Media Training for Public Facing Event and Festival Organisers.

Festival and event organisers operate business activities that regularly engage with multiple audiences including other organisations, the media and members of the public. Media training for public facing event organisers will help to deliver consistent messages in a confident and empathetic manner which can build a positive attitude towards the festival or event entity. 

There is probably nothing worse than an organisation that hides behind a generic press release statement about a key issue that the media want to know about. Using a key senior staff member from the organisation helps to make a response more personable and genuine, however, not everyone is great at public speaking. Being quizzed by journalists in a live environment can be intimidating and confusing, this makes media training an essential part of being a festival or event spokesperson.

What is Media Training?
Media training for public-facing event and festival organisers involves preparing individuals to interact with members of the media in a professional and effective manner. Training programmes are widely available from media specialists or sometimes provided by PR agencies if one is retained. A trained individual will be able to communicate their message effectively to the media, while building their confidence and professionalism in these interactions.

Media Training Elements.
Professionally delivered media training courses may vary in content but will usually consist of the following key elements: 

Understanding how the media landscape is made up covering how different media outlets operate including print, broadcast and online along with their primary audiences. It’s also important to get an insight into how journalists operate including their goals and motivations as this helps direct communication styles and messages that help them with their own objectives.  

Training on how to hone communication skills to handle the media so that key messages are delivered in the desired manner. Learning how to create and deliver the desired message is essential and fully understanding the media outlet’s target audience can help with this process 

Interviews with journalists can take many forms and may be on a Q&A basis over the phone or via email where a journalist is preparing a piece to be published on a later date. The most intimidating format is the live interview conducted by phone or face to face. Preparing spokespeople for interviews can be challenging but good practice scenarios can help them feel more comfortable with live broadcast formats. This training will involve tips for preparation including how to anticipate potential questions, how to develop key talking points and practising delivery to camera.

Why is Media Training Needed. 
A variety of scenarios may require an event or festival spokesperson to interact with the media and can include crisis management, stakeholder targeting or announcing line-ups and other developments. It can be difficult to get coverage when an event’s organisation wants to announce something positive so media training will become most valuable when faced with some kind of crisis management. If something goes wrong at a festival the media will be looking for an official response from the organisers and these are the situations where media training pays dividends. A well-trained spokesperson will know how to communicate effectively with the media whist minimising any negative impacts on the event organisation.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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