Media Training for Founders: When You Need It (And When You Don't)

It's your big day. The one you've been waiting for, preparing for, the one that could change the trajectory of your company. It's time to share what makes you so passionate about your product and brand with others, and hopefully secure the funding to go on.

You're just talking about what you already know. How difficult could it be? The work will speak for itself.

Until it doesn't.

I've met countless experts, high-performing executives, innovative founders who were objectively at the top of their fields. There's the expectation, often on both sides, that their expertise is unique enough to immediately garner interest. But what can work in a simple conversation doesn't translate well on the stage. People don't see your resume experience. They see you stumbling over your words and playing down your accomplishments. When your speech ends, that's how they'll remember you: unconfident and unremarkable. If they remember you at all.

Media training isn't about becoming someone else, or adopting a persona. When done right, its only purpose should be to amplify your own voice so that your vision lands with the right tone and clarity. What I do as a coach is help bridge the gap between what that vision is and how it comes across. By the end of our time together, the two should be mirrors of each other.

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To really understand the value of knowing how to present yourself, let's take a step back to 1983, when France launched their own version of the internet. Minitel was the first platform of its kind, giving people a look into what the future would bring. While people stood in line at ticket booths, French consumers were already online shopping and banking on handy little monitors.

It was years ahead of its time. And it barely broke world news.

The European leaders I coach often come to me with the same pattern. Brilliant technology that seems impossible to ignore, and somehow gets ignored anyway. They might have success in their own countries or within the EU, but as soon as their message leaves those shores it loses its draw. It's simply not positioned in a way that the rest of the world can connect with.

Translating your message should be as instinctive as translating your words. That's what media training does. It teaches you how to market yourself across cultural barriers, how to appeal to international customers, how to reach foreign investors. Even without a cultural or linguistic barrier, is your product really landing the way you want it to? When you listen back to your pitches, do you feel the passion and confidence you know you have?

You can build something brilliant, but if you cannot get the story right and articulate the value, people just won't get it. And you stay the best-kept secret.

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If you're still not convinced media training is right for you, let me make it a bit easier for you and let you know when you definitely don't need it.

You don't need media training if:

You don't need to pitch your product. You don't care about expanding internationally yet. You're terrified of any public speaking, let alone being recorded by a camera. You have no news to share. You just want to focus on your existing customer base.

When do you need it?

When you fundraise. When you have a big pitch. When you enter a new market. When you have a major announcement. When you have the opportunity to garner visibility for your brand. When you're trying to land a new role. When someone looks up your brand, and they need to figure out what you stand for.

In other words, nearly every other case.

I've coached clients to speak at TED AI, CES, HLTH, SXSW, VivaTech, and many other events. In every case, our personalized, immersive training made sure they left the stage feeling confident on their delivery. The crowd won't see any of that prep work, but they will see your mission and product for its full value.

Remember this: the market will not discover you by accident. So when you get on that stage, get ready to make them discover you. A confident tone and compelling story might just be your first step to achieving that.

Faith Chang is an executive coach and media training partner who helps founders, CXOs, and ambitious professionals voice their value, scale with confidence, and communicate with impact. Her clients have spoken at TED AI, CES, HLTH, SXSW, and VivaTech.