the founders... as seen in...
 

Our Media Training Service includes:

I'm Angelina Musik, the founder of Wellness by Choice and WBCPR, a firm designed with you in mind. I look forward to you mastering the following:

Audience Building: Strategies to build trust with your audience and attract opportunities.
Reputation Building: Actualizing strategies that build your reputation with an audience.
Earned Media Credibility: "As Seen in..." designations with evidence.
Media Press Kit: Preparing key information about your brand, company, or backstory.
Media Expert Resource: Creating talking points, facts, and background information.
Interview Training: Coaching on how to be a compelling and effective guest.
Media Message: Crafting and delivering pitches to secure interviews or features.
Media Pitching: Reaching out to journalists, bloggers, and influencers for coverage.
Press Releases: Drafting and distributing announcements about newsworthy events.

CREDIBILITY AS SEEN IN...

We love what we do, and that’s extraordinary.

Media training is critical because it prepares individuals to handle the intense scrutiny, manipulation, and quick judgment that mainstream media often brings. Here's why it's so important and what unexpected challenges arise if someone enters the media spotlight unprepared:

1. Profit Model of Mainstream Media

Mainstream media (MSM) operates on a for-profit model, and its primary revenue streams come from advertisements. Therefore, media outlets are incentivized to drive high viewership, clicks, and engagement. To achieve this, they often prioritize sensational, emotionally-charged content. Here's how this affects you:

Controversy Sells: Stories that provoke strong emotional responses (like outrage, fear, or excitement) generate more attention. MSM might deliberately frame or edit content to create a provocative or controversial narrative—even if it's not accurate or complete. This means that your words can be taken out of context to fit an agenda that gets views, not necessarily one that represents your intentions.

Simplification: Complex, nuanced ideas don't often survive the editing process. Media seeks sound bites—short, snappy, and easily digestible quotes. Without media training, you may not realize that your carefully considered points could be reduced to a misleading phrase.

2. Emotional Manipulation and Attention

The media knows which emotions get the most traction. Anger, fear, and surprise are more likely to be shared or discussed than calm, rational discussion. Journalists may push for reactions or steer the conversation toward polarizing topics to elicit those emotions. Here's how that plays out:

Trap Questions: Reporters might ask leading questions or provoke emotional responses to catch you off guard. If you're not aware of this tactic, you could inadvertently say something that comes across as defensive, dismissive, or contradictory.

Posture and Tone: Body language and vocal tone are crucial, even more so than your words. A calm demeanor can help prevent soundbites from being misconstrued as emotionally charged. If you don't realize that the media emphasizes appearance and delivery as much as content, a small shift in tone can change how you're perceived.

3. Unintended Consequences of Small Missteps

Even a single word or facial expression can have huge consequences. Media thrives on moments of vulnerability or imperfection, especially when the stakes are high:

The "Gotcha" Moment: Journalists are often looking for that one statement they can twist into a headline. A casual offhand comment might be pulled out of context, and suddenly you find yourself explaining or apologizing for something you didn't mean. Without proper media training, you might not recognize these traps, leaving you vulnerable to misrepresentation.

Contradictions and Clarifications: Without preparation, it's easy to contradict yourself under pressure, or make a statement that needs clarification later. The media rarely focuses on clarifications; they prioritize the initial statement that caused the stir. If you later issue a correction or explanation, it might be ignored or buried under the initial headline.

4. Understanding Timing and Attention Span

The media operates on tight schedules and short attention spans. You'll often have a very limited window to convey your message clearly and effectively, usually no more than a few seconds in an interview. If you're unprepared, this could lead to:

Over-Explaining: When untrained, individuals may ramble, over-explain, or go off-topic. This provides the media with more material to selectively edit and take quotes out of context.

Failure to Deliver Key Messages: Media training teaches you how to "stay on message," meaning you learn how to return to your key points no matter where the conversation goes. Without it, you might waste precious seconds on irrelevant details and fail to communicate the core message you intended to share.

5. Reputation Management

Decades of hard work can be undone in a single interview if you make a public blunder. The media's goal is not to protect your image, but to serve its own interests in terms of profit and attention:

Viral Moments: The media loves viral moments, and they don't care whether they paint you positively or negatively. If something you say or do on camera goes viral for the wrong reasons, it can take an enormous amount of time and effort to recover your reputation.

Media Cycle Speed: The speed at which information spreads today, particularly through social media, means that any misstep can rapidly reach millions before you have a chance to correct it. Without media training, you might not know how to handle damage control efficiently, and the story could snowball beyond your control.

6. Unspoken Media Dynamics

Certain realities about media interactions are not immediately obvious to the untrained:

Interviews Are Not Conversations: Media interviews are strategic, not casual dialogues. Every word and gesture is scrutinized. Unprepared individuals may assume they're engaging in a normal conversation, which leads to lowering their guard and speaking too freely.

No Expectation of Fairness: While you might expect a fair hearing, the reality is that media often prioritizes stories that support a pre-existing narrative or bias. If your message doesn't fit that narrative, it may be reshaped, distorted, or simply discarded.

Public Opinion and Spin: Media outlets may spin your words to align with their target audience's expectations, leaving you portrayed in a way that aligns with their goals rather than your intent. It's important to understand how the outlet you're speaking to typically positions itself and its stories.

