MEDIA TRAINING FOR ATHLETES
MEDIA TRAINING FOR ATHLETES
Media training for athletes is about much more than teaching them what to say to please the media and gain more coverage. Athletes are under intense scrutiny any time they’re in public. They need to be prepared to handle this adeptly and strategically, just as they are prepared to excel in their sport.
Our media training for athletes goes far beyond tips, do’s and don’ts, and practice interviews. We work with athletes to help them understand the strategy behind shaping their public image and working with the media.
IN OUR MEDIA TRAINING FOR ATHLETES, WE HELP THEM TO:
• 
use a very quick mindset shift technique to switch from amped-up competition mode to media interview mode
• decide what they want their public image to be
• determine their personal boundaries for media interviews and provide them with ways to shift the conversation to topics on which they want to focus
• understand how to make decisions about what to share when, based on their goals and potential consequences
• appreciate how their words can be used out of context so they make more thoughtful choices
• avoid falling into common media interview traps, such as the inadvertent oversharing that can occur when athletes get to know media interviewers
• take a positive view of media interviews by using them as an opportunity to share positive and inspiring messages, even when asked mundane questions
• and, when appropriate, speak about sponsors in meaningful ways that make them want to re-up or that will attract more sponsors.
WE ALSO HELP OUR CLIENTS WITH THE ELEMENTS YOU WOULD EXPECT A TOP MEDIA TRAINING PROGRAM TO INCLUDE:
• developing key messages and responses to typical and very challenging questions
• understanding how to shape memorable sound bits and practice delivering them
• working with the camera and interacting with interviewers effectively and charismatically
• allowing one’s personality to come through while still representing the team well (for team athletes)
• and elevating all elements of communication, such as posture, body language, the use of pauses, and eliminating fillers (“um”, “like”, “you know”), all of which helps the athlete to feel and project greater confidence.
THE TRAINER WHO PROVIDES OUR MEDIA TRAINING FOR ATHLETES
Lisa Elia, the lead trainer and founder of Expert Media Training, provides media training for athletes, for both individual athletes and teams. Her approach to training is rooted in her decades of daily work with the media when she booked clients for interviews with ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CNN, GMA and hundreds of other outlets.
She finds athletes easy to work with because they are generally driven, they understand that change comes both in small increments and great leaps, and they do the work needed to improve and succeed.
