Maintaining a Leading Edge
IN MEDIA TRAINING & CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
When it comes to strategic communications, the only thing that hasn’t changed is the need to be prepared. MediaWorks Resource Group provides industry-leading media training, presentation training, and crisis consulting for clients worldwide.
Led by CNN veteran Mark Bernheimer, and calling upon two decades of media training expertise, we specialize in highly practical communications coaching solutions designed to educate, inform, and empower.
Our Clients
“Mark brought the credibility, wit, wisdom, honesty and direction our team sought. The message development workshops were big hits and achieved exactly what we needed. I especially appreciate that his commitment continued well beyond the training day. Mark has become a trusted partner and adviser to our Wells Fargo management team.”
Julie Green Rommel
Wells Fargo
“As anyone who has worked with busy doctors or hospital administrators can tell you, PR training is not necessarily a priority for them. Mark’s valuable media training, however, became a true favorite program that resonated with our doctors, researchers and other staff members to help explain complicated medical firsts, unique patient stories, or important study results to the public. MediaWorks was always a key value-added offering from our media relations office.”
Roxanne Moster
UCLA Health
“I have worked with Mark throughout my career to help ready executives for investor, analyst and media opportunities. At NVIDIA, he has helped our spokespeople deliver clear, concise messages in an easy to understand way. From VR to artificial intelligence to gaming, Mark sorts through the complicated technology to help us convey how our work is at the center of the most consequential trends in technology.”
Gail Laguna
NVIDIA
“Mark is a great sparring partner to get you into shape for media interviews and major presentations. Like all the best teachers, he will give you a couple of key things to focus on and keeps things beautifully simple. As a new CEO, I’ve found Mark’s support invaluable.”
Steve Brass
CEO, WD-40
Media Training Services Customized Exclusively for You
Never just a “class,” we offer clients an intensive, immersive workshop that helps communicators better understand the news media, and trains them to deliver their messages flawlessly. Our reality-based training technique provides the tools necessary to communicate to any target, not just traditional reporters. Whether you reach your audience through webinars, social media, or internal corporate videos, we will help you do it effectively.
Learn from the Masters,
Avoid the Disasters
A cornerstone of effective training is offering real-world examples of noteworthy media strategy. We show clients the success stories as well as the cautionary tales. In fact, we share them with non-clients, too.
You’re in the Right Place
for World Class
Media Training
Our Team
MediaWorks Resource Group was founded in 2001 by an award winning CNN news veteran, who still conducts most of the company’s media training today. He is assisted by some of the best and brightest specialists of the news and PR industries.
Working Seamlessly With our PR Industry Partners
“I hired Mark twice to train my team at BYU, and he knocked it out of the park. I was amazed at how thoroughly he understood complex issues facing our organization, that I hadn’t even briefed him on. Since then I’ve started a consultancy and been in a position to refer him out many times. Every single time (10, 15, I’ve lost track) the client has thanked me profusely. There’s never been a mismatch.”
– Michael Smart
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
MediaWorks is a boutique communications training firm that coaches executives on gaining the expertise and self-assurance to convey their messages powerfully, leading to successful brand and reputation management with stakeholders.
We are the communications trainer of choice among both Fortune 500 and emerging company C-suiters, called upon to prepare executives for their highest-stakes communications needs.
Executives trained with our proprietary, immersion methodology quickly and effectively develop the talent – and techniques – of the communication masters of our time.
We’ve honed our training protocol over two decades, evolving with the times and customizing each session for the client. Instead of generic lectures and antiquated corporate slide shows, we engage trainees with relevant real-world case studies, and hyper-realistic on-camera interview drills designed to test messaging skills and reveal any individual delivery challenges.
MediaWorks Founder Mark Bernheimer
Priorities in a News Interview
How to Speak “Reporter-Friendly” Language
NEVER Say This to a Reporter
This is What Modern Media Training Looks Like
Our flagship service offering, MediaWorks media training is custom-tailored for each individual client. Equally suitable for communications novices and seasoned media pros alike, our training is designed to help clients anticipate reporter behavior, avoid common traps, and focus confidently on the message. No two training sessions are ever the same, but every session includes:
• Orientation/ introduction to the media landscape
• Interview best practices
• Lessons in anticipating reporter behavior
• Message development exercises
• On-camera drills with immediate feedback and critique
• Extensive post-training follow-up support
On-site communications training shouldn’t be a “hit and run” proposition. We offer a YEAR’S WORTH OF FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT after the training is over. Among other things, that means clients may submit clips of their post-training interviews and presentations for feedback and ongoing skill development.
Our Blogs
Want to start learning right away?
GET IN TOUCH.
In the meantime, take a look through the most popular blog posts on our site:
Never Grant an Interview
Ambush at Davos
I Made Another Terrible Video
Camera Shyness: Fight the Fright
Sound Bites Don’t Matter!
Media Training Tips
Need some quick help for an upcoming interview?
Read through our curated list of “Incredibly Useful Media Training Tips.”
KEEPING YOUR COOL WHEN AN INTERVIEW HEATS UP
Read this before you even think about losing your temper with a reporter.
MOVING THE “GIVE-A-DAMN” METER
Think you have great media skills? Content matters too! Here’s how you can get a reporter to pay attention (and it works on live audiences too!)
