Media & Communications Training
Build the skills to handle the media, communicate with confidence, and protect your reputation. Empica’s training sessions are led by former journalists and PR specialists who have worked on high-profile stories, crisis incidents, and brand campaigns across the UK and internationally.
Our training services
Our training services
Media Training
We prepare spokespeople, senior leaders, and experts to communicate confidently and effectively in interviews with print, broadcast, and online media. Our training covers how to structure your key messages, handle challenging or unexpected questions, and avoid common pitfalls that can damage credibility. Through practical, real-world scenarios and recorded mock interviews, you’ll learn to stay calm under pressure, present your story with clarity, and build positive relationships with journalists. This equips you to not just survive interviews, but to use them as opportunities to enhance your reputation and get positive messages across. We also train teams to handle announcements and press conferences.
Communications Training
When unexpected events happen, how you respond in the first minutes and hours can define your organisation’s future. Our crisis communications training equips your team to react quickly, communicate clearly, and protect your reputation when under intense public and media scrutiny. We cover the principles of effective crisis response, including developing holding statements, managing press enquiries, and using social media responsibly in high-pressure situations. Using realistic, sector-relevant scenarios, we help you practise making decisions and delivering messages that inspire trust and maintain control of the narrative, even in fast-moving situations. The training also helps to shape crisis plans.
Messaging Workshop Sessions
A clear, consistent message is the foundation of every successful PR or marketing campaign. Our messaging workshops bring your leadership, communications, and marketing teams together to define what you want to say and how you want to say it. Through collaborative exercises, we help you identify your key messages, proof points, and tone of voice, ensuring they align with your brand values and strategic goals. We also stress-test these messages against tough questions or potential controversies, so you can be confident they’ll hold up under scrutiny. By the end of the session, you’ll have a refined, ready-to-use messaging framework that strengthens all your communications, from media interviews to social media posts.
Bespoke Sector-Specific Training
Every industry has its own language, challenges, and media landscape. Which is why a one-size-fits-all approach to communications training rarely works. Our bespoke sector-specific training is tailored to the unique needs, regulations, and audience expectations of your field. We research your industry, analyse relevant case studies, and design realistic scenarios that reflect the real-world pressures your team is likely to face. Whether you work in property, healthcare, technology, education or any other sector, you’ll receive practical coaching that is relevant, relatable, and immediately applicable. This ensures your spokespeople are not just well-prepared, but industry-credible when speaking to the media, stakeholders, or the public.
Presentation & Public Speaking Training
Whether you’re addressing a conference of hundreds or presenting to a small group of stakeholders, how you speak matters as much as what you say. Our presentation and public speaking training helps you develop the skills and confidence to engage any audience. You’ll learn how to structure content for maximum impact, use body language effectively, manage nerves, and handle audience questions with ease. Through practice sessions, constructive feedback, and tailored coaching, we ensure you leave with a clear, authentic style that projects authority and credibility, whatever the setting.
Exhibition and public consultation training
Whether you’re consulting local communities over a planning application or meeting the public and potential customers at a trade show or exhibition you need to communicate with confidence. Our exhibition and public consultation training equips you with the skills to deal positively with enquiries at such events. The training includes using visuals on exhibition stands to their best advantage, dealing with awkward questions and steering those attending to give feedback or present the information and data you are attempting to gain. The training can include panel consultations alongside other stakeholders and practising of key messaging to ensure they are robust under questioning.
Why choose Empica for training?
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Led by former journalists who understand how the media works.
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Proven track record in crisis handling and high-profile campaigns.
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Practical, interactive sessions, not just theory.
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Training delivered in-house, online, or at our Bristol base.
Who we work with
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CEOs & board members
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Marketing & comms teams
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Charity & non-profit leaders
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Public sector organisations
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SMEs & start-ups
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Staff preparing for public exhibitions
Testimonials
"We've worked with Empica for many years to deliver media training for our senior leaders, and the experience has consistently been excellent. The sessions are always well organised, engaging and tailored to each colleague's area of expertise and business focus.
Participants are equipped with a clear framework and practical tactics to handle both proactive media opportunities and potential crisis situations with confidence. The training includes realistic, well-thought-out scenarios and questions, making it highly relevant and actionable."
Alisan Cole - National Express
" Their collaborative approach means they work as an extension of our team, and their understanding of St Peter’s Hospice, and our work in the local community, means they can effectively support our communications planning and decision making."
St Peter's Hospice
“Thank you so much Martin for a fantastic day. We learnt so much and had some giggles along the way. You and the team were brilliant!”
Stephanie Whelan - Gympanzees
How it works
Step-by-step process of a typical media training course:
1.
Discovery call where we discuss your requirements, including type of course, number of candidates, preferred duration etc.
2.
We give you an outline of a Media Training or Crisis Communications course to meet your requirements (different interview types - radio, TV, print, live, pre-recorded, potential press conference etc) and agree a price.
3.
We research topics and, based on responses to our pre-course questionnaire, create specially-tailored scenarios and interviews, in order to make the training as realistic and relevant to the individual/company as possible.
4.
We deliver the interactive, media training session, during which each candidate will be questioned by our experienced interviewers. After playback and feedback, they get the chance to do it again, putting into practice what they have learned during the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about our media and communications training.
Our sessions cover preparing for interviews, handling difficult questions, crafting key messages, managing crisis communications, and delivering confident on-camera performance.
Training is tailored for senior leaders, communications teams, or anyone who may be put forward for media interviews or have need to communicate information to the public clearly and confidently.
Sessions are typically half-day or full-day, depending on your organisation’s needs and the number of participants. We have also run shorter one-on-one sessions or quick online refresher sessions.
Yes, each session is designed to reflect your organisation’s industry, messaging, and communication goals.
Our trainers are experienced former journalists who research and craft the training based on information from the delegates, resulting in highly targeted and relevant training.
We provide follow-up resources, feedback, and coaching advice to ensure participants can apply their skills in the real-world.
We have also hosted refresher sessions for former delegates or messaging workshops for teams to fine tune their messaging ahead of planned media appearances.
We offer both virtual and in-person sessions, adaptable to your team’s location and schedule.
Whether you need to prepare for a high-stakes interview or want your team ready for any PR challenge, Empica’s training will give you the tools and confidence to succeed.