At Communicate Media we use working journalists, operating under strict NDAs.  The fact that our trainers are out there working in the fast changing world of the media means that they can bring their direct, current experience to bear when we do our media training.  It keeps their recommendations and advice up to date but [...]

It might be a tabloid sensation but does tonight’s Harry and Meghan interview have anything to teach those working in media training and corporate communications? At Communicate Media, we work with everyone from celebrities preparing to do interviews to launch films and books to law firms who might be called on to comment on an [...]

Among the army of commentators invited by the media to give their views on yesterday’s budget was Jim O’Neill.  The former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and former Conservative government minister is one of the country’s foremost economists and the man behind the phrase “the BRICs”. His economic credentials are impressive but how did [...]

It’s a question we’re often asked during our media training courses when we look at how journalists work and what makes a story. We hand out some newspapers (remember those) and ask the participants to flick through them and think about what they’ve heard on the radio, seen on television or picked up from their [...]

OK, I’m being deliberately controversial there with my headline but when is it OK to use jargon in a media interview? We often find our journalists having this discussion with participants at the start of our Media Training Courses and our Business Writing Courses.   The Telegraph makes great fun last week, of Matt Hancock’s liberal use [...]

As the leading media training and presentation consultancy for law firms we quite often find that lawyers participating in our media coaching sessions have to mention figures.  It might be sums of money or the growth rate of a particular business sector.  The lawyers we train can also find themselves talking about issues such as [...]

We've had a bit of fun with this one!  All of our media trainers are working journalists and so when we asked them which phrases or comments really annoyed them or caused them to roll their eyeballs when they’re out in the field reporting, the answers came back thick and fast. What not to say [...]

It’s probably one of the most difficult speeches that any incoming president of the US has had to make. As a speechwriter, I often refer clients to President Obama’s first inauguration speech.  It’s a treasure trove of good speech content. There’s poetry, there’s the big picture, there are rhetorical flourishes and there are stories. It [...]

Who is in control during a media interview – the journalist or the interviewee? It’s a question that often comes up at the beginning of our media training courses. At Communicate Media we discuss the aims and objectives of our participants before we start.  Who is in the driving seat during an interview – and, [...]