"This was an excellent course. Very useful tips and easy to remember. I will definitely be changing the way I do presentations going forward"
Media Skills
1 on 1, Half Day, Two Half Days or Full day Sessions
Virtual Courses
Whether you are an individual or part of an organisation, a spokesperson or public figure, if your job involves interacting with media, you need to be able to clearly communicate your point to your intended audience in an engaging, confident and credible manner.
Our training will give you the skills and techniques to excel in radio, TV or print interviews. Through practical and realistic training scenarios, we’ll ensure that you have the knowledge and ability to face different interview types, styles and situations. And to perform to the best of your ability.
Course Overview
The Communications Clinic’s media skills course is based on learning by doing. Simulation not play-acting.
Our people pioneered media training in Ireland and have been the media and communications trainers of choice for Ireland’s leading political parties, journalists, broadcasters and sports people for decades. We know what works.
Our experiential training model ensures behavioural, not just attitudinal change. Every person on the course will prepare for and undergo a realistic media interview. They’ll be interviewed by an accomplished presenter in a realistic studio environment.
Our training model doesn’t leave people with fancy words for things they still can’t do. It changes behaviours and gets real results.
You’ll leave the session with a clear idea of where you need to further improve, and an action plan of how to do it.
The key thing is that it’s not “off the peg.” It’s devised and structured to work for you, your organisation, your budget and your objectives.
Our training approach is all about learning by doing.
You’ll take part in a realistic media interview, complete with challenging questions, all captured on camera so that it can be assessed and analysed for feedback from our expert consultants.
This gives you the chance to experience the pressure, dynamics, and challenges of a real life media interaction, but in a controlled setting - allowing you to learn from your experience and develop practical skills that can be adapted to any interview.
This approach has worked for Taoisigh, ministers, CEOs, ambassadors, representatives and public figures we’ve helped to excel in this arena.
We’ll make sure you know everything you need to know about media engagements. How to make your interview interesting and relevant to your audience, how to be clear and understandable even if your information is complex.
Everything from “what are the studio protocols I need to know about?” to “what questions should I ask when I’m invited to appear on radio or TV?” as well as how to manage nerves and anxiety and handle challenging or hostile questions.
We’ll make sure you are equipped with everything you need to be a confident communicator and trusted voice in your field.
Do you have people in your team who need to be able act as representatives, ambassadors and experts for your organisation?
Whether that’s ensuring they can effectively communicate a vision or champion their expertise, we can provide training that will ensure their objectives are achieved.
And ensure that your people are equipped with the tools, techniques and confidence to interact and communicate with the media in a clear, credible, knowledgeable and memorable manner.
In the group training setting, each participant will take turns assuming the role of an interviewee in a realistic media interview. These interactions are closely examined by the rest of the group, but they are also recorded and then played back by our expert consultants for assessment and feedback.
With this group training environment, participants not only learn from their own experience but from the successes and challenges faced by others.
Your team will learn practical skills that they can apply to any interview scenario: how to communicate their points clearly, in a memorable and understandable way for their audience. What questions they need to ask when they’re invited to appear on TV or radio. How to manage their nerves and how to handle difficult questions. Everything they need to excel in every media interaction.
Course OutcomesAt the end of the course,
At the end of the course,
you will:
Understand how to identify your key audience and their needs
Be able to prepare to deliver to the best of your ability for print, TV, radio or online interviews
Know how to make your interviews interesting and relevant to your audience
Be equipped to deal with challenging questioning
Have clear preparation and practice guidelines and notes that you can use repeatedly
Be able to manage your nerves and anxiety.
What people say about us
We work with some of the biggest organizations in Ireland. We’ve helped multinationals and global brands. And we've also helped thousands of individuals.
"We had an excellent coach. Very aligned to our own values: caring, grounded, innovative and fair."
"Dreaded the idea of it before we began but we’re all made feel really comfortable - not at all foolish & supported throughout. Really positive experience overall with lots of take aways to use on our day to day."
"Our trainer was incredible to deal with, they passed on great feedback & remained positive throughout with really beneficial changes to take away."
"I have to say even though you are completely out of your comfort zone doing these, the course itself was brilliant. Learnt so much in those few hours and hearing feedback from your colleagues was actually really good."
"The content was excellent and to the point. The trainer listened to our brief for what was needed for the participants on the day and delivered it to a very high standard."
"I honestly feel I will use the skills learned in my next meeting tomorrow and look forward to future engagements with teams I work with and what messages I bring to those engagements and how I will now deliver content! I only wish I had done it sooner!"
"We had a brilliant facilitator who understood where we were coming from & where we wanted to go before we did."
"It was truly outstanding and practical. I learnt a lot from it. The learning approach and key takeaways from the workshops were extremely beneficial and I am definitely going to use the feedback given by the consultant and my peers to improve my communication."
"Everything was very applicable to real work situations. I was able to use the structure we were taught within two days of the first session. It helped me think about who I was talking to and what was important to them. This led me to change the direction of my communication."
"I really appreciated that we used our own personal examples for these exercises. I was able to take away real feedback to incorporate in future communications and meetings. While rewatching yourself present can be painful, the trainer made it very easy and comfortable."
"I found the feedback on our presentations incredibly beneficial and easy to understand and apply."
"The trainer was a great example of a communicator themselves. They are excellent at reacting to specific things that came up rather than working from a script."
