How are media training and presentation skills training different?

Posted by jaques montegolifier on November 19th, 2019

Usually, there is huge deal for calling training sessions with different names. The difference between different types of training is a massive deal. Many people ask for media training when all they want is to hone their presentation skills. One of the American PR companies got confused between the two terms in their workshop listing. The brochure read –

Media training: enhancing speaker presence,
Controlling the interview process.

It is the line enhancing speaker presence that throws off the purpose. A company spokesperson being interviewed by a reporter is not a speaker for the following reasons –

1)    The above copy portrays that media coaching has become a catchall phrase for forms of public speaking. But there is a distinct difference between media and presentation skills training course.
2)    Comparing the two is like comparing a dictionary to a thesaurus. Both are indeed handy writing tools, and yet each serves different purposes.

The key difference between media and presentation training is –

1)    Presentation skills training course teaches you to learn the skills and techniques for delivering the key message to the audience of any size.
2)    On the other hand, media training helps you learn skills and techniques to deliver a message during an interview with the reporter.

What is presentation coaching all about?

Presentation coaching, be it for engagement with 10 to 10,000 people or across a conference room table, benefits the following way –

•    Assists in analyzing the audience and the kind of information they want to hear
•    Organizing an effective presentation
•    Understanding when to use notes, a script, and speak freely
•    Support your presentation with visual aids
•    You overcome stage fright
•    Bring in your personality and experience in the speech
•    Ability to connect with the audience through voice, gestures, and eye contact
•    Persuade the listeners to trust you and take the necessary action

How is media training different?

It teaches you techniques to communicate your message during an interview with the reporter. Consider the reporter as the gateway to the audience. This gateway could be TV, print, and to some extent social media. If you do mention anything newsworthy to tell the reporter, then unlikely they will use the interview at all.

A typical media training demystifies the process of meeting the press and teaches you how interviews in different mediums like TV, print, radio, and phone interviews work. You learn –

1)    Various methods of communicating with the interviewer
2)    The basic rules of media interaction
3)    How to get the messages no matter what the reporters ask
4)    How to speak within the framework of the reporter’s style
5)    You also know how to handle a hostile reporter
6)    Ask for feedback for understanding the reporter’s knowledge on the interview
7)    Avoid yes and no answers
8)    Maintain an ongoing relationship with the reporter by suggesting him to other reporters and sending constant company updates to him

While delivering a presentation to a captive audience, you are in control of the content. In a media interview, on the other hand, you cannot control the reporter or the presentation of the story or be guaranteed if the story will ever be used. So, back to the main question – the difference between media training and presentation skills training, yes. You need proper training for both, depending on the situation.