What does a media savvy Council Mayor get from our interview skills workshop?

Q❓How do leaders with media interview experience in doing media interviews take their skills and performance to a peak level?

A💡They complete a Peak Presenting Media Interview Skills workshop or one on one coaching program.

In 2022, disastrous flooding thrust the newly elected Mayor of Lismore City Council, Steve Krieg, into the media spotlight. Almost four years on, Steve has many national and local media interviews under his belt. At the start of the media and social media skills workshop we ran for Lismore's councillors this month, Steve rightly said he had confidence and capability when journalists interview him. Other councillors have little to no experience, affecting confidence levels.

We challenged Steve and other councillors to make their interviews more effective. Our co-founders and workshop facilitators Melinda Smith and Craig Eardley shared their proven formula, framework, tips, tools and techniques to take their media interviews to a new level of peak performance.

What the Mayor and Councilors had to say about the media interview skills and social media workshop

At the end of the workshop, Steve said Mel and Craig exceeded his expectations in helping him to be more effective. He liked:

✅the framework and tips to prepare better and more quickly for interviews and challenging questions

✅the breathwork session to manage stress and help him to be calmer, more focused and have greater thought clarity during interviews.

"An excellent workshop with practical techniques from professional people. It was well-paced and interesting from start to finish," Lismore City Council mayor Steve Krieg.

Lismore City Council deputy mayor Jeri Hall

Lismore City Councillor Jasmine Knight-Smith - “Thank you. This training will help me to prepare , communicate and deliver more effective interviews. I have learnt the benefit of preparation - particularly getting clear on my objective and (no more than three) key messages.”

Lismore City Councillor Andrew Bing - “The training was excellent - something I have never written before. I leaned a lot. I’m pumped.”

Results

All of the participants performed exceptionally well when undertaking their practice media interview toward the end of the workshop.

We also get participants to fill in a feedback form. We share this with clients so they can also assess its value and ROI. Every participant strongly agreed that:

the content was well organised
there was helpful in information and materials
the presenters were clear and easy to understand
they felt engaged
the training met their expectations

Keys to success

The magic ingredients

Simple, actionable framework and formulae to structure and deliver effective media interviews.
Tips and techniques for engaging any audience, delivering confidently, and moving away from scripts or slide-dependent habits.
Clarity from planning - even five minutes spent planning had noticeable impact.
Breathwork and mindset strategies to help manage nerves and present authentically.
Immediate application through ‘transferrable skills’ that can be used in media interviews and social media posts AS WELL AS in presentations, emails, team meetings, stakeholder communications, and managing issues.

Inspired by Lismore City Council to take your media spokespeople to the next level of performance?

The media’s audience and impact may continue to wane. Social media will continue to grow and strengthen in the short to medium term.

But a poor media or social media performance can bring a chairperson and / or CEO undone. It can significantly impact your brand and reputation. An organisational asset that may have taken many people and dollars to build over many years.

Having people with skills to be effective in communicating with your audiences via the media and social media. Lismore Council’s experience, and that of many other organisations and businesses, shows it’s possible to build confidence, improve clarity, and energise teams with the right skills training and approach that is customised, supportive, and practical.