3 ATTITUDES THAT RUIN A NEWS INTERVIEW
Sometimes your boss or client is the only thing standing between you and a successful PR strategy. Here are the 3 most common “anti-media” attitudes & how you can address them.
THE PREDICTABLE PART OF CRISIS
When the news is bad, reporters tend to behave in a predictable way. Here’s how you can anticipate their toughest questions and stay on message.
What Our Clients are Saying
“MediaWorks did an outstanding job of preparing me for my network interviews. Tommy Bahama is a distinctive company with an equally distinctive media message. I now have the skills and the confidence to tackle any media encounter.”
Terry Pillow
CEO, Tommy Bahama
“The media interview training MediaWorks has provided for our clients has been amazing. Their direct, focused approach combined with Mark’s news background provides invaluable insight into how the interview works from both sides of the camera. Mark’s sense of humor and friendly demeanor help our clients forget the camera and focus on the message.”
Janet Orsi
Orsi Public Relations
“Mark’s pragmatic approach to media training instilled great confidence in members of our leadership team and subject matter experts. They walked away with a new appreciation for staying on message and getting their points across in short, crisp soundbites.”
Elizabeth A. Pecsi
San Diego Humane Society
“Best media training in my 25+ year PR career!”
Colleen Edwards
NextGen Healthcare
Recent Tweets
- Something like this would have been unthinkable even a year ago. https://t.co/EWkzhzgqtT
- RT @scottbudman: #New: NPR says it’s going to stop using Twitter. It will pull its 52 accounts off, because “we are not putting our journa…
- For once some real fake news https://t.co/1VsFZ8xuoM
- Other than the fact that the shooter was a woman, there are no insights to be gained by watching coverage of the latest school shooting; nothing we haven't heard over and over again, in too many shootings to remember. It is the worst kind of autopilot (and reporters hate it too).
- @scottbudman There is a 7-year-old billionaire in charge of Twitter.
- Such a class act https://t.co/CQECrxa6fy
- Yep, Hugh Grant was cringeworthy on the red carpet. But what can the rest of us learn? https://t.co/9OHaFH0ASN
- 💯 https://t.co/Mi1bdjOqZY
- @pvercammencnn Godspeed, Paul!
- Pfizer's CEO knew how to handle a pair of activist pseudo-journalists. Watch... https://t.co/tpxOmXkE3Q
Frequently Asked Questions
What distinguishes MediaWorks from traditional media training companies?
MediaWorks is a boutique communications training firm that coaches executives on gaining the expertise and self-assurance to convey their messages powerfully, leading to successful brand and reputation management with stakeholders. We are the communications trainer of choice among both Fortune 500 and emerging company C-suiters, called upon to prepare executives for their highest-stakes communications needs.
We are large enough to have a time-tested command of the industry, but small enough to provide our clients with uncommon responsiveness. Some of our most loyal clients came to MediaWorks following less successful experiences with traditional consultants.
Do you do conference/tradeshow presentations?
Principal Mark Bernheimer can customize the perfect media training presentation. Using vivid, informative video clips of actual reporter encounters, Bernheimer calls upon years of network reporting experience to help your audience better understand the inner workings of the news media. We will tailor a presentation specifically to your industry, with a focus on any number of areas.
Learn more here
Do you cover dealing with social media?
The reporterless world of social media is a high risk/high reward pursuit, replete with its own rules, quirks, and pitfalls. When our clients’ communication strategies take them into the realm of social media, MediaWorks is there with the same expertise and innovation employed in our traditional media training.
Learn more here
What about your rates?
Our rates are highly competitive. In some cases, we are able to offer a special introductory fee structure for new clients. Ask about these rates when you contact us.
Is the MediaWorks training method appropriate for new media and non-media communication?
Absolutely. Our innovative, reality-based training approach is perfectly suited for social media, direct-to-camera client-created content, and general messaging strategy. Clients come to us for coaching on analyst briefings, congressional testimony, customer relations strategies, and commencement speeches. In short, we help our clients create and deliver ideal messages to any audience under any circumstance.
Where do you conduct your training sessions?
Most of our training is conducted virtually. For clients preferring onsite solutions, we offer training at our Los Angeles headquarters, or at your location, anywhere in the world.
What kind of follow-up do you offer clients?
Onsite communications training shouldn’t be a “hit and run” proposition. For individual and small group training, we offer a year’s worth of follow-up support after the session is over. Participants may submit clips of their post-training interviews and presentations for feedback and ongoing skill development.
Learn more here
How far in advance should I book my training?
Although we always try to accommodate last-minute requests, we recommend booking 4 to 6 weeks in advance for optimum availability. In order to simplify the scheduling process, we provide new clients online access to our booking calendar, which offers immediate and ongoing verification of our availability.
We are a hospital/healthcare company. Do you have any special expertise?
MediaWorks Resource Group is the nation’s only boutique media training agency with a specialty in healthcare. We’ve helped many of the nation’s major hospitals, healthcare systems, and biotech/pharma companies cut through the clutter with profoundly successful media strategies and training.
TAKE A LOOK HERE
Do you offer private instruction or group sessions?
Both. We train individuals, and groups ranging from 2 to 200. However, because effective media training often involves the disclosure of proprietary client information, we do not offer public classes or pre-scheduled seminars. Every training session is client centric and highly customized.
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