"Brilliant all round!. Engaging and practical advice throughout the entire session. Tips that you could take straight away."
"Was dreading it due to having to give a presentation but actually thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot. Really really feel like I've made some step change improvements which I'm keen to internalize!"
"Absolutely loved it. Our trainer was fantastic, I was super impressed. The combo of their personality, expertise and the format made it the best ‘corporate training’ I’ve ever attended."
"Very motivational course that is directly applicable to my role. Interaction with peers was beneficial."
"Really glad to have taken part in this course - very beneficial"
"I found this course informative and insightful, it was very interactive with participants sharing experiences openly and honestly. The trainer was engaging and knowledgeable in the field."
"It's was probably one of the best courses I've attended, the trainer was excellent."
"This was an excellent course. The content was extremely good, relevant, practical and well delivered by the trainer."
"Excellent training course. Thank you!"
"I thoroughly enjoyed this course and learned a lot from it. Thank you,"
"Very enjoyable and relevant program - enjoyed all aspects of it"
"Our trainer was a very knowledgeable and made the content fresh and enjoyable. I will be recommending this course to my colleagues."
Great training from a brilliant trainer. The content was relevant and helpful and they delivered it in an engaging and thoughtful way. I'd highly recommend this course."
"I really enjoyed this course. The facilitator was engaging & I learned invaluable skills to be a great facilitator which I will take to my current role."
"Excellent course, extremely well presented with good variety of breakouts and activities. Really learnt a lot. A must for all staff"
"I thought the trainer was great. They weren't just speaking off a script/handbook. They engaged with what the participants were saying, knowledgeable and gave practical examples and information."
"Overall, found the course very interesting and engaging and will hopefully bring all the traits learned from the course into the practice now in the workplace."
"I found the course excellent. Our trainer was very engaging and made the whole experience very enjoyable. They were obviously both very familiar with the course content and passionate about the topic."
"Our Trainer was great. Really enjoyed the course and will benefit from it in the future. Thanks."
"I really enjoyed the course and i would not change it. Our Trainer was an excellent presenter and I picked up so many practical pieces of advice for speaking clearly and how to apply it."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was thought provoking and I picked up a lot of tips which will help me down the line. I really enjoyed the content and found that the tutor was highly engaging and was well versed on her information."
"Our Trainer was very knowledgeable and easy to follow. She delivered well and explained each step. Answered all questions asked. Very good at delivering online training, highly recommend."
"I felt the course was very good and the instructor was clear and concise"
"The course was excellent, trainer was professional and very knowledgeable with practical tips and advice to improve."
"The instructor was possibly the best I have ever seen in a course - professional, knowledgeable, able to get back on topic easily, friendly and engaging, in control of the virtual room...a joy to listen to and also a great source of information."
"I found this to be a really worthwhile and beneficial course to take. Our Trainer provided us with a lot of helpful and useful insights that, to me, now makes writing feel less daunting and more achievable."
"The Trainer was a great host and very knowledgeable. Learned a lot."
"Good course relevant and actionable training provided"
"Thought the course was very engaging and helpful, and the perfect length for a virtual setting."
"Our Trainer was fantastic, very engaging and had a wonderful cheerful and uplifting manner. Provided us with lots of advise and tips which are so relevant to our roles. Very clear in his delivery of the course."
"I really enjoyed the course, the trainer was excellent. She was very engaging and energetic which made the course very enjoyable. Definitely came away with a few tips and techniques to try."
"The trainer was very interesting and engaging. She was very professional and well prepared. I really enjoyed the course and I have recommended it to all of my colleagues."
"I absolutely recommend this course for employees who are dealing with challenging clients."
"The trainer was brilliant, very informative and interesting and very engaging"
"Excellent Course"
"I could not recommend this course enough. I have completed a few online courses, however this one was very engaging all day. It kept everyone involved and lots of interesting topics."
"Great session. Highlighted areas that I didn't think about previously. I have recommended the course to my team already and some signed up for next sessions. Our Trainer was brilliant. Very engaging and easy to follow"
Who We Work With
Frequently asked questions
Is this course right for me?
If you want to become the best possible media performer you can be - then yes, it is.
If you want to be tested and challenged to really improve - then yes, it is.
It doesn’t matter if you are looking for training for a group of experienced media performers who want to reach a new level of expertise, or if you're a media novice who needs to learn the basics - we’ll design the course to match the level of the participants.
What is the learning experience like?
Practical. Challenging. Honest. Fun.
We don’t just do extensive theory; we focus on real personal development.
The only way to improve your performance on media skills is to be interviewed and then be assessed. And that’s what we’ll do. Any participant will be put through a challenge and having it recorded. They are then challenged to assess themselves in detail, working out for themselves where they can improve.
Can we tailor this to my team?
Yes. All of our courses are tailored to your specific needs.
We’ll work with you to establish your specific learning objectives, your internal media guidelines and strategy and the complexities that are unique to your own context.
I’m still not sure if this course is for me?
Why don’t you talk to one of our trainers?
Let us know what specific arena you need to excel in, and we can design a training programme to make it happen.
Can you run this training remotely?
Yes. All of our training programmes work just as effectively on any online platform.
Can you deliver training around the country?
Yes. We have trainers based right across Ireland. And all of our trainers are willing and happy to travel.
Can you deliver training internationally?
We can. And we regularly do. In the recent past, we’ve worked with clients in the US, in the UK, in South East Asia and across mainland Europe.
