Training and coaching

CitySavvy’s highly experienced former international journalists and presentation experts offer media training, presentation coaching and writing skills workshops.

Media training
In today’s media-saturated world, your words and appearance determine how people view you and your organisation. Whether at a press conference, shareholder meeting or in a TV interview, you must be able to deliver your key messages with confidence, conviction and clarity.

CitySavvy’s top-level, highly experienced former journalists will help you take control of your message and image in the media.

We teach you how journalists think. We explain the different needs and methods of broadcast, print media and newswires. You will learn to formulate appealing soundbites, remain on-message and retain control of your story – however hostile the encounter.

Sessions are based around exercises and true-to-life simulations relevant to your media dealings. Practice interviews are filmed by professional cameramen so we can analyse and perfect your performance.

Our sessions are always led by at least two highly experienced journalists – one print and one television – who have interviewed officials from all kinds of industries in all manner of situations.

We train entire media teams, senior managers and top executives.

Financial media training
The ability to communicate effectively with the financial media – including newswires, newspapers and television – is a specific skill, typically honed over many years. We help you get to grips fast with the special challenges inherent in speaking to investors through the financial media.

Our senior consultants and directors offer you the benefit of their decades of experience covering companies such as yours for the financial media. With our first-hand understanding of what these journalists seek, we are perfectly placed to prepare you for financial interviews.

We can even tailor extremely specific financial courses focusing on communicating with the financial trade press covering specific product areas in financial services, including leveraged finance, structured finance, corporate finance and equities trading.

Crisis communications training
Presenting the right message to the media is hard enough in ordinary circumstances, but in a crisis, the skills needed to stick to your messages and present a clear and articulate view are even more essential. Our highly experienced trainers have covered numerous crises both as journalists and consultants: they will give you the theory, logic and practice you need to perform as a company spokesperson in the most challenging of times.

We devise simulated worst-case and authentic crisis scenarios tailored to your company and sector and run you through the paces as if the crisis were happening that day. This practice, with feedback, will give you the tools and the confidence to respond appropriately in the face of a real crisis scenario.

Presentation skills coaching
CitySavvy’s knowledgeable and experienced presentation coaches can prepare you for any presentation, whether to employees, investors, the media, clients or industry colleagues.

We help you refine your message so you communicate exactly what you intend and teach you simple techniques that will have a noticeable effect on your ability to communicate with impact.

Sessions will cover areas including messaging and organisation, presenting with passion, voice projection and tone, body language and charismatic communication. Our coaches will also give you tips and tricks for controlling your nerves, creating approachability and influencing your audience.

The sessions can give you a general grounding in presentation skills or be customised to achieve certain specific objectives – often a whole session can centre on one important speech.

Writing Skills
People often dismiss themselves as poor writers without realising how easy it is to get better. Poor writing can inhibit good communication inside and outside a company. Even on the most day-to-day level, good writing can make all the difference to how well a company works together and engages its key audiences.

Our experienced trainers are all former journalists who have perfected their writing skills over decades. We can use this to help anyone who needs to communicate effectively through their writing. This could be anything – from sending an email to structuring a presentation. Everyone uses writing in their work every day, so why not make better use of it?

We train all levels of professionals – whether native English speakers or not – to write clearly and persuasively for any audience, including employees, shareholders, the media and customers.

Whatever your need, our training will quickly boost your writing abilities. We can give you the confidence and the skills to become a better writer, fast.

Classes can be tailored for groups of any size and courses of any length, starting from at least one day.

For more information, contact Abigail Levene.