Media
Training

Making headlines in old & New Media

It’s truly a media jungle out there.

We have all watched the media business go through historic changes. There’s a 24-hour news cycle and the velocity of information has reached lightning speed. Blogs, podcasts, videos and online publications of every imaginable kind have proliferated into the millions.

The good news is this: Instead of trying to attract or manage media attention, you can create and distribute your own media. The bad news is that the risk of mishaps and stories spinning out of control has been greatly magnified.

Many executives and their public relations departments would just as soon stay on the sidelines rather than delve into the raging melee that is New Media and Social Networking. But that isn’t an option for two very big reasons. 1) Young people have largely abandoned traditional media outlets, meaning if you’re going to reach a new generation of customers, employees and shareholders, it’s imperative you join the interactive arena. 2) You might want to avoid this new media frontier but that doesn’t mean your company’s name isn’t getting bashed or bandied about in ways that injure its reputation and loses customers.

What happened to our story?

CEOs and other executives face the same challenges, whether dealing with traditional or New Media.

What interview topics should I agree to? How do I properly prepare? What are the key messages I’m trying to communicate, and how are they best conveyed? What sort of post-interview pre-story follow up is required? What sort of post-story follow up might be called for?

Unfortunately, such gymnastics are usually forgone and the outcomes range from dissatisfying to disastrous. The big story turns out to be something very much shrunken in size and scope, for reasons that are unclear to the CEO. Or the story takes an unexpected and unsavory angle. Or it’s riddled with errors that are quickly propagating and ricocheting across the World Wide Web.

Sound familiar?

Situations of this kind are so common it’s no wonder the number of executives averse to media is legion.

What executives and their PR proponents have to come to terms with is that they bear partial responsibility for the steaming wreckage.

I’ve seen that movie too

Indeed, I’ve been a media operative of various stripes for many years and have dealt with reporters of all calibers and CEOs from every major industry. What goes wrong and why is evident to me. It’s nothing that some focused media training can’t solve.

I help CEOs and their public relations departments shepherd media interviews and stories through the process to maximize the chances of a successful outcome. This process also serves the interests of the reporters and media outlets who are often frustrated by unprepared, media-shy or over-scripted executives.

CEOs are also familiarized with the many opportunities presented by New Media and Social Networking, and I assist them in crafting strategies that target their internal and external constituencies.

Let me help you make the sure-footed steps required to succeed in today’s media mashup.

Call me at 925-449-1040 or write me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).