Communications Training

Media and speaker training. For those of you readers not in the PR industry, you might wonder what these services are and why they are needed. Well, to simplify it for you: know when a national TV reporter does a live, on-air interview with someone in your home state after a disaster and you cringe at how awful that person looks and sounds on camera, and you ask yourself, "Why? Why is that person representing my state!?" Come on... you (especially those of you from South Cack-a-lac) know what I'm talking about. It's classic: a hurricane blows through town, and you've got the toothless old man wearing suspenders telling Diane Sawyer, "We ain't done known 'bout the tornader til it hit down right next door. I ain't never seen such a thang!" (bringing much pride to whatever southern town is featured on Good Morning America).

Well, that person was not media trained.

I'm painting you an extreme example, but essentally, our clients don't want to be that toothless old man using double negatives on television. To look good and say what you want to say on camera (or in a presentation), you have to practice, because success depends on preparation. So that's what we help our clients do: prepare! And it's absolutely one of my favorite roles at Jackson Spalding.

What I've learned in Holland is that the approach to preparation offered by Jackson Spalding through JS Cultivation isn't markedly different from what is offered by Van Luyken. Like JS, Van Luyken is known for its customized and highly effective training services.

Van Luyken's primary trainers, who each have a background in journalism or serving as a spokesperson, are Hans and Raoul, two of my favorite VL co-workers.

In my opinion, a good trainer is someone who can make a client feel comfortable in what is often an uncomfortable setting, and a good trainer is also FUN. At JS, we try to bring these traits to our trainings, and our Van Luyken friends have these characteristics down, too.

So, overall, I'd say we're more similar in our training styles than not....



...except that the sessions here are usually in Dutch. :)


The Van Luyken Training Studio, where they simulate on-air interviews and in-person interviews.











Hans getting ready for a client training.