Media Training Course
A media training course built for executives, spokespeople, and communications teams that actually have to perform: real interviews, real on-camera reps, real coaching from a former network television producer. Choose in-person at our Madison Avenue studio, virtual cohorts, or on-site delivery at your office.
What is a Media Training Course?
A media training course is a structured program that prepares people to perform in interviews, press conferences, podcasts, panels, and on-camera appearances. The best version of this work is not a lecture and not a self-paced video library. It is a live coaching loop: a real question, a real take, immediate playback, a correction, and another take. That loop is what changes performance. Anything that skips it produces participants who feel informed but freeze the moment a camera turns on.
This is the course Jess Todtfeld has refined over more than two decades of training executives and spokespeople. He spent thirteen years inside network television as a producer at NBC, ABC, and Fox, booking and shaping thousands of segments. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most media interviews given in 24 hours (112), carries the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, and authored the international bestseller Media Secrets. He has delivered media training services to Fortune 500 leadership, nonprofit boards, public-sector spokespeople, and association leaders preparing for high-stakes press cycles.
The phrase "media training course" covers a wide range of programs. Some are private one-on-one intensives. Some are team workshops for an entire communications department. Some run as cohorts across multiple regional offices. The mechanics that matter, though, do not change with format: clear message architecture, rehearsed bridges and pivots, repeatable composure under pressure, and enough live on-camera repetition that the participant walks into the real interview with muscle memory instead of nerves.
Who Needs a Media Training Course?
Most of our course participants fall into one of these groups. If you recognize yourself or your team here, this program is built for the work you actually have to do.
CEOs and Founders
A first earnings call, a funding announcement, a press tour for a product launch, or a hostile reporter at the door. The CEO carries the company's voice, and a single bad clip can become the story.
Communications and PR Teams
In-house comms and agency leads who pitch executives to reporters, then have to prep those executives in a hurry. Many sit through the course alongside their principals so the prep work afterward gets sharper.
Subject-Matter Experts
Engineers, scientists, clinicians, analysts, and researchers whose expertise reporters want, but whose training never included translating that expertise for a general audience in a three-minute hit.
Nonprofit Leaders and Spokespeople
Executive directors, development leads, and board chairs whose mission depends on telling the story clearly: to donors, to reporters, to legislators, and on camera at the gala. See our media training for nonprofits for the sector-specific version.
Regulated-Industry Executives
Financial services, healthcare, life sciences, and energy leaders who have to talk to the press without creating compliance exposure. See financial media training and medical media training for the sector versions.
Authors, Speakers, and Public Figures
Book tour interviews, podcast guest appearances, keynote follow-up press, and TV bookings where the difference between a good clip and a great one is the difference between selling out a tour and barely filling a room.
What Our Media Training Course Covers
The curriculum is built around what actually moves performance. Every section includes live drills with on-camera reps and playback.
- Message architecture. Build a three-point message map for the topic at hand, with proof points, soundbites, and the one line you want a reporter to quote.
- Bridging and pivoting. Move from a hostile or off-topic question back to your message without dodging, stonewalling, or sounding rehearsed.
- Hostile-question handling. Stay composed and on message under aggressive questioning. Recognize the loaded premise, the false-choice trap, the gotcha, and the rapid-fire repetition.
- On-camera presence. Posture, pacing, eye contact, energy, and the subtle physical habits that read as confident or as evasive on screen.
- Soundbite construction. Write and rehearse the quotable lines that get clipped into the segment and the headline.
- Interview frameworks. A repeatable structure for live, taped, podcast, panel, ambush, and remote interviews so you walk in with a plan instead of hoping for the best.
- Crisis-mode response. What to say in the first hour of a bad news cycle, how to coordinate with legal and PR, and the language patterns that calm rather than escalate.
- Mock interviews with playback. Multiple rounds of recorded mock interviews against a trained interviewer, with frame-by-frame coaching between takes.
- Personalized coaching notes. Every participant leaves with written notes on their specific habits, strengths, and the two or three things to work on next.
Course Formats
The same curriculum runs in four formats. The right one depends on team size, geography, and how soon the interviews are coming.
In-Person at Our NYC Studio
One-day or two-day intensives at 295 Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Studio-grade lighting and a real broadcast set so the mock interviews look and feel like the real thing. See media training in NYC for the studio overview.
On-Site at Your Office
We travel to your headquarters or regional office. Useful for full teams, board-room executive cohorts, and pre-conference prep sprints. Includes portable recording so playback works in any room.
Virtual (Zoom) Course
Live, instructor-led, with the same on-camera reps and playback as the in-person version. Works for distributed teams and busy executives who cannot lose a travel day. Cohorts run as half-day or full-day.
Group Cohort Program
A multi-week program for larger organizations rolling out a new spokesperson bench. Combines kickoff intensive, recurring small-group sessions, and individual coaching for top performers.
How Our Media Training Course Is Different
There are a lot of media training workshops on the market. Some are run by former reporters who have never sat in a control room. Some are run by PR generalists who have never produced a segment. A few are excellent. Most are not. What sets this professional media training apart:
Real network production background. Jess produced segments at NBC, ABC, and Fox for thirteen years. He knows which kinds of answers get cut, which get used, and which get the spokesperson invited back. Most "media trainers" have never actually shaped a broadcast segment.
The Guinness World Record for 112 interviews in 24 hours. The record was set as a demonstration: the techniques he teaches work under any condition, including exhaustion and back-to-back live hits with no break. The reps were not theoretical.
