You wouldn’t let an employee loose on your core IT systems without training, so should your media outreach be any different? Amy Stone, Senior Communications Consultant at Hard Numbers discusses her surprise and frustration at how many times she’s been told that the CEO “doesn’t need media training” because they’re “very charismatic”.
Working in PR, I’ve heard all the excuses under the sun as to why a CEO “doesn’t need” media training.
“They don’t need training, they’ve done a lot of media interviews before.”
“They’ve got great confidence, so they’ll be fine in an interview.”
“Our CEO is very charismatic, they don’t need the training.”
Sadly, I can only count on one hand the times I’ve been told that a CEO doesn’t need media training because they’ve already received it recently. And it shows in interviews all over the airwaves with CEOs that fail to convey the confidence and charisma they feel in their role.
Mythbusting media training
All too often, CEOs and execs who see themselves as confident and charismatic spokespeople, and claim that they have ‘done a lot of media interviews’, are the guests who perform the worst.
At best, their confidence can come across as too promotional and at worst, when the tough questions come, they get flustered and come across as defensive while missing the opportunity to land vital key messages.
A common myth about media training is that it only benefits people who have never been interviewed by a journalist before or those that aren’t confident in their speaking abilities. This means that many leaders, who are often charismatic and confident as a prerequisite of their role and career, don’t see the value in being media trained.
While experience is definitely valuable in helping your CEO feel more confident in front of the media, it is not a replacement for proper training and practice. In recent years, the media landscape has undergone and continues to go through huge changes.
Comprehensive media training ensures your CEO understands these changes and is prepared to deliver an interview that puts your company in the best possible light.
The fact is that media training is more than just a confidence boost or simple public speaking practice. Having the ability to talk to journalists, answer their questions while staying on message is an essential skill for C-suite leaders to master. Even more so during a crisis.
Invest for success
If your CEO does well with the media there’s a good chance it will lead to other opportunities, so it’s important to invest in your business's success.
The benefits of expert media training go much further than confidence and charisma. A crucial skill that can be learnt through media training is how to direct an interview and control how much you do or don’t say.
Your CEO needs to learn how to speak in soundbites, while making sure to answer the journalists questions and then bridging the conversation back to your key message. This can be challenging, particularly with a seasoned journalist that has a tough agenda for the interview, but it’s the difference between a good interview and a great one for your business.
Body language is also something that is often overlooked in video interviews, such as TV opportunities, that media training can help you be more aware of. What you’re saying is undoubtedly important, but you also need to pay attention to the signals your posture and appearance is giving off.
An example of how a small detail like body language can have a big, negative impact on the outcome of your interview is the Rolls Royce job loss interview.
In a disastrous interview with BBC News about the business cutting 9,000 jobs the Chief Executive appears to be smirking and, while often looking off camera, appears shockingly uninvested in the topic he’s discussing.
This interview, broadcast globally, was widely criticised by national press in the UK and even resulted in a drop in share value for Rolls Royce.
Another benefit of media training is helping you to deliver your key messages. Key message preparation and delivery is typically the first step of any media training course and as the training progresses, your CEO will learn how to seamlessly weave the key messages into an interview no matter what curveballs the journalists throw their way.
Keeping it short and concise and answering the question directly will help ensure your executive is the one quoted in the story, not your competition.
Media training is no longer a luxury for your business - it's a necessity
Media training should be seen as an investment that aligns with your marketing strategy. It’s no longer a ‘nice to have’ option. Putting your C-suite up for interview without the proper training is, in short, a reputational risk.
Of course, a company’s reputation is influenced by a variety of factors but this includes how the CEO is perceived and their ability to communicate the organisation’s values. With reputation having such a significant impact on your company’s bottom line, there’s a lot riding on how your CEO comes across in an interview. Too much to overlook an investment in media training.
During a crisis, media training becomes a life line - but only if you had the foresight to invest in it. When your business is facing challenges, media will likely throw some curveballs or provocative questions at your executive and an interview becomes a real ‘sink or swim’ moment.
Media training prepares them to field these questions without getting flustered and gives them the tools they need to bridge to their own key messages without missing a beat.
So does your confident and charismatic CEO still need media training? The short answer is, absolutely.
