It has always amazed (but not surprised!) me how many athletes simply do not understand how to work with the sports media, how to conduct successful interviews, or how to take advantage of this great opportunity on one of the world’s biggest stages to further their careers. Team public relations professionals spend a considerable amount of time trying to guide them. Some listen and do reasonably well. Many don’t. So the question is . . . what can we do about it?

During the spring of 2006 and armed with more than 30 years of experience dealing with a broad cross-section of players, I decided to move forward with an initiative that had been on the back burner for quite a long time and create a first-rate media training program for NFL players. It’s called -- Mike Patrick Sports Media Training - The Truth About The Sports Media. It’s the only program of its kind that I know of in the sports industry and frankly it is terrific.

A longtime friend and colleague who is a former sportscaster and who knows this stuff as well or better than we do worked with me on this project. Steve Bassett is president & CEO of The Communications Workshop, LLC here in the Washington, DC. Among other things, he teaches crisis management and media relations to corporate executives.

Together and with a lot of work, we constructed a comprehensive media training program which provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the sports media business, instructs players on how to conduct successful interviews, how to effectively manage their sports media relationships, and why it’s important to them.

The training seminar is a two-hour event. There is some flexibility for expansion and contraction built into it to provide compatibility with the time requirements of the coaching staff. But, of course, compressing it too much tends to defeat the purpose.

Each participant is afforded an inside look at the sports media, how and why they do what they do, and receives detailed instruction on how to conduct successful interviews in six separate interview scenarios. We also talk with players about how their conduct with the broadcast media particularly with respect to pre-production meetings can impact how they are treated during the game broadcast. And, we walk players through a detailed interview evaluation process. Everyone in the class has the opportunity to do on-camera practice interviews which are also critiqued on the spot in a group setting. Each participant also receives a copy of our exclusive Training Manual.

Please click on "A Message from Mike Patrick" to listen to my personal message about our unique sports media training program. Read our flyer. And, give us a call either at (703) 425-6421 or (301) 483-0158 for more information about the Mike Patrick Sports Media Training Program.