The Best Media Tip I Can Give You

---

The Girl Scout's motto of "Be Prepared" was explained this way. In their handbook it said, "A Girl Scout is ready to help out wherever she is needed. Willingness to serve is not enough, you must know how to do the job well, even in an emergency". That handbook was written in 1947.

 

Being prepared is the best media tip I can give people and the point hits home.  Very often when I ask people what their biggest takeaway from a media training session was, they'll say the importance of being prepared.

I have a new video series with media tips, and this week I talk about how to get prepared for any media interview.

Messing Up

It’s amazing how the mind works.

When I do a media training workshop, the vast majority of people tell me they’re worried about getting interviewed by the news media because they “know” they’ll mess up.  They’re worried about saying something they shouldn’t, something embarrassing, something they’ll regret, or something stupid.

The fear is real.

However, the biggest single thing you can do to reduce that fear and feel more confident (other than to actually get experience doing media interviews) is to prepare properly. Since it’s a chicken and egg thing – you can’t get more comfortable doing media interviews until you actually do them, I tell people to focus on what they can control and stop worrying about what they can’t.

What you can control is how you prepare. Better preparation will make you more confident, relaxed and successful. I talk about that in this week’s Media Training Minute.

Media Training Minute

Next week I will be talking about the importance of practicing before you meet the reporter to do the actual interview and how to do it.

Media Training Minute is a new video series for me. I ran the first one two weeks ago and will have one each week for the next few months. I will be talking about everything from sound bites, to bridging techniques, to eye contact during media interviews. There will be some really great tips that you won’t want to miss.

Look for weekly updates on my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.  You can also get all four videos I’ve recorded so far on my YouTube Channel.

The Girl Scouts had it right – be prepared.

Online Media Coaching

If you're thinking about media training for yourself, check out my Online Media Coaching program that's easy to take and very affordable.