"Why should I hire a media coach?"

“Should I hire a media coach?” is a frequently asked question by people facing interviews. It depends on the situation. If it is a onetime community event or a similar soft story, it probably won’t warrant media coaching. The question to consider is: If you’ve never played tennis, would you sign up for an important tennis match without professional coaching? You need to weigh the scope of the story, the results you want to achieve and the media you are targeting. Here are some further considerations:

• What potential controversy is looming?
• Are you about to release a film, product or book?
• Is your company announcing a merger or acquisition?
• Is the CEO being replaced?
• What are the possibilities for national or regional coverage?

In most situations, professional media coaching is to your advantage. You need to learn how to bring news value to stories without sounding like a commercial and how to tell your story with confidence. One of the reasons people appear anxious—or worse, guilty—in media interviews is a lack of coaching. It is often not their credibility that’s in question, but their lack of experience with the media. When people find themselves thrust into the national spotlight, it is unnerving to land front and center in an unfamiliar turf.

If you’re considering coaching, here are some questions to ask the coaches:

• What are their credentials?
• Do they have on-air experience as anchors, reporters, interviewers, radio or TV show hosts, etc.?
• Are they journalists with credible print and reporting backgrounds?
• Who are their clients?
• How long have they been in the media coaching/consulting business?
• Do they have references you can check?
• What is their coaching style?
• What kind of professionals or companies use their services?

Professional credentials are essential for a media coach. Some people call themselves
media coaches despite limited (if any) “hands-on” experience in news or programming. They’ve never interviewed anyone, written or produced a story or appeared on camera as a reporter or host.

There are media coaches who are one-person operations. They bring a camera to your office and operate the camera while trying to coach you at the same time. Expert coaching companies create an authentic, professional environment with the camera person(s), lights, microphones and potential news/interview exercises. They simulate a variety of interviews without concern for any technical difficulties. Our clients tell us that the exercises are so “real,” they thought they wereon television.

There are some qualified coaching firms with experienced media professionals, but if you meet a coach who insists on making you theatrical or dramatic, run. Beware of media coaches who teach a “you vs. them” attitude, with the underlying fear that “the media is always out to get you.” Should they try to make you feel incompetent or talk down to you (and I’ve known a few coaches who use this approach), terminate the agreement. You want to know your goals and what you expect when you retain a media coach. We have listed some of the advantages of media coaching, which will ensure value to you and your interviews.

The results of Professional Media Coaching will:

• Inform you of your responsibility to the media.
• Explain how the media works.
• Help you manage your anxiety.
• Enhance your natural abilities.
• Assist you in developing your key messages—if you are handling your own media relations—and show you how to work them into your interviews.
• Help you gain confidence.
• Create an on-camera image.
• Reduce the intimidation factor inside a radio or TV studio.
• Prepare you for the nuances of radio, television, print, telephone and Internet interviews.
• Teach you the formula of answering questions.
• Prepare you for tough questions.
• Show you how to be conversational.
• Help you deliver what you promise.
• Prepare a crisis communication plan, if appropriate.
• Work in conjunction with your PR agency.

Your media coaching company could be privy to information before it is publicly announced. They must be willing to sign a confidentiality agreement. The majority of professional coaching companies will provide an agreement if you don’t have one. The most often requested sessions are designed for one-on-one coaching or small groups of four to six people. Workshop exercises are videotaped or digitally recorded.

GOLD STAR TIP: Responsibilities of a media coach are not to change you into a slick, look-alike and sound-alike, programmed media guest. It won’t work to your advantage. A professional media coach taps into your strongest abilities and helps you develop them to get your messages across effectively and naturally.