreeing to, or when preparing for, an interview. At all times if you respect them they are more likely to respect you.

Armed with this knowledge you can stop fearing the media and start harnessing its power.

Next time we will further develop this idea.

In addition to handling the media, we also offer coaching and consultancy in conference speaking, competitive pitching and business development.