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Look into my eyes…

Eye contact is a really important component of communication. The words we’re speaking matter, of course. But audiences judge us in all sorts of non-verbal ways too. By looking into our eyes, for example, to work out whether they can trust what we’re saying.

So in this video, ACM Training’s media trainer, Richard Uridge, channels his inner Kenny Craig (a rubbish hypnotist played by the Little Britain actor Matt Lucas) and shows how a Post-it note can help.

E is for Eye Contact; The latest how-to video in the Z to A of Media Training.

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Slow down you move too fast

Simon and Garfunkel weren’t talking about media interviews and presentations when they sang the line “slow down you move too fast.” But it’s good advice all the same.

If you move too fast when speaking publicly, your audience will struggle to keep up. Give a point a chance to sink in before moving onto the next point.

Let it breathe…

And don’t have too many points – it’ll be hard to squeeze them all in without leaving your listeners and viewers by the wayside. S is for Slowly – another episode from ACM Training’s wise old owl, Rich Uridge, in the Z to A of Media Training.


The Z to A of Media Training (because everbody starts at A)

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Remember the memory game?

Of course you remember the memory game! Who could forget it? But are your key messages as memorable? Or are they instantly forgettable? Let Richard Uridge show you how a pack of playing cards might help with your next media interview or presentation.

The concepts of primacy, recency and latency in public speaking are the subject of this episode of the Z to A of Media Training.

The Z to A of Media Training (because everbody starts at A)
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If a picture’s worth a thousand words here’s why the opposite may be true

The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals to the left. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci to the right. So who’s the cavalier chap with the enigmatic face in the centre? And what’s his story?

Why choosing the right words is like a priceless oil painting is the subject of the latest episode in Rich Uridge’s Z to A of Media Training.


Poets spend a lot of time thinking about the right word to conjure up the right image. And the best poets – like Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney and Dylan Thomas – do so brilliantly and almost always in the plainest of language. Here’s Richard latest poem, hopefully without an inappropriate word in sight. Do the words he’s chosen readily conjure up images? You be the judge….

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Why you should hammer home your key messages in interviews and presentations

You may well know what you’re trying to get across in a job or media interview or presentation. But does your audience? Probably not! Which is why it’s important you don’t leave your key messages to chance. So take a leaf out of Winston Churchill’s public speaking playbook.

In this episode of the Z to A of Media Training, ACM’s communication coach, Rich Uridge, delves into his toolbox to make a point and drive it home.

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How to make your key messages stand out in a media interview or presentation

You know what’s important when you’re giving an interview or presentation. But the audience doesn’t – unless you them them! Tagging is promotional technique that allows you to make your key messages loud, clear and “sticky.” In other words stick in people’s minds rather than go in one ear and out the other before you’ve barely finished speaking.

You use tags and labels on Christmas presents and suitcases so why not in interviews and presentations?

T is for Tagging is part of a growing collection of how to videos on The Z to A of Media Training here and on our YouTube channel.

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Why interviewees should be in the driving seat for media interviews

Are you a nervous passenger? Do you pay proper attention to road signs? Do the whole mirror, signal, manoeuvre routine?

There are lessons everywhere if only we care to look. Even on the drive to work.

So here’s how to pass your interview driving test and get rid of the L plates. Because, as somebody famous found out, making a media U turn isn’t as easy as in a car. D is for Driving: the Z to A of media training by Richard Uridge.

The Z to A of Media Training (because everbody starts at A)
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Is broadcast media training still worth it in a landscape dominated by social media?

In this episode of the Z to A of Media Training, ACM’s lead media trainer, Rich Uridge, explains why broadcast media training is as valuable now as it ever was because it’s the discipline that underpins pretty much all editorial content.

The Z to A of Media Training (because everbody starts at A)
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Why less is more in media interviews and presentations

Knowing when enough is enough in a media interview or presentation is really important. After all you could be Gone in 60 Seconds. Or half that.

So here’s some wise advice from ACM Training’s old owl, Rich Uridge, on keeping it short in this, the latest episode of the Z to A of Media Training.

The Z to A of Media Training (because everbody starts at A)
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Exit stage left

Why walking off a media interview is rarely (but not always) a bad idea.


I’ve spent a big chunk of my working life helping people deal with the media. Training them to stay put and stay calm in interviews – even when the questions are tough and the style is adversarial.

Getting up and walking out is never a good look, I’ve always argued. You’ll be remembered for the contretemps not the content. But there’s always an exception to the rule as the death of Sir John Nott, the former Conservative Defence Secretary, aged 92 reminds us.

Here he is in 1982 walking out of a live television interview with Sir Robin Day. A part of me wishes more politicans would do the same. But I guess the fact we’re still showing this clip more than 40 years later proves my point. That leaving the stage risks upstaging whatever it was you were trying to say.