Reps, not lectures. Our course time is roughly 30 percent instruction and 70 percent live on-camera practice with playback. The lecture portion is dense, fast, and only there to set up the next round of reps. Skills change with reps. They do not change with PowerPoint.
Industry-specific scenarios. The mock interviews use your actual news cycle, your competitors, the specific questions your team is most likely to face this quarter, and the regulatory or mission constraints that shape your answers.
CSP-level facilitation. The Certified Speaking Professional designation is the highest earned credential in professional speaking, held by fewer than 12 percent of speakers worldwide. It signals a standard of facilitation that makes a packed one-day course actually land.
"Jess is a pro at media training. He has broken it down to a science, but allows each person to find their unique way to deliver their message. He put me at ease as a novice. When I finished working with him, I felt like a pro and ended up doing a recurring TV spot for a local network news station and numerous radio interviews."
Virginia "Ginny" Clarke, Conscious Leadership Expert and Executive Coach"I now feel like I have the tools to be able to create more action from the people I speak to. I am grateful for the on-camera practice. I was immediately able to make changes to my presentations and improve them on the spot."
Ryan Sorley, GartnerPricing and Investment Context
Pricing for a media training course depends on format, group size, customization, and travel. A few reference points:
- A one-day individual or small-team intensive typically runs in the mid-to-high four figures.
- Two-day team workshops and cohort programs are quoted per scope, factoring in group size and industry customization.
- Annual programs with quarterly refreshers and on-call prep before major announcements are priced as retainers.
- Virtual cohorts are generally less expensive than in-person on-site delivery, though the curriculum is identical.
The fastest way to a real number for your situation is to request a quick quote. We turn quotes around the same business day in most cases. If you would rather walk through your situation first, book a 30-minute call with Jess and we will scope it together.
Industries We Have Delivered This For
The course has been delivered for executives and spokespeople across sectors. The framework is universal; the scenarios are tailored.
- Financial services, banking, and wealth management
- Healthcare systems, hospitals, and physician groups
- Life sciences, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies
- Technology, software, and platform companies
- Energy, utilities, and infrastructure
- Nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy organizations
- Higher education and academic medical centers
- Government, public sector, and regulatory bodies
- Professional services, consulting, and law firms
- Consumer brands, retail, and hospitality
"This training really helped my confidence level."
Emily Bower, IBMWhy Train with Jess Todtfeld
Jess Todtfeld is a former producer at NBC, ABC, and Fox who has booked, produced, and coached thousands of on-camera interviews. He holds a Guinness World Record for the most media interviews in 24 hours (112), and he carries the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation: the highest earned credential in professional speaking. He is the author of Media Secrets, an international bestseller, and has trained executives at Fortune 500 companies, major academic institutions, nonprofits, and public-sector organizations through high-stakes press cycles.
His training is practical, on-camera, and tailored to the industry. Clients leave with a rehearsed message, a repeatable interview framework, and enough reps to walk into the hit with composure: a studio segment, a regulatory hearing, a podcast booking, or a hostile reporter at the door.
Read more about Jess or browse client testimonials.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Media Training Course
A media training course is a structured program that teaches executives and spokespeople how to perform in interviews, press conferences, and on-camera appearances. It combines message development, bridging and pivoting techniques, hostile-question handling, and live on-camera repetitions with playback and coaching.
Most clients run a one-day intensive (six to seven hours) for an individual or small team. Larger cohorts often span two days, and ongoing programs add quarterly refreshers tied to earnings or product cycles. We also offer half-day virtual sessions for executives with tight calendars.
Both. In-person sessions run at our Madison Avenue studio in NYC or on site at your office. Virtual courses run over Zoom with live on-camera reps and recorded playback, and the cohort outcomes match the in-person version when the curriculum is properly facilitated.
CEOs, founders, senior executives, communications and PR teams, nonprofit leaders, subject-matter experts preparing for press cycles, and any spokesperson who will represent the organization on camera or to reporters. We also run focused programs through our executive media training and spokesperson training tracks.
Pricing depends on format, group size, and customization. One-day individual intensives typically run in the mid-to-high four figures. Team and cohort programs are quoted per scope. Request a quick quote for an exact figure for your situation.
Yes. On-camera repetition is the core of the program. Every participant runs multiple interviews against a trained interviewer, reviews the playback, and applies coaching to the next take. Reps build muscle memory; lecturing does not.
Yes. We build industry-specific scenarios for financial services, healthcare, nonprofit, technology, energy, and regulated sectors. The mock interviews use your actual news cycle, your competitors, and the questions your team is most likely to face this quarter.
A rehearsed message map, a personal interview framework, recorded playback of their reps, written coaching notes, and a follow-up plan for keeping the skills sharp through the next quarter.
Self-paced video cannot give live feedback on a flubbed answer. Our course is built around the live coaching loop: a question, a take, a playback, a correction, and another take. That loop is what creates change. Video alone does not.
Yes. Many enterprise clients run annual programs with a kickoff intensive, quarterly refreshers, and on-call prep before major announcements. The pricing scales with cadence.
Ready to Start Your Team's Media Training Course?
Tell us about your spokespeople, your timeline, and the interviews ahead. We will scope a course that fits, whether that is a one-day intensive, a virtual cohort, or an annual program. Quotes typically come back the same business day. Call (646) 233-1424 or use the buttons below.