Why Your Founder Needs Media Training Before Seeking Coverage
By: Greg Dyett
The journalist emails on a Tuesday afternoon. A podcast producer wants the founder on next week. A trade publication is running a piece on the sector and wants a comment by Friday. This is the moment every startup works towards — and it’s also the moment a lot of founders realise, too late, that they really have no idea what to say.
Media training for startups isn’t a nice-to-have that gets scheduled after the Series A. It belongs in the preparation stack alongside the pitch deck and the legal structure. The reasons pile up quickly.
Founders Talk About Their Product. Journalists Want a Story.
There’s a gap between what a founder thinks is interesting and what a journalist will actually publish. Founders can explain the tech, the problem it solves, the size of the market. Journalists want a newsworthy angle. Without training, most founders default to product mode in an interview — and the resulting coverage, if it runs at all, buries the message in jargon.
A media training workshop teaches founders to think in editorial terms. What’s the angle? What’s the lead? What would a reader who has never heard of this company actually find interesting? Those questions feel unnatural at first. With practice, they become instinct.
The Questions That Catch Founders Off Guard
You need to prepare for the obvious, easy questions as well as the curly ones. That’s what separates a founder who comes out of a profile piece looking credible from one who appears evasive or underprepared. Honestly, most people only understand this after one uncomfortable experience with a journalist. Media training exists specifically so that experience doesn’t have to be a public one.
Prepare for a Media Crisis Before You Need To
Startups move fast and attract scrutiny. A data breach, a public complaint, a funding story that gets misread — any of these can trigger a wave of media attention that wasn’t planned and isn’t welcome. The instinct in that moment is usually to go quiet, issue a holding statement, and wait. That approach works poorly.
Founders who prepare for a media crisis before one arrives have a very different experience. They know how to acknowledge an issue without over-admitting, how to stay on message under pressure, and how to use media contact as a tool rather than treating it as a threat. The basics — staying calm on camera, not filling silence, bridging from a difficult question back to a key point — take real practice. A crisis isn’t the time to be learning these skills!
What Gets Built in a Proper Workshop
A customised media training session runs through the mechanics: message development, interview technique, on-camera presence, how to handle both print and broadcast formats. The format matters because TV and radio require different things. A quote that reads well in print can fall flat on air. A founder who’s polished on a podcast might freeze when a camera is in the room.
The best sessions use real interview simulations — questions that are uncomfortable, pacing that’s faster than expected, follow-ups that push. That’s where the useful learning happens. Not in the theory.
The Window Before First Coverage
Once coverage starts appearing, the narrative starts forming. Early profiles shape how journalists will continue to write about a company for years. A founder who handles their first few media appearances with confidence, clarity, and a consistent message gives the company a significant head start. One who stumbles, pivots awkwardly, oversells, or gets caught without an answer — potentially gives the story an edge the company didn’t want.
The window before first coverage is the best time to train. There’s no pressure, no audience, no record. It’s the only time a founder can practice being wrong without it costing anything.