Will Hardie
Communication strategist and executive coach, Oxford psychologist and former Reuters foreign correspondent, with more than 25 years’ experience in 50 countries.
Media training
We prepare spokespeople and leaders to give interviews that serve their organisation, with any interviewer and in any format. Based in London and Dubai, delivered worldwide in many languages.
Trained by former journalists from Reuters, Bloomberg, the BBC, Sky News, ITV, CNBC and CNN
5,000+
media training deliveries
209
ministers and MPs
261
CEOs
25
years
2
prime ministers
15
royals
20
cabinet ministers of one government
160+
EU officials
333
governments and ministries
119
oil and gas companies
71
banks
60
UN agencies and international bodies
Trusted by governments, institutions and global brands
Media training for today’s media
Interviews with journalists remain the hardest test for any spokesperson, and they are at the heart of everything we teach. Many interviews now also come from podcast hosts, creators, live-stream hosts and panel moderators, each with their own habits and rules. We teach them all as one craft, because every interviewer wants the same thing above all: good content. Give them that, on your terms, and the interview works for you and for them.
How our media training works
Our media training is active learning with positive individual coaching, built on a systematic competency framework and refined through more than 5,000 deliveries over 25 years. It works consistently and produces immediate results. We teach interview skills in service of your organisation’s position: messages, proof points and news angles that carry it, and the judgement to deliver them well under questioning.
Briefings are short and practical, with clips of real interviews showing what works and what does not. Each idea arrives just before it is put to use. Most of the time is spent in recorded practice interviews in our mobile studio, each one replayed on screen with analysis and coaching from your trainer. Every person usually gets at least three interviews a day, and each interview is set just inside that person’s comfort zone: friendly and positive for people new to the media, and harder for experienced spokespeople.
What you learn
Prepare systematically
Build messages, back them with proof that convinces and stories people remember, and find the news in what you have to say. A structured preparation process, with AI used well, gets you ready for any interview quickly.
Perform to your best
Body language, voice and language that come across as confident and natural, an appearance that suits the format, and quotable lines that travel.
Lead the interview
Take the initiative, build a connection with the interviewer and steer towards safe and productive ground.
Handle challenges
A full toolkit for difficult questions, traps and dynamics to recognise, and what to do when something goes wrong.
Every format
Interviews with journalists, podcasts, creator interviews, live streams and panels, and how to set up well for each, in a studio, on location or remotely.
Trained by people who know both sides of the microphone
Our trainers are senior former broadcast journalists who also know corporate communication, strategic messaging and reputation management from the inside. They run interviews the way real interviewers do, and they coach the way a good communication adviser would, so what you say in an interview works for your organisation as well as for the journalist.
All our trainers are director-level professionals, active in the field, with at least 15 years’ experience.
Nick Walshe
Former BBC, ITV News and Al Jazeera English broadcast journalist, with more than 30 years in broadcasting.
James Cordahi
Former Bloomberg News and Reuters editor in the Gulf, now an ICF-certified executive coach.
Sarah Cocker
Former CNBC anchor and economist who coaches chief executives and ministers.
Adam Kirtley
BBC broadcast journalist and presenter on Radio 4 and Five Live.
Joumana Al Nounou
Senior Arabic broadcast journalist, chief editor and news anchor at Al Mashhad TV.
Felice Hawley
Former CNN producer, with a 16-year career creating and producing World Business Today.
Lama Atallah
ICF-certified communication coach and former adviser in the Canadian federal government, who trains in Arabic, English and French.
Part of a bench of senior trainers and coaches across London, Dubai and beyond.
Ways to train with us
Open course
Media Training. Two days in a small group, face to face in London and Dubai, or live online over two half-days. For individuals and small groups.
In-house training
A programme built for your spokespeople, with interview scenarios written around your organisation and the situations you are likely to face. One or two days: two days give more interviews and room for a crisis simulation, and half a day suits busy senior people who need a quick, focused session. Delivered at your offices with our mobile studio, at a venue of your choice or live online.
Crisis media training
Interview skills for the moments when your organisation is under scrutiny, practised in realistic crisis scenarios.
