media tips

I’m really starting to hate the term “media training”.  I feel like such a cheeseball when I tell people that’s part of what I do.  It makes me think of Ron Burgundy, Will Farrell’s corny anchorman who is all mustache and no substance. So I’m working on a redefinition….

Traditionally a “media trainer” coaches someone to talk to a reporter and give a decent interview while looking composed.  But seriously, how many companies, non-profits, or professionals are dealing with the traditional press on a daily basis?  And should that even be their priority? Local or national media coverage can give you a boost but creating your own media constantly is key- from tweeting, to having a facebook page, to making videos for your website.  And coming across composed (snooze…..) isn’t necessarily the way to go.

Here’s where my “new media training” (“Cool Media Creation”? “On-Camera Upgrading”?) comes in…let’s say you are a researcher at a non-profit and suddenly you are being asked to be in a video about your fact finding missions.  Uh, that sounds time consuming and anxiety producing, you think.  Not if we sit down and sketch out 2 reasonable ’30 second stand-ups (you speaking to camera) that succinctly explain who you are and what your doing (“Hi, I’m Jane Non-Profit it and I’m in Kampala talking to Ugandans who have been granted money by our organization.  In this video you’ll see how your donations are actually building local businesses.” Video montage follows.)   We practice, pick out a shirt. It takes Jane an extra 30 minutes on her trip to film it.  And BOOM- she’s making a connection with people who believe in the cause, possibly raising more money, and giving everyone a glimpse into her work, in addition to her written report.

Some people LOVE being on-camera and are good at it.  Most people kind of stink or just don’t take simple steps (like looking the right way, or adjusting their webcam, or organizing their ideas) that would help them make a better impression, bigger impact, etc, all those true cliches.

We are starting to conduct all our business by video, whether it’s informal like skype or internal like a company webchat or for the outside eye, like how-to’s on  your company’s website.  If you have a better term for “media training”, PLEASE leave me a suggestion.