Media Training: Don't talk with your mouth full

Before heading over to one of Atlanta's television stations for a PSA taping with an athlete I lead a super brief media training with my co-workers at our nonprofit. I talked about tips for talking to reporters about good stories, how to handle negative stories that catch you off guard and the middle-ground stories that make you feel nervous. I also handed out a cheat sheet for common questions about our organization with answers.

While preparing for this training I thought about what I hated as a reporter and asked them to not do it. Plus, I remembered the time a colleague forgot to turn off his cell phone during a live TV interview. His mischievous friend and co-worker called him a zillion times. Luckily, the phone was on vibrate.

And I looked on the Internet for advice. No wonder companies charge to teach you how to work with reporters. Info's pretty scarce out there. But here are three articles I used:

Six tips for taking control in media interviews from the Microsoft Small Business Center and Media Training Tips: Maximising Your Media Moment and Media Tips: A Media Training Primer for Today's Executives from Ezine articles.

I wonder what's worked for other PR people out there when training colleagues to talk to the media.