The media strike terror into most people who have not had much to do with them. A call from a journalist can make you tremble with fear, particularly if you have something to hide. And, that journalist can be from TV, radio, press or the internet. But, guess which one will strike most fear into you - television or radio, where people actually get to see and/or hear you.

That's why the TV interview is the worst one to conquer. There could be a harsh light on you, making you sweat but the audience will see only the beads of sweat and you can look like you're trying to conceal something from them. They don't see the light; all they see is the sweat. A bob of the Adam's apple, a slight lick of the lips, nervous glances away from the interviewer, a shaking hand or leg, a stumbling response ' all these are negatives that can quickly have the audience totally against you and what you stand for. Media training would convince you that you have to prepare before any media jousting.

When a journalist calls you for an interview, don't fall for the trap of launching straight into the exchange there and then. Use a white lie if you have to but put off the journalist till you've had a chance to properly prepare. If you start answering questions on the phone without this preparation you might find that when the journalist arrives to record the real interview, your responses, after preparation, might be different and then you have a whole new ball game called contradiction ' the new news story.

So, what does this vital preparation involve? For a start, check what you should say or shouldn't say. This is the filtering that's so important if you're going to protect your career. You should be using some pithy catch-phrases or analogies and these take time to prepare. The major part of preparation is to determine your best few messages and get them straight in your mind. Do not try to get too many messages to inject into the interview. You'll be more successful if you repeat your main three messages several times rather than get nine different messages once into the interview.

You see, in a pre-recorded interview which will be most television ones you might do, the reporter will dip into one answer for news, or several for a current affairs program, so if you repeat your main messages the chances for your grab to be used actually increase. Don't forget how you look and get some little example stories ready to trot out as well as any models or imagery that will back up your story and a search in Google to help with research. Take the wider view rather than a narrow view so you're prepared if the journalist throws an industry wide comment at you. Or indeed, that might be a region-wide, state-wide, national or international comment gleaned from his/her Google research.

A good way to finish your preparation is to do a pretend interview with another person in your company. We do this for clients and it works a treat in getting them up to speed before the big event.