Everyone likes a good story. The job of the media is to find one. Your job is to provide one. But their idea of a good story and yours could be poles apart.

This is the friend-and-foe dichotomy at the heart of media relationships. One day you'll bend over backward to feed them the story that you want to see; the next you'll be fighting to defuse the story that they want to run.

When you deal with the media, you can't take anything for granted: they ambush, they blind-side, they show up unannounced with a camera crew. You have to rely on your skills and your instincts to produce the telling sound bite that brings prime-time exposure.

And the key to coming out on top is rigorous preparation in a convincingly realistic environment. At GuruMaker we put you in the hot seat, then expose you to all types of media events from telephone interviews to live broadcasts. You learn by doing – by being grilled and roasted (and sometimes indulged) by hostile and friendly journalists. There's no letup: the cameras roll, the lights grow hot, and there's always a microphone an inch or two from your face.

GuruMaker media training pits you against experienced journalists and network-level camera crews with a prime-time agenda. The ordeal tests your wits, sharpens your communication skills, and prepares you for the day when the studio makeup goes on for real.

No two question-and-answer sessions are identical. We customize the training to your needs by showing you how to:

• recognize the ambush interview
• conduct a successful news conference
• handle an adversarial interview
• turn negatives into positives
• establish your interview objective
• maintain focus on your objective
• radiate confidence and convey credibility
• tell your story effectively
• reinforce and reiterate your message
• learn how to transmit key points quickly
• deliver highly quotable sound bites
• understand how you come across on-camera
• eliminate distracting body language
• establish congruence between body language and words
• avoid counter-productive facial expressions
• learn to gesture for emphasis
• present your best image
• bridge from an interviewer's question back to your message
• identify loaded questions
• establish ground rules for the interview
• control stage fright and nervousness
• answer questions succinctly without rambling
• speak eloquently without jargon
• take control of the interview
• master a persuasive conversational tone
• avoid the perception of defensiveness
• master Q & A to reinforce key message points

To manage your message for positive prime-time exposure, call us toll-free on (866) 806 4366 or locally on (720) 394 7999 or email info@gurumaker.com. Nothing prepares you for the media frenzy as surely as a row of inquisitorial microphones.

Please note: No two programs are alike. We customize each one to meet your objectives. Whether you choose private coaching, workshops, seminars, train-the-trainer or breakout sessions, we tailor the duration and format to suit your circumstances.

Click here to tell us about your unique communication needs.