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“Guff.” That was the verdict of one journalist on a statement he was handed when a company refused to make a spokesperson available.

It is always interesting when we ask for delegates’ perceptions of journalists and the media at the start of our media training courses.

Boris Johnson is on the lookout for a spokesperson to front live press briefings that will be televised to the country.

Imagine a journalist turning around to you or your spokesperson mid-interview and asking ‘why are you answering the questions like that?’.

One day we are looking at the problems Huawei is facing in media interviews and the next we are analysing an interview about turning grouse moor into a nature reserve.

“What’s your favourite cheese?” Not the type of question you would expect to face from one of our current working journalist tutors during one of our media training courses.

We are all now using words and phrases every day that few of us had heard of at the start of the year.

If you tuned into the radio yesterday morning you may have heard a journalist repeatedly ask a spokesperson to provide an example to support a claim.

This weekend marks a significant next step in the easing of lockdown restrictions. Pub, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, hotels, caravan parks, theme parks and bingo halls are among the businesses and attractions that can reopen on Saturday (4/7) as the two-metre social distancing rule is replaced by ‘one metre plus’.

Have you stopped looking to gain positive media coverage because of the coronavirus pandemic? If you have, then you are not alone.

Without scoring a goal or even kicking a ball, Marcus Rashford became one of the heroes of the lockdown. The Premier League star’s campaigning has helped more than a million disadvantaged children get access to a free meal during the school summer holidays.

Little by little more normality is returning to our lives. We are now able to meet more people, play some sports and non-essential shops have opened their doors for the first time in months.

Picture the scene. You are pretty sure your spokesperson is coming towards the end of their media interview.

Announcing a reduction to your workforce is a daunting and unpleasant challenge for any leader and organisation. It is even harder if just a couple of months earlier you had promised those same workers that their jobs would be safe.

Explaining complex information and ideas is not easy. And it can be even harder to communicate it effectively in media interviews. Many interviews are based on complex information. Think how many stories are in the news about scientific breakthroughs, academic research, technological advancements and healthcare improvements.

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare. You’re in the middle of a presentation or coming to a critical point in a media interview and suddenly your mind goes blank.

You won’t be surprised to learn that as a media training company, we watch a lot of interviews. There’s always something others can learn from them.

It is not often a spokesperson feels the need to apologise after a media interview. But that is what one chief executive did after his TV performance was met with damaging headlines and a social media backlash.

If you don’t have anyone to tell your story, no one will hear it. Spokespeople promote their organisation’s achievements and defend its reputation during crisis media management incidents and they can tighten their media skills with presentation skills training and learn the qualities of a good presenter.

The bridging technique is one of the cornerstones of media training and an essential tool with which to control a media interview.

If you are a regular reader of this media training blog, you’ll know we have discussed the complexity of the ‘guarantee’ question before.

Training by videoconference has grown over recent years. And as the coronavirus crisis has intensified and offices have closed, it is becoming even more prominent.

Do you remember when the Government said that 20,000 deaths would be a ‘good outcome’ and a 'good result' from the coronavirus crisis? Sadly, it turned out to be a target that couldn’t be met.

“I don’t do statements. Statements are no good to man nor beast. Come on and say it yourself.” Not our words.

Earlier this week we mentioned in this media training blog how media spokespeople need to be prepared to face questions about the coronavirus even if they are talking about something completely unrelated.

If I had to name a journalist that I would be reluctant to face, Nick Ferrari would be right up there. The LBC presenter has a pretty ferocious reputation and has posed the forensic questions that have led spokespeople to produce some recent memorable media interview disasters.

When it comes to disastrous responses to doorstep interviews, we thought we had seen it all. In this media training blog, we have covered examples where spokespeople have simply ignored the journalist and pretended they are not there; others have shouted at the camera or tried to shove it out of the way’; and some have offered a ‘no comment’ response, leaving viewers to wonder what it is they had to hide.

You have seen interviews where the spokesperson has brought proceedings to an abrupt end when they don’t like a line of questioning. But how about when the PR team becomes unhappy with the question?

It was his first in-depth interview since winning the general election. So how did Boris Johnson get on when he sat down with BBC Breakfast inside Downing Street yesterday (14/1) for a live interview with Dan Walker?

Radio, print and TV interviews all have their specific requirements. But there is much more to it than those three categories, with each medium throwing up a range of different interview formats, each with its subtle nuances, which could trip up or unsettle an unsuspecting spokesperson. That’s why we offer every conceivable media interview format on our media training and crisis communication courses.