One-to-one coaching
Focused coaching for a leader before a major interview or a new public role.
Our one-day in-house course
In one day your spokespeople go from structured preparation to a confident, challenging interview on topics they will really face. We write every scenario around your organisation, and each person usually gives at least three recorded interviews, each one replayed on screen and coached, so everyone can see how far they have come before they leave.
What to say
Messages that carry your position, proof people believe and news a journalist wants. A proven preparation process, with AI used well, turns what you know into an interview plan quickly, and you keep it for every interview that follows. Then a friendly first interview to put it into practice and build confidence.
How you show up
Body language, voice and language that come across as natural and assured. Ways to lead an interview, then a second interview focused on landing your messages.
Difficult questions
A toolkit for tough questions, traps and tricky dynamics. A third interview, more challenging and matched to each person’s role and experience.
Your learning points
Personal action points from your trainer and a clear way to keep developing long after training ends.
Afterwards you receive a report on each spokesperson, with a risk rating and recommendations, so you know who is ready for which interviews and where further coaching would pay off.
What you leave with
People leave ready for their next real interview and looking forward to it. Each person takes away clear, practical and individual guidance on what they need to do to succeed in it, summarised in a personal feedback report. They also leave with a preparation model they can use before any interview, messages and proof for their own topics, a toolkit for difficult questions and several recorded interviews, each one better than the last. On in-house programmes we assess each spokesperson against our competency framework and give management a report with a risk rating and recommendations for each person.
Our work in media training
General Motors: media training for its senior leadership
We have media trained three regional presidents of General Motors, a national managing director and the heads of marketing, sales and aftersales, and the company has commissioned us 10 times over the better part of five years.
FedEx: media training for a president, vice presidents and managing directors
We media trained the president of one of FedEx’s international regions and his vice presidents on scenarios written around FedEx’s business, and we have media trained its leaders in Europe and beyond over close to two decades.
Emirates Group: six years as retained media trainer across the group
We trained more than 100 Emirates Group spokespeople across the airline, dnata, Emirates Flight Catering and SkyCargo as its retained media training provider for six years, and coached the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer.
World Health Organization: media training for its Assistant Directors-General
We media trained the World Health Organization’s Assistant Directors-General in two days of interview training in Geneva, and ran media and communications training for its senior staff and spokespeople.
European Parliament: media and communication training for more than 160 EU officials
More than 160 EU officials, the President of the Parliament among them, have trained with us in media training, television news and media relations, with as many as 24 courses in a single year at the Parliament’s training centre.
European Central Bank: a decade of training in Frankfurt and London
We have trained the Bank’s staff for a decade: media engagement at its Frankfurt headquarters, a five-day communication programme and public speaking training in London for its banking supervision inspectors.
“Covers all areas of media engagement with a trainer who has both professional and educational experience, an important combination for high quality teaching.”Michelle Tang, IFAD
“I found the trainer to be very knowledgeable and experienced in the topic. His delivery was very engaging. He tailored the course to our specific needs.”Marie-Angèle Thomas, Central Bank of Seychelles
“The session helped me a lot with my confidence and taught me how to stay relaxed. I also understand now that preparation is key, even when I am just explaining technical details.”Walid Shaban, GP Strategies
Why ISOC
Trusted at the top
We have trained prime ministers, ministers, MPs and hundreds of CEOs and executives for the media.
Trainers from both sides
Our trainers are senior former broadcast journalists with 20 or more years’ experience who also know corporate communication and reputation management from the inside.
Specialists for 25 years
We have done one thing, communication skills, and it shows in the room and in the results.
The real thing
Everything happens in a full broadcast studio, with scenarios built on the media challenges you are likely to face and several interviews on camera per person, each with playback and coaching.
Measured results
Competency assessment, an individual report for each participant and a management report with traffic-light risk ratings for each spokesperson.
Strategic as well as practical
We advise on positioning and reputation as well as interview technique, so what people say in interviews serves the organisation.
Talk to us about media training
Tell us who needs training and what they are likely to face. We will suggest a format and send a proposal.