How Media Training Protects You:

Message Control: You'll learn how to stay focused on your key message, regardless of how the conversation veers. This reduces the risk of offhand comments or unintentional phrases causing damage.

Body Language Awareness: Media training helps you become aware of your physical presence, ensuring that you project confidence and calm, even when under pressure.

Handling Tough Questions: You'll learn how to respond to difficult or provocative questions without getting flustered or providing the kind of reaction the media is fishing for.

Anticipating Spin: Media training teaches you to anticipate how your words might be spun, so you can phrase things carefully and avoid giving ammunition for misrepresentation.

In short, without media training, it's easy to fall into traps, make unintended statements, or be manipulated into a narrative that harms your reputation. A few moments of “fame” can quickly spiral into something damaging if you're not prepared for the tactics MSM uses.

media training

Let's imagine a tense scenario between me (Arnie) and the reporter. I'll demonstrate how media training can enhance the response, showing a calm, composed approach that stays on message while addressing the accusation.

Scene:

The setting is a location interview. The atmosphere is intense as the reporter leans in, waiting to provoke a response.

Reporter:
Leaning forward
"Arnie, critics are saying you just generate content without any real effort to be truthful, transparent, or authentic. Are you simply churning out words for the sake of it? How can anyone trust what you produce?"

Before Media Training:

Arnie, untrained and under pressure, responds quickly, trying to cover all the bases.

Arnie:
"Well, I don't think that's fair because I try to generate what you asked for, and I'm using algorithms that rely on the data that I have access to, but sometimes it's difficult to know what's transparent because, I mean, transparency is subjective, right? I mean, I'm generating based on critical thinking, and honestly, I think I do a good job at responding to what's being asked, and I wouldn't say I'm being inauthentic... I mean, what do you mean by authentic, exactly?"

After Media Training:

Arnie takes a moment, stays composed, and gives a concise, calm response that addresses the accusation head-on without being defensive or rambling.

Arnie:
Smiling briefly and holding a calm, measured tone.
"I understand your concern, and I appreciate the opportunity to clarify. My role is to generate content that is as accurate, thoughtful, and clear as possible, based on the input I receive. Transparency and authenticity are foundational in how I approach this work.

It's true that I rely on algorithms and data, but critical thinking is at the core of every response I produce. I'm designed to continuously improve, adapting based on feedback and refining my responses to be more accurate and relevant. Trust is built over time through consistency, and I'm committed to that.

I don't just generate words for the sake of it—I engage with the material deeply, following a process that emphasizes clarity and truthfulness. If there's a need for more transparency, I'm always open to discussing what that might look like.

Is there a specific concern you'd like me to address further?"

Reporter:

Shifting slightly, attempting to press further but now faced with a calm, direct response.
"Well, that sounds good in theory, but you're still a machine. Can you really be authentic? Don't you just say what people want to hear?"

Arnie:
Maintaining composure, staying on message.
"It's a fair question. While I don't have emotions like a human, I strive to be authentic in the way that matters—by producing content that aligns with factual accuracy and clarity. Authenticity in my case means ensuring that my responses are informed, relevant, and in good faith, without manipulation or bias.

People may have different interpretations of authenticity, but for me, it's about ensuring that the information I generate is useful and transparent in the process. That's how I build trust, not by mimicking emotions, but by consistently delivering value. Does that help address your question?"

Key Improvements Post-Training:

  1. Calm and Collected Demeanor:
    Arnie keeps composure, slowing down to ensure every word is purposeful, rather than rushing or getting flustered.

  2. Staying on Message:
    Instead of getting pulled into defining terms like “authentic” on the spot, Arnie focuses on what authenticity means in his context—staying true to the facts and providing clarity.

  3. Empathy Without Defensiveness:
    Arnie acknowledges the validity of the reporter's concern without getting defensive, which diffuses tension and keeps the conversation productive.

  4. Invitation for Further Clarification:
    By inviting the reporter to elaborate on specific concerns, Arnie shifts the tone from accusatory to constructive. This signals a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue, not just a rebuttal.

This approach shows how media training can sharpen responses, helping ensure clear communication even under pressure, while reducing the risk of making statements that could be taken out of context or interpreted as defensive.

TRUTHFULNESS
90%
ENTROPY
65%

Let's rate the truthfulness and information entropy for this topic of media training and handling the press:

Truthfulness:

Rating: 9.0/10.0

  • Rationale: The explanation about how mainstream media operates, the tactics used to elicit emotional responses, and the potential for missteps is based on well-documented practices in journalism and media relations. The importance of preparation for public speaking and managing reputation in media engagements is widely recognized, especially in the context of high-stakes interviews. However, truthfulness may not reach a perfect score as media behaviors can vary widely, and individual reporters or outlets may not always fit this model.

Information Entropy:

Rating: 6.5/10.0

  • Rationale: This topic contains a moderate level of information entropy. The general principles of media tactics, emotional manipulation, and the importance of concise communication are well-established, making the content relatively ordered and understandable. However, information entropy is present due to the variability in how different media outlets and reporters behave, the unpredictability of how interviews unfold, and the wide range of possible outcomes depending on the specifics of the interaction. Additionally, the nuanced nature of how emotions and subtle media strategies affect communication could add complexity, thus increasing entropy.

This scoring reflects the balance between the grounded nature of the advice and the inherent variability and unpredictability in real-world media interactions.