Media Training

40 Anniversary of 1982 Johnson and Johnson Tylenol Crisis

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The 1982 Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis For 40 years, many people in PR have considered the response of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to the Tylenol poisonings in October 1982 to be the ‘grand-daddy of good crisis communication’. Although it may be more accurate to think of it as the ‘grand-daddy of corporate responsibility’, let …

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Is an apology always the right thing to do when you have the luxury of choice?

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Kim Kardashian chose not to apologise last week for a misleading post on social media which landed her with a $1.26 million fine from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For a privileged few, the normal rules of reputation don’t seem to apply. The SEC warned celebrities in November 2017 that they must disclose …

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Adam Batstone, Journalist and Electric Airwaves Media Trainer

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Why is it that experienced media performers – politicians especially - often fall into the trap of getting into a heated ‘row’ with an interviewer when it is almost always counter-productive for the audience? In my experience of conducting interviews and preparing interviewees, the specters of Paxman, Neil and Humphrys still loom large. Theirs is …

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Does it matter that Tesco had this selection of bad news headlines one day last week in national, trade and local press:

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Tesco plant-based food advert banned as misleading (BBC) Tesco rebuked over greenwashing in adverts for plant-based food (FT) Britain's Tesco rapped by watchdog over plant-based products ads (Reuters) Tesco vegan burger adverts banned over ‘misleading’ environmental claims (Telegraph) ASA bans ‘misleading’ Tesco plant-based burger ads (Farmers Weekly) ASA chastises Tesco over greenwashing plant burger claims (The Drum) “Misleading” Tesco plant-based food …

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Perfect example of how to handle a difficult journalist question

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Louis Heren, veteran post-war Foreign Correspondent of The Times newspaper, famously said that in his job as a reporter seeking truth, he always asked himself of interviewees “Why is this lying bastard lying to me?”. This underlies why journalists ask challenging questions and participants on our media training courses desperately want to learn how to …

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Can Your Spokespeople Paint Pictures With Words?

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To learn how to communicate effectively on radio and explain complicated topics simply, listen to the first 90 seconds of this four minute item from BBC Radio 4’s fact-checking and statistics programme, More Or Less - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0014x0f (scroll forward to 11.25). The programme’s presenter, economist Tim Harford, is excellent at using simple, accessible language to …

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Whitby Nice To Be This Good – Hear The Difference Between The Media Trained & Untrained

Corporate Story, Media Training / By
An uncontentious media interview - as are most interviews that your spokespeople will ever undertake - on Monday 26th July nonetheless demonstrated the skill of someone who has been media trained to communicate effectively an engaging message. And in the same interview, that contrasted starkly with the ramblings of someone who had not been media …

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HOW TO TURN YOUR CORPORATE BABBLE INTO INTERVIEW GOLD

Corporate Story, Media Training / By
We always tell participants during our media training sessions that your answer to a journalist’s opening question is when the audience decides whether to trust you and invest precious time listening to you. Especially since in all probability, the audience won’t have heard of you and possibly your organisation. Meet Marcus Hughes, European managing director …

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The Rich & The Beautiful – When Reputation Rules Don’t Apply

Case Study, Media Training / By
The idea that there are people who think the rules don’t apply to them strikes deeply at people’s sense of fairness in the best of times. In the middle of a pandemic, does the action of a celebrity individual or organisation that seems to prove that there is ‘one rule for the rich, another for …

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mistake

HOW TO DESTROY YOUR STRONG CORPORATE STORY: A SAD CASE STUDY

Corporate Story, Media Training / By
Sorrow is defined as a feeling of deep distress caused by loss or disappointment. This is how I feel about FTSE100 company Hiscox Insurance. Sorrow because they had such a powerful corporate story that it was a joy to media train their spokespeople for six years until 2013. And now the company has blown it …

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When your CEO makes you want to cry

Media Training / By
In our media training and presentation training, we counsel spokespeople to take care with their language. I imagine that there have been some challenging conversations at KPMG following the Financial Times headline yesterday that: “KPMG UK chairman told staff to ‘stop moaning’ about work conditions”. Today, every newspaper rehashes the story and reports how Bill …

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How You Can Get Cut-Through For Your Stories During The Coronavirus Crisis

Media Training / By
For weeks, the top ten most-read stories on the BBC News website have been almost exclusively related to Coronavirus. As we enter phase 2 of the crisis, with the government making plans to ease lockdown restrictions and businesses making cautious plans to re-open, on what is the media focused? Talking to our media training journalists …

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HOW COMMS PEOPLE CAN HELP BUSINESS LEADERS FROM MAKING CORONAVIRUS MISTAKES ​

Media Training / By

This is a tale of two companies with very compelling and emotionally engaging corporate stories that sustain their reputation. And that we at Electric Airwaves have previously used as case studies in our media training – Waitrose and Hiscox Insurance. Both have blundered this past week. One acted swiftly to reset itself behind its story; …

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3 WAYS TO HOLD YOUR EXECUTIVES FEET TO THE FIRE DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS

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Sometimes it is only the Communications team that sees things clearly. Used to putting ourselves in the shoes of our audiences, rather than only the operational or financial detail of the business, here are three aspects of the current crisis where Comms people can make a difference: 1.            Reminding executives that Covid 19 is first …

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Delivering Great Down-The-Line Media Interviews Over Skype During The Coronavirus Lockdown.

Media Training / By
With travel and social distancing restrictions, face-to-face media interviews are a thing of the past. Instead, broadcasters want you to undertake them over Skype and FaceTime. Most participants during our media training sessions find this form of interview the most difficult – it does not feel natural to stare at a camera lens and you …

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QUESTIONS YOU MAY FACE FROM JOURNALISTS ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATIONS’S RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Media Training / By
To help you in your communication preparations, we hope you will find helpful the list of questions below that our team of journalists are typically putting to businesses and organisations they are interviewing at this time. Our journalist training team is available for Skype/ telephone training to help you and your spokesperson prepare and communicate …

QUESTIONS YOU MAY FACE FROM JOURNALISTS ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATIONS’S RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Read More »

PRO Priorities When Responding To The Pandemic

Media Training / By
Because we media train so many clients across the private, public and third sectors, we know that communications people are immersed in coronavirus planning and communication. We thought we would share what we hear they are prioritising:   Being an internal advocate of the primary importance being the wellbeing of employees and their families. As …

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