(This week, PR News editors Phil Hall and Courtney Barnes kick up their heels for the cause of media training.)
PHIL: Hey, Courtney, I decided to teach
myself ballroom dancing. Once I get my dance steps in place, then I'll buy a tight tuxedo and see about getting myself booked on the next season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Then I can win that show's grand prize and I'll be in every newspaper in America. Do you think the country is ready for a PR News editor who can dance like Fred Astaire?
COURTNEY: I don't think the world of reality TV is ready for you - no offense. That said, you - or anyone who might find themself in front of a camera - shouldn't
underestimate the power of media training when PR poise is needed. After all, we've seen a number of communications debacles in recent months - from Michael Brown's FEMA
debacle during Katrina to the West Virginia mining tragedy, to Dick Cheney's hunting incident - all of which would have benefited from a little media training. It's just a matter
of taking the right steps to prevent missteps.
PHIL: Watching people give interviews on TV is akin to watching stars like George Hamilton do the tango on that dance program - it looks simple, but if you go into the
spotlight unprepared you could easily (pardon the pun) trip over your own feet. And considering the media's rapacious appetite for information when possible scandals are
brewing, it might not be a bad idea for PR people to insist their CEOs get with the media training program to avoid compounding the problem via an awful press appearance. You
sold me on the idea - now how can our friends in the PR industry sell their CEOs and clients on the idea?
COURTNEY: In a recent PR News Webinar, Verizon media relations manager Robert Elek emphasized the importance of having the CEO make statements to
reinforce a company's reputation as a transparent, responsible organization, but that's easier said than done. The act of media training should make the CEO more comfortable with
the idea of going front and center for public commentary; showing them the not-so-pretty repercussions of not doing media training via previously noted examples is another way to
urge them to take preemptive action. Otherwise, as may be the case if you were to make it on "Dancing with the Stars," the lesson wouldn't be media training; it would be crisis
management.
PHIL: Okay, I promise not to challenge Gene Kelly's legacy on the dance floor. But I want to challenge the PR professionals out there to make media training the major
priority of their communications with their CEOs (for those in the corporate world) or with their clients (for those on the agency side). Yes, I genuinely believe this needs to
be top of the list. In today's business world, the emphasis on training and preparedness will ensure media encounters will go smoothly. Rehearsing your powers-that-be before any
media opportunity will save them from having to tap dance their way out of a jam, especially during a crisis.