Clarity Media Group, a communications firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, has worked with hundreds of clients across hospitality, fashion, lifestyle, tech and other sectors, the likes of Coach, Burberry, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Facebook and Airbnb, to name a few. Founder Bill McGowan shares his top media training tips that will help you hit the key messages and share quotable stories when speaking to press.



Media training used to be about sitting up straight and where to look while on camera during an occasional TV interview. But these days, external communications goes way beyond TV and traditional print outlets. We also need to be pitch perfect when posting a blog, participating in an industry panel, or sharing on Twitter.  Communicating with the press does not come naturally to most of us, but keeping these few tips in mind will help you share your message in a memorable way. 

• Prep and practice is key, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours memorizing talking points word for word. We all have a recording device in our pocket and I encourage clients to use their phones to record practice interviews. Saying your sound bites out loud, instead of just in your head, will help you tailor your answers and deliver them with greater conviction. Don't be lazy. For this to be helpful you have to play back the recording!  

• What will be the first five words out of your mouth? You probably don’t want them to be, “Well, you know, I mean…” That’s the verbal equivalent of running in place. Your first words should be content, not just sound. When you start with crisp content in a concise, declarative statement, it demonstrates executive presence and polish, without being overly formal. 

• To keep an audience's attention, the best communicators do or say something different every 20 seconds. Vary the type of content you provide - from anecdotes to analogies, to data - to increase the likelihood you are heard, remembered, and quoted. 

• Speak experientially about the customer–what his or her problems are and how your product offers solutions around those problems–rather than relying on just the key messages and brand propositions alone.  

• Finally, stories are far more memorable than facts. If you want your content to be ‘sticky’ and more conducive to sharing, ‘visual storytelling’ is crucial. Help the media draw an image in the reader’s mind using your content. 

More on Bill McGowan:

For the past 15 years, Bill McGowan and his team at Clarity Media Group have been trusted advisors to some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world, including Facebook, Estee Lauder, AMC, Conde Nast, Amazon Fashion and dozens of top PR/Marketing agencies.  
Whether he is preparing clients for a presentation, a speech, or a print/television interview, Bill draws on his 25 years of experience as an Emmy Award-winning journalist to instill more confidence in his trainees. As a storyteller himself, Bill has produced and reported over 700 nationally televised stories over the course of his career. He is the author of the book, PitchPerfect: How To Say It Right the First Time, Every Time, in which Bill demonstrates how to craft the right message and deliver it most effectively. Pitch Perfect was published in 2014 and has since been translated into twelve different languages and sold throughout the world.