Communication training that builds confidence and changes behaviour

Media First has spent more than 40 years helping organisations and their people communicate with greater clarity, confidence and impact.

Our difference lies in combining experienced practitioners, genuinely bespoke programme design, and an intensely practical approach. Courses are delivered by working journalists, communications specialists, business coaches and other practitioners who understand both their subject and how to help people improve.

The experience around the course matters too. Our dedicated operations team manages every aspect of delivery, while our purpose-built studios, professional filming facilities and dedicated camera technicians create realistic, high-quality learning experiences. Learning continues beyond the session through written delegate feedback reports, our Members' Area and 30 days' complimentary access to Thirty Seven, our AI-powered communication coach.

The result is not simply an enjoyable training day. It is carefully designed, professionally delivered development that helps people perform more effectively in real communication situations.

Yes. We regularly design training for chief executives, board members, senior leadership teams, and other experienced professionals whose communication directly affects organisational confidence, reputation, and performance.

Senior participants do not need generic communication advice. They need credible challenge, realistic practice and feedback that reflects the complexity of their roles. We tailor the content, scenarios, and level of challenge to the situations they face, from high-profile media interviews and important presentations to organisational change, stakeholder scrutiny, and difficult conversations.

Our trainers combine current professional expertise with extensive training and business coaching experience. This enables them to challenge senior people constructively, adapt to different personalities and levels of experience, and create a focused environment in which participants can practise, reflect and improve.

Yes. Every Media First course is bespoke.

We begin by understanding the organisation, the participants, the communication challenges they face and the outcomes the client wants to achieve. We then shape the content, practical exercises, case studies and scenarios around those needs.

That might mean using participants’ forthcoming presentations, recreating the media interviews they are likely to face, working with genuine organisational messages or developing exercises around a live communication challenge.

For larger training programmes, Thirty Seven can be incorporated into the roll-out to reinforce learning beyond the facilitated sessions. Its multilingual capability also makes it possible to provide AI-powered communication practice and coaching across international and linguistically diverse teams.

Practical learning is at the heart of everything we do.

People improve their communication skills by communicating, receiving expert feedback and trying again. Our courses therefore devote substantial time to realistic exercises rather than long presentations or abstract theory.

Depending on the programme, participants may take part in filmed media interviews, presentation practice, message-development exercises, challenging conversations, writing tasks, crisis scenarios or other simulations based on their roles. Where filming is involved, dedicated camera technicians manage the technical production so the trainer can focus fully on observation, coaching and feedback.

Participants leave having tested techniques, applied them to realistic situations and understood what they need to do differently. They can then continue practising after the course using Thirty Seven. The aim is not simply to increase knowledge, but to improve performance.

Our trainers are experienced working practitioners who also know how to train and coach.

The team includes current journalists, former senior editors and broadcasters, communications and crisis specialists, presentation coaches, writers, content creators and business coaches. They bring current professional insight, extensive facilitation experience and an understanding of the pressures participants face in demanding communication situations.

Subject expertise alone does not make someone an effective trainer. Our trainers know how to create a supportive but challenging learning environment, provide specific and constructive feedback, and adapt their approach to different levels of confidence, experience and seniority.

Clients are matched with trainers whose expertise, style and professional background best suit the programme and its participants.

We agree on the training's purpose and intended outcomes during the programme design process, then build the content and exercises around them.

During the course, participants receive direct coaching and feedback on their performance. Where included in the programme, written delegate feedback reports capture individual strengths, development priorities and practical recommendations for continued improvement.

Learning does not end when the session finishes. Delegates receive 30 days’ complimentary access to Thirty Seven, our AI-powered communication coach, alongside supporting resources in our online Members’ Area. Thirty Seven gives participants further opportunities to practise and develop their communication skills after the facilitated training.

For larger course roll-outs, Thirty Seven can be incorporated into the wider programme. Its multilingual capability helps organisations extend practice and reinforcement across teams working in different countries and languages.

Success is ultimately reflected in what participants can do differently: handle scrutiny with greater confidence, explain complex information more clearly, deliver more engaging presentations, write with greater impact or communicate more effectively with important audiences. Our focus is on practical, observable improvement, not simply delivering a positive experience on the day.