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
Media training for the media as it is now
The journalist interview is still the core of media training and the hardest test of a spokesperson. Many interviews now come from podcast hosts, creators, live-stream hosts and panel moderators, and each has different habits and different rules. Our training covers all of them 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: the 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, the traps and dynamics to recognise, and what to do when something goes wrong.
Every format
The journalist interview, the podcast, the creator interview, the live stream and the panel, and how to set up well for each, in the 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
Our one-day course covers what every spokesperson needs. We write the interview scenarios around your organisation, and each person usually gives at least three recorded interviews, each replayed and coached.
What to say
- Messages, proof and news
- Structured preparation
- A friendly first interview
How you show up
- Body language, voice and language
- Leading the interview
- A second interview, focused on your messages
Difficult questions
- A toolkit for difficult questions, traps and tricky dynamics
- A third interview, challenging and matched to each person
Your learning points
- Individual action points and how to keep developing
Afterwards you receive a report on each spokesperson, with a risk rating and recommendations.
What you leave with
Every participant leaves with a preparation model they can use before any real 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 for each person and recommendations. Most of all, people leave ready for the next real interview and looking forward to it.
“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.
Trusted by governments, institutions and global brands
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.
