If you want realistic, no-nonsense training to prepare you for dealing with the news media, then we have a workshop designed especially for you.

You won't find a lot of lecturing in our workshops, just a lot of simple, solid advice, combined with on-camera interviews, critiques and personalized coaching. Our goal is to prepare students to deal with real reporters in a real world. Simply put: we build self confidence.

Each workshop is interactive. We just feel people learn best by doing and in our workshops, people learn the real meaning of participation. They go through interviews, scenarios and mock disasters so real they often momentarily forget it's only a workshop. It's an experience!

At The Wilson Group, we'll show you how to develop your message, package it so the media can use it and deliver it with conviction.

And whether you're preparing for your first interview ever, or just refreshing your skills, we have training programs geared for your particular needs.

Real World Media Training:

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This crisis media training is the latest version of our most popular course. It was created primarily to raise the comfort level of people who conduct, or might conduct, interviews with the news media. It was designed for people who wanted more self-confidence in dealing with reporters and wanted more control in interviews.

It is an informal, hands-on workshop with considerable interaction with students. Participants are interviewed on camera and appear on television three times during the one-day session. The interviews are as realistic as we can make them.

The workshop addresses getting ready for interviews, what to do during the interview, and what to say. Students learn to develop key message points and stay focused on the message they need to get across.

Overall, this one-day session is a basic course on verbal communications. It will help sharpen your ability to think fast on your feet and possibly help you keep your foot out of your mouth. It will provide you with the tools you need to get your message across, whether it's in a television interview, or your next business meeting.

The all-day workshop is generally designed for six to eight students.

Refresher Media Training: This is an aggressive day-long course designed for students who need to refresh their news media interview skills and have previously attended our Dealing with the News Media workshop or similar courses. Emphasis is on performance. It includes four, on-camera interviews and critiques. This is a great confidence builder.

Advanced Media Training/Crisis Management: We suggest you reserve one and one-half days for this workshop which is normally driven by a single crisis scenario that unfolds on real time. It includes a review of basic media training before moving forward with the tabletop mock disaster. It includes on-camera interviews, news conferences and public meetings, in addition to simulated interaction with regulatory officials, etc. Each workshop is customized and size will vary, depending on the client's needs. This is a great way to build up your crisis response capabilities.

No two clients' needs are exactly alike so each workshop can be designed to meet the goals of the organization and individual students. This includes emphasis on crisis - or non-crisis - interviews and the type of news media involved.

Workshops can be conducted on-site, at a nearby hotel or conference facility, or arranged entirely by The Wilson Group. To date, we have conducted workshops in almost every U.S. state, as well as Canada and Mexico.

Our fees include the instructors/reporters, photographer, television camera, lighting equipment, student workbooks, audio-visual materials, research, preparation and travel time. Travel expenses are billed to clients at our cost.

Comparing Services: Not all media training is alike. See our article, What to look for in media training.

To receive more information about our crisis management services, call us at 614-461-1333 or fill out our information request form.

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