Advanced Media Handling
Learn how the most successful comms teams work effectively with the media to influence and generate media coverage
This full-day Advanced Media Handling workshop supports communications teams to optimise how they work with journalists and media outlets, including in crisis situations.
What you’ll learn
This full-day course gives you a clear understanding of how the media works and what journalists need. You’ll learn when your spokespeople should speak to the media, how to brief them effectively, and how to manage broadcast crews on-site. We focus on preparing spokespeople to communicate with confidence even under pressure. You’ll gain practical tools to help them manage stress, avoid sounding defensive, and use tone, empathy, and body language to defuse hostility and connect with critical audiences. The course also explores how the media operates during a crisis, what journalists look for in accountability interviews, and the common pitfalls to avoid. Through real-world case studies, you’ll learn what works, what doesn’t and how to communicate clearly when it matters most.
How you’ll learn
Your course will be led by a senior broadcast journalist who are also specialist media trainers with years of experience in crisis training. They’ll share their expertise and use presentations, case studies, discussion and practical exercises to build your team’s media handling skills whether it’s dealing with general press inquiries to influencing media coverage during a crisis.
Who this Advanced Media Handling workshop is for
This workshop is designed for teams in press office and communications roles who need to confidently brief journalists, manage TV crews on site, prep senior executives for media interviews, respond to media during a crisis, influence media coverage and help their organisation to limit reputational damage in a crisis.
Course Modules
Advanced Media Handling Theory
- Media relations strategy
- What journalists want and how to pitch to newsdesks
- Dealing with journalists/TV crews on your site
- Prepping spokespeople for interviews
- Effective messaging and crisis questions
- Dealing with tricky questions – ABC technique
Crisis Media Handling & Practical exercises
- Media v your priorities in a crisis
- Your crisis issues
- Limiting reputational damage
- Prepping spokespeople – messaging, tone, empathy
- Practical exercise – Prepare a nominated spokesperson to do a mock interview face to face with a trainer. Followed by feedback on messaging, spokesperson prep and interview performance.