If you want to get media coverage, or your company is in the public eye, grow a thick skin. It’s true that from time to time, a high-profile organisation like a BP or a Goldman Sachs will take a relentless pasting from the media, and that can be extremely painful for those involved – but for most companies it’s not like that at all – more a case of ‘you win some and occasionally you lose some’. However, as we have discovered from the bitter remarks at some of our media training courses – some senior executives can be notoriously thin-skinned when they or their companies are being written about. They can get obsessed about some minor slight, or particular shades of meaning in an article that nobody else would notice. Typically one negative piece is remembered for far longer by those involved, and in much greater detail, than ten neutral or positive stories – even though the casual reader would probably think that the balance of the coverage has been very positive. You need to accept that journalists aren’t your unpaid PR people and you won’t always get things your own way. Put it into perspective – if the great majority of articles covering your company are positive, you’re well ahead of the game.
Tom on X
How do you cope if a broadcast interview becomes more aggressive than you were expecting?
We can now offer on-camera and autocue skills coaching for spokespeople who have to present online video material or webinars.
