You know the scene: the media training session scheduled by a PR agency at the eleventh hour, right before the CEO faces a journalist. The agenda is always the same: practicing core messages, interview techniques, and rehearsing the Q&A. In reality, this means learning how to dodge questions and repeat key messages like a broken record. It's predictable, uninspired, and completely ineffective when it truly matters.
And another truth from the field? Those meticulously prepared Q&A documents are almost never read in advance by the person being trained.
Effective media training doesn't start with techniques or tricks. It starts with a fundamental question: why does your organisation exist? What is it that you are really offering, and what do you contribute to society? If you cannot answer that with crystal clarity, you can practice in front of a camera a hundred times and you will still never be convincing.
At numen, our approach is fundamentally different. For us, media training isn't a last-minute polish; it's a crucial part of the onboarding process, undertaken before we even develop a corporate strategy or a creative campaign. Why so early? Because we need to uncover your genuine story and your social purpose.
We find the best way to discover this is under pressure, guided by the critical questions of an expert and former journalist. It is precisely then, when the tension rises and the camera is rolling, that you find out whether your story is authentic or simply a marketing narrative.
People have a built-in detector for insincerity. But when you speak from genuine conviction—from the heart, not just the head—something powerful happens. People start to believe in what you believe. They will support you, even when you are under fire from the media.
Consider a crisis: if you are left stuttering about procedures and protocols, you have already lost. But if you can speak from a place of intrinsic conviction, explaining why your organisation exists and how you are navigating the crisis without sacrificing your core values, you will win trust and support.
That is why our first step is to unearth what makes your organisation special. Only then do we teach you how to tell that story with power and authenticity. The result is a profound increase in confidence and a genuine commitment to the narrative.
Media training isn't about delivering perfect answers. It's about telling honest stories that connect with people. It's about having the courage to stand for what you believe in, long after the cameras start rolling and the microphones are switched on.
A crisis can happen to any company, but an organisation with a strong social purpose, led by people who can tell that story from the heart? It is built to withstand anything.