Many of you will say “I don`t need a media coach, I can do it by myself” but when you want to go dancing and you don`t know how to dance you go to a dancing lessons so you want make a full of yourself, hiring a media trainer it has the same goal Not to make you feel embarrassed and be prepared when having interview.

Today we are going to talk about the best 10 Media Training Techniques (there are many but we think this ones are essential)

1. When asked an embarrassing or inappropriate question

If a reporter asks you a question and you are uncomfortable with answering, you can let them know you aren’t comfortable and don`t like to comment.

2. When you are not asked about something that  want to talk about during interview

After you are done with the answering the question you can always say “ I could tell you about this …” or “ If you like to tell you this” and start your conversation about the topic that was not covered.

3. When pressing the sensitive spot

We have all being in that position that we were asked something about that we would`t talk or it`s too sensitive for us. Avoiding this questions is a bit tricky, If you say “Let`s move on” you will look very rude, instead try something like “I`m sorry but I have answered the question with the information I have, Can we please go to the next one? “

4.Avoiding the personal questions

Privacy is on a first please and it`s in our nature to keep it that way. If you are being asked a personal question and you don`t want to answer that the smartest way of doing that if you say “ I would like to keep this part of my life private but I can share with you this ..” and move to another topic.

5.Telling the truth

Never lie! The report can find out the true, that`s their job. Never say a lie, if you don` t know the answer say something like “I will check on the facts and I will get back to you later”.

6.So many words

When under stress we have intention to talk and talk. When you are in the situation when having an interview when you feel that you are talking about thinks that are not related with the question that they have asked you, just stop. Take a breath and focus on the question and summarize your answer in couple of sentences.

7.Not a legal hearing

Interview is not a legal hearing, so don`t act like it. Keep in mind that reporters are also people who are not there to harm you. They just want to get a story that will satisfy their editors and go home to their family.

8.Notes

When preparing for interview you should always have prepared key notes for that purpose. Make bullet points of the key facts that will be your guide during the interview.

9.Hypothetical situations

This is bit tricky so you have to be very focused what the reporter is asking you.

If you have asked about a situation or case of which you have inadequate information, or about a hypothetical situation, respond by discussing the issue instead. You can say, “I can’t respond to hypothetical situations, but if you’re asking about the issue of (state the issue) it’s clear that (state the message) “. There are many examples how to avoid this and you will have your own when getting more comfortable with making the interviews.

10. DON’T lose your temper

Very Important! Reporters are there to get the story and they can be too pushy sometimes and get us to lose our temper or even argue, never do that. If you get in the situation like this, you can always say “No comment”. In recorded interviews, especially, viewers may see only your angry response and not hear the question that prompted it.