Tag Archive for: confidence

Media Trainer vs. Publicist: How We Complement Each Other and Are Different

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BONUS FREEBIE: I have a resource for you that will help you prepare to talk with media and audiences. It’s the 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. You can grab the fiction and nonfiction lists here.

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I’m a media trainer.

That means I work with authors and experts to help them communicate their message to their audience.

Together, we work on defining a message and a narrative that will capture their audience’s attention. This helps authors get (and keep!) media attention and reach the people who need to hear what they have to say. 

Lots of people think media training and publicity are one and the same.

But the job of a publicist is distinct. As an author, it’s important to know the difference. Once you know what each one does, you can create a media plan that draws on the resources of both jobs. I’ve worked with publicists for years as a senior television producer when they would pitch their authors to me. And now as a media training we team up again so I can help get their authors ready for primetime interviews. 

Here are answers to some of the most common questions about media trainers and public:

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5 Things Never To Say in An Interview

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BONUS FREEBIE: I have a resource for you that will help you prepare to talk with media and audiences. It’s the 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. You can grab the fiction and nonfiction lists here.

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As an author, appearing in the media is a key opportunity to promote your book, share your insights, and connect with your audience. However, there are certain things you should avoid saying in an interview — these no-nos can derail your message or even alienate potential readers and fans. 

When I work with clients on media training, there are a few things that always come up that I recommend authors stop saying right away. 

Here are five things to stop saying in interviews (and what to say instead!). 

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1. “Thank you.”

Yep — this one comes as a shocker to most people. But saying “thank you” constantly is one of my biggest pet peeves. 

It usually goes like this: the interviewer asks the expert a question, and the expert responds by saying something like, “Thank you for having me” or “Thank you for asking me that question.” 

Agh! I always wish I could tell them to cut it out. It’s not a matter of being rude. I know we’re socialized to say “thank you” all the time, but it’s a bad habit when you’re appearing as an expert. We already know you’re thankful to be there — and talking about it is wasting precious time. You could be using that time to get your message across — a message that can help people. 

TV news moves fast, don’t waste time! 

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How to Handle Unexpected Questions in a Media Interview

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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Doing media interviews is an exercise in accepting the unknown. You need to accept that as much as you prepare, you won’t be able to predict every single thing that happens.

The best way to prepare for media interviews is to decide beforehand how you’re going to handle unexpected questions. This is half a mental game (how will you respond with grace?) and half about preparing for the kinds of pushback you’re likely to encounter. 

Because while your goal is to put yourself out there and share your message with your audience, that doesn’t mean everyone will respond to your content the same way.

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How to Keep Momentum Going After Your Book Launch

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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If you’ve always wanted to be an author, your book launch will be one of the most exciting stages of the publishing process. Getting recognized for your work and connecting with your readers is so rewarding. 

When you’re launching a new book, all of your strategy is focused around your book –the newness of it and the content. But what happens when the launch wraps and your new book is no longer new?

This is the stage when I meet many of my media-training clients. They’ve had a successful launch and they want to keep the momentum going. 

I shared some of my best tips for authors dealing with this in my Writer’s Digest column. 

These are the same strategies I’ve used myself for years as an author of two books, Listful Thinking and Listful Living!

1. It’s not (just) about the book anymore.

When you’re in the book launch phase, you’re really invested in the book itself. That’s only natural. It should be the focus of attention at this point! But once your book is a few months old, you have to shift your focus and start to consider how your book can support you as an author and expert — not how you can support your book!

This does not mean you shouldn’t talk about your book. Of course you should! You just need to find new ways of framing and contextualizing how you talk about your book. The attention needs to be on how your knowledge (and by extension, your book) can solve problems or shift people’s mindsets. This is something I talk you through in my free resource, 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. 

2. Keep in touch. 

The relationships you build with journalists, reporters, and producers are some of the best resources for you as you consider your post-launch strategy. Thank you notes (paper ones — yep!) go a long way in demonstrating your appreciation.

