Media Training Explained: Everything You Need to Know

No matter if you’re working in the public relations industry or not, media training is helpful for anyone working with the media. 

Especially if it’s your first time working with journalists, you’ll want to be as prepared as you can be, so you’re not taken aback or overwhelmed by the experience. 

In our comprehensive guide, we’ll explain what media training is, why you might need it, what to expect, and how to improve your public speaking when it comes to working with the media.

What Is Media Training?

Media training is essentially preparation for working with people in media, like journalists. It’s a specific type of public speaking training to prepare you for not only working with media outlets but also to teach you how to speak professionally about yourself and the brand or organization of which you’re speaking on behalf of. 

If you’re going through this type of training with a media trainer, you can expect lots of practice, including various formats, mock interviews, and anything else that could help you prepare for working with those in the media. 

During media training, you’ll get lots of tips and tricks for working with the media. These can include anything from how to: 

• Appropriately respond to tricky questions
• Anticipate questions the media outlet is likely to ask
• Convey information in plain language (especially if the industry language you use can potentially confuse an audience)

Practice will be necessary to make sure your training doesn’t go to waste. Luckily, a speech coach such as Yoodli can help get you there. 

How Can I Get the Most Out of Media Training?

Media training is extremely helpful, no matter who you are or what type of industry you work in. But the training doesn’t stop when the session is over. 

Yoodli can help you continue the necessary practice you’ll need to keep up the strategies you learned in your training. It’ll also add to your repertoire of public speaking tools. 

For example, after a media training session, use Yoodli to practice implementing some of those techniques while they’re still fresh in your mind. You can record a Zoom or Google Meet meeting through Yoodli (or upload any other video you have) to get valuable insights into your speaking skills. You can also record a video directly on the Yoodli platform. 

Once you’ve got a recording for Yoodli to analyze, our AI speech coach will provide you with a plethora of things you can improve on based on its in-depth analysis of your speech and speaking patterns. 

You’ll get personalized observations of your speaking skills, including: 

• Your word choice
• The kinds of filler words you use (and how often you use them)
• Your speaking pace
• Any repetition detected 
• And many other valuable insights

Yoodli also provides you with a real-time transcript of your speech for you to review afterward. 

Once you’ve identified areas of improvement, you can use some of the free courses and tutorials to take your speech and media training to the next level. 

For example, if you discover that you tend to speak quickly and the pacing is an issue for you, you might decide to check out Dave Bricker’s crash course on the power of pause. You’ll learn how something as simple as pausing during your speech can slow your pace. Check out one of Bricker’s installments for yourself: 

Media Training 101: Why Is It Important?

Media training is very important if you’re representing a brand or organization and will be speaking on its behalf. Even if you’ve had this type of training before, another session can further prepare you for an upcoming appointment with someone from a media outlet. After all, a meeting with the media can make or break your brand. 

It also gives you a chance to practice your public speaking skills, specifically skills you’ll need when you’re in a professional setting. 

Plus, once you receive even one session of media training, you’ll be more prepared in general, and the brand or organization you work for might select you to represent it again in the future if you do a good job. 

What’s more, Yoodli doesn’t compete with media trainers; instead, our platform collaborates with them. It’s the best of both worlds! Learn more here:

Who Should Get Media Training?

At the end of the day, anyone can get media training. However, it’s a good idea to plan on receiving training if you work with media outlets or members of the media in any way, shape, or form. 

There are even specific kinds, like media training for executives or media training for spokespeople.

Examples of people who commonly get this type of training include:

• Those working in public relations (PR)
• Researchers
• Politicians
• Leaders
• Athletes 
• Actors or other celebrities

The Bottom Line

Media training is critical if you plan to talk with the media in any capacity. But this type of training is nothing without outside practice. 

Take advantage of Yoodli’s free tutorials and crash course today to make the most out of your training session.