In general, “media” refers to various collective means of communication: television, radio, print and digital are different types of media. Media is not a person. Media is a vast grouping of individuals.
Your experience with the “media” was, is or will be your experience with an individual. When we like an individual such as Walter Cronkite, we like the media. When we dislike a media figure whether it is Rush Limbaugh or Chris Matthews, we dislike the media.
This week is my Media Boot Camp, purposely scheduled for the week of Halloween. To many an opportunity to be in the “media” is scary like a haunted house experience. I scheduled it this week so that attendees could begin to see media opportunity as a TREAT not a TRICK.
There are many tips for media opportunities from sitting on your suit jacket to using your hands more, smiling, and telling a story, concisely. The most important tip is to enjoy the experience.
Think about it. Even people that say they “hate” the media couldn’t hate it unless they watched or read it in some way. This means that people quoted in the media or interviewed in the media quickly become experts. Want to be seen as an expert, embrace media opportunities.
Perhaps you are thinking, I don’t get media opportunities. First, once you think positively about them, you will see opportunities from a FaceBook video to a blog. Secondly, create your own opportunities. One of two things will then happen: other opportunities will find you or they won’t. Either way, you have raised your charisma factor. Create your own podcast and be the host.
Stand up during a radio interview, be interesting, research your host, don’t wear 80’s suits with shoulder pads, all of these are credible pieces of advice. A most important piece of advice is to think about your host as your BFF. Your host wants you to look and sound as credible as possible. During the length of your interview, that host is the media.
