Media Training en Español
Your spokesperson is ready in English. Then Univision calls. We prepare executives to hold the room in Spanish, with a coach who ran a Univision newsroom for more than a decade.
Spanish-language media training prepares an executive to give interviews in Spanish rather than in translation. It covers the same fundamentals as English media training, message control, bridging, and on-camera presence, but it is delivered in Spanish by a trainer who has worked inside Spanish-language newsrooms. The distinction matters because a message map written in English and translated word for word almost never survives contact with a Spanish-speaking interviewer.
Most of the executives we prepare in Spanish are facing one of these six situations.
This is the part most training misses. These are the differences that decide whether an executive sounds authoritative or sounds translated.
The choice between tú and usted is not a grammar decision, it is a positioning decision. An executive who defaults to the wrong register can read as either distant or presumptuous before the first answer lands. The right choice shifts by outlet, by country and sometimes by interviewer.
Vocabulary, idiom and pacing differ across Mexican, Caribbean, Andean and Rioplatense Spanish. A phrase that plays as warm in Mexico City can read as blunt in Bogotá. Executives speaking to a US Hispanic audience are speaking to all of these at once, which changes which words are safe.
Quotable lines depend on rhythm and stress. Spanish runs longer than English for the same idea, so a line engineered to be tight in English usually arrives soft in Spanish. The message stays. The construction gets rebuilt from scratch.
Spanish is typically spoken at a faster syllable rate, and executives under pressure speed up further. The result is a delivery that outruns its own emphasis. Controlled pausing is the single highest-leverage adjustment for most Spanish-language spokespeople.
Words that look identical across the two languages and mean something different are a standing risk in business interviews. The exposure is concentrated in exactly the vocabulary executives use most: results, expectations, commitments and liability.
In a bilingual press conference, an executive is deciding in real time which language to answer in and whether to repeat. Without a plan, the answers drift apart and the two audiences receive two different messages. We rehearse this as its own exercise.
| Translated from English | Trained natively in Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Message map | Written in English, then translated | Built in Spanish, tested against Spanish questions |
| Sound bites | Lose their rhythm in translation | Constructed for Spanish stress and length |
| Practice questions | English questions, translated | Questions written the way Spanish-language journalists actually ask them |
| Feedback | On content only | On content, register, regional word choice and pace |
| Trainer | Works through an interpreter | Ran a Spanish-language newsroom |
| Recorded practice | Reviewed in English | Reviewed in Spanish, the way it will air |
Format follows the situation. Most engagements are one of these three.
Bilingual executive coach, high-impact communication, international television
Pilar Ortiz brings more than 25 years in television, international media and senior executive coaching. She has worked in front of and behind the camera for Univision, Telemundo, CNN, ABC and NBC.
She began her news career in Colombia and went on to become a pioneer of Noticias Univision Tampa Bay, where she served as anchor and news director for more than a decade. That is where she built the skills she now teaches: on-camera presence, message control, storytelling and leadership under pressure.
After her media career she founded Pilar Ortiz Enterprises, an international executive coaching, media training and public speaking practice. Her work spans more than 50 countries with multinational corporations, CEOs, business leaders and high-performing teams.
She is the creator of the Influence Accelerator and the PAC Method (Pensar, Actuar, Continuar), author of Camino al Éxito and El Genio de la Botella, a member of the National Speakers Association, and the first Hispanic co-host of Voices of Experience.
The program runs on the same method Jess Todtfeld has used to train more than 100,000 people on six continents. He is a former NBC, ABC and Fox television producer of 13 years, a Certified Speaking Professional, author of the international bestseller Media Secrets, and holder of the Guinness World Record for most media interviews given in 24 hours. Pilar delivers that method natively in Spanish. Very few practices can offer both halves.
“Being in front of the camera and watching the evolution from the initial take to the last take, especially under heavy questioning, was very helpful to me.”Max A. StempelGerente General, AIG Panamá
“Jess' Media Training workshop helped me reduce nervousness and deliver messages that people can remember.”Pedro ArtanaGerente General, AIG El Salvador
“This has helped us greatly in improving our speaking skills. In this business, improving these type of skills really matters for your career.”Ed MenaGerente General, AIU Chile
It can be. Sessions run fully in Spanish, fully in English, or deliberately switch between the two inside one session when the executive is preparing for a bilingual event. The choice is made by what the executive will actually face.
Yes, and it is a common request. The work focuses on clarity, pace and controlled vocabulary rather than on eliminating an accent. An accent is rarely the problem. Speed, false cognates and overlong sentences usually are.
An interpreter carries your words across. Training changes what you say and how you say it so it works in Spanish on its own terms. In a live interview there is no interpreter between the executive and the question.
Yes. Crisis work is where register and word choice carry the most risk, because a phrase that sounds measured in English can read as evasive or cold when translated. We rehearse hostile questioning in Spanish with recorded practice and playback.
We train to the audience the executive will face. That means identifying which regional vocabulary is safe and which words carry different weight across Mexican, Caribbean, Andean and Rioplatense Spanish, then building the message set accordingly.
Yes. Small groups work well, typically one to eight people, so every participant gets recorded practice and individual feedback. Larger groups are possible but shift the balance from individual reps toward demonstration.
Both. Virtual sessions work well for interview preparation and ongoing coaching, since the executive is on camera either way. On-site delivery is available for full-day programs and team training.
A single focused session is often enough for a specific booked interview, and we schedule those on short notice where possible. Sustained public roles are better served by ongoing coaching rather than a single session.
Pricing depends on format, length and how many people are being trained. Ongoing one-on-one executive coaching runs as a monthly program. Tell us the situation and we will send a specific number rather than a range.
Tell us who is being interviewed, in what language, and by whom. We will tell you what the preparation should look like.
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