These really do make an impact on fostering positive relationships between you and members of the media! You can then leverage those relationships to pitch again from a new angle. 

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3. Open yourself up. 

You might be wondering what exactly you should pitch — how can you use your book as a jumping-off point that inspires the next stage of your media strategy?

Well, here’s a little secret: everything you talk about doesn’t have to be in the book.

In fact, it can actually be counterproductive to limit yourself to only things you covered in your book. You are an expert on a topic that includes what you talk about in your book. You can absolutely pitch on related areas within your expertise that didn’t fit into your book — and you should! This is essential to any sustainable media strategy. 

For even more tips on how to keep media momentum going, you can check out my column in Writer’s Digest. 

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BONUS FREEBIE: I have a resource for you that will help you prepare to talk with media and audiences. It’s the 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. You can grab the fiction and nonfiction lists here.

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Preparing to Speak on a Panel

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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Panels are a great way to promote your book or expertise and connect with professionals in your industry or your audience. But it can be tricky to know how to start preparing for a panel, especially if the topic is not exactly in line with your usual talking points.

I’ve spoken on many panels as a media expert, author, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor.

And they’re always a rewarding experience because I do a set of things to get ready every time.

Here’s my list of things I do to prepare for a panel.

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Use Video to Grow Your Audience with TikTok

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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As you know, I’m a former television producer so I love video. I’ve been talking about it for years and people are finally catching on and understanding what a powerful tool it can be. And one of the most powerful (and newer) video driven social media apps is Tik Tok.

I have to admit I’m mostly a TikTok stalker. I have not created one thing on it. (Yet! My guest has inspired me to get started.)

I brought expert TikTok-er, author and speaker, Selena Rezvani, on my live-streaming show Inside Scoop to teach us how to grow your audience with TikTok. She has nearly 200,000 followers.

Here are Selena’s top five tips for getting started on TikTok.

(Don’t worry, none of the tips are about dancing!)

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Media Training 101

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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When I was a senior health producer at Fox News, I booked guest experts all the time.

But I couldn’t book them all and often they suffered from not being able to articulate what they know in a succinct and compelling way. So it’s part of why I do what I do today as a media trainer and video coach – to help as many people as possible do this well.

To become a go-to media expert, you need to be able to speak in soundbites. To do this I created what I call “The Accordion Method” – I use it myself and teach it to all my media-training clients.

Here are three points of “The Accordion Method“.

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Being Prepared for Pushback

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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Be authentic and put yourself out there. Share your expertise. Just be your authentic self and people will respond to your message.

That’s good advice. But that doesn’t mean everyone will respond to your content.

It’s hard enough to ignore trolls on the internet, but sometimes you’ll face skeptical anchors on live tv as well. So it’s important to be prepared.

I’ve been on both sides of this. Both as an expert and as a journalist. Both sides are doing their job – seeing both sides of the story

I’ll admit I was even a bit thrown off when this happened to me during a recent interview on WPIX in New York. I was talking about how to have a four-day work week and the anchor just wasn’t buying it.

He said, “How much of this is fantasy land?”

Here are three ways to get through someone questioning your expertise.

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Looking Good on Camera at Any Age

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want to do more videos and get attention? So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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We’ve all done way more Zoom calls in 2020 than ever before. I’m all about the power of video, but there is one downside that we need to address. 

Lots of people are feeling especially critical of their appearances from seeing themselves on camera all day, every day. Professionals have dubbed this trend “Zoom dysmorphia,” and it’s sweeping the nation.

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Three Ways to Boost Speaking Confidence

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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Have you ever felt like what you have to say isn’t valued? Well, it’s probably happened to everyone. Linda Ugelow, confidence coach and author of the upcoming book “Delight in the Limelight,” knows that this is the root of why people feel uncomfortable with public speaking and appearing on camera.

Getting to the heart of the issue and tackling it is Linda’s M.O. as an author, coach, and speaker. She appeared on my live-streaming show Inside Scoop to share her journey to finding her voice and explain how others can change their relationship with publicly sharing their ideas. 

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