MEDIA TRAINING
HELPING YOU GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS
Harpswood’s team of media experts regularly land interviews with journalists for clients – and we want you to be prepared.
Learning how to confidently navigate these opportunities will ensure you get the most out of them.
During our face-to-face sessions, you’ll be trained by one of our experienced former journalists who will teach you how to land your messages with impact.
You’ll learn the theory and techniques behind the most engaging communicators. You’ll also learn crucial skills to handle a curveball question or a difficult interviewer.
You’ll take part in bespoke mock interview scenarios, giving you the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned and fine-tune your skills.
After the session, you’ll receive detailed feedback with personalised suggestions for areas of improvement as well as additional tips.
WHAT TO EXPECT
WHAT WE’LL COVER
DOs & Don’tS
We’ll help you to avoid falling into common mistakes. You’ll cut out the waffle, look out for body language traps and never get caught out by a hot mic.
ANSWERING TOUGH QUESTIONS
We’ll teach you how to bridge away from difficult questions in an authentic manner and move the conversation to where you want it to go.
DELIVERING YOUR KEY MESSAGEs
You’ll learn how to engage your interviewer, answer questions directly and effectively, and land your key messages with impact.
PREPARING FOR BROADCAST
You’ll gain an understanding of the different interview types you may face and the subtle differences in delivery that each requires.
MASTERING LIVE INTERVIEWS
The camera is on and you’ve got a seasoned journalist sitting across from you… our mock interviews will put you on the spot to prepare you for the real deal.
DEALING WITH A PR CRISIS
Things don’t always go as planned. We’ll show you the foundational skills to step in front of the media and address a difficult subject calmly and with assurance.
FAQ
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Our standard media training sessions take place over a half-day. You’ll have two trainers – one from your account team who knows your messaging and business, and one who will be a former journalist.
We film interviews – even if participants are unlikely to go in front of broadcast media – to ensure that the content and delivery of the mock interviews can be evaluated. These are only used for analysis and are never shared publicly.
The aim of the sessions is to understand how to land your messages with journalists with impact by answering their question then bridging into the message you want to deliver.
We can then deliver individual written feedback to each participant following the training.
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Media training can benefit anyone who acts as a spokesperson for their business. Whether you’re involved in media interviews, speaking at industry events, conferences or roundtables, or engaging investors, you’ll learn how to communicate about your company effectively.
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The ideal number of participants from the client-side is one or two. We recommend that participants are of a similar level of seniority or have a similar level of media experience because a lot of the session is interactive.
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Our standard training sessions take half a day.
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We recommend attending the training in person to get the most out of it.
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Yes. We will need to spend more preparatory time with you compared to one of our clients so that we can understand your business and the types of questions you could be asked in an interview. This is because our training is not cut-and-paste - each session is bespoke tailored to your particular needs and focuses.
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We can train you how to handle any type of media interview - from a five-minute phone call on background with a journalist to a live in-studio broadcast to a long-form podcast interview.
If you’d like their training to be more focused on speaking at conferences or appearing on panels, we can deliver a bespoke session aimed at that.
YOUR TRAINING WILL BE LED BY ONE OF OUR EXPERIENCED MEDIA MENTORS
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JAMES CLENCH
Founder
James spent 16 years as a reporter and news editor in national newspapers, including a period as head of news at The Sun. He understands the news agenda, knows what journalists want and is skilled in writing compelling copy for clients.
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STEVE MYALL
Media Director
Steve spent 20 years working for national newspapers but it is his experience as a features editor which gives him a keen eye for a good story. A skilled communicator with an excellent knowledge of the media landscape, Steve lands top-tier coverage and hosts media training workshops to help clients get their messages across.
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ABIGAIL SMITH
Director
Abi runs Harpswood with James - she joined from a top 10 UK PR agency where she worked on big-budget campaigns for household names, tech scale-ups and FTSE100 firms. Passionate about raising the profile of disruptive organisations, Abi’s expertise and energy sets the bar for the team’s excellent client service and delivery.
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RYAN BOWES
Account Director
Ryan is an experienced comms lead who has led international campaigns for tech start-ups to household names and curated and attended high-profile events at the likes of Davos and COP27. He started out in publishing communications at Penguin Random House and is passionate about purpose driven PR.
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EVA LIGHTFOOT
Senior Account Executive
Eva worked for six years as a Broadcast Journalist for the BBC across radio and TV, specialising in regional television news production. She has an in-depth understanding of the media and how to tell stories that cut through. Since joining Harpswood she has secured regional and national broadcast opportunities for her clients.
