How do I choose the right media coach for my executive team?

Choosing a media coach is a high-stakes decision: the person you select will shape how your executives present themselves, and by extension your organization, to the journalists and audiences that matter most. Five criteria should guide the selection.

First: real broadcast experience. The coach should have worked in a newsroom or as a broadcast journalist — not studied it, not consulted adjacent to it, but done it. The difference is the difference between a flight instructor who has flown and one who has read about flying. Broadcast practitioners bring frame-level awareness, studio-condition reflexes, and an understanding of how journalists actually prepare, question, and edit.

Second: bilingual capability. In GCC markets, executives are interviewed in Arabic and English, often in the same media cycle. A monolingual coach leaves half your risk unaddressed. The coach should be able to conduct sessions, review recordings, and provide feedback in both languages.

Third: curriculum that addresses the full communication stack — cognitive (thinking under pressure), vocal (breath, pacing, tone), physical (camera framing, gesture economy), and contemporary (deepfake awareness, AI media literacy, synthetic content risks). If the curriculum is the same one from 2019, it is missing modules your executives need in 2026.

Fourth: customization. A coach who delivers the same programme to every client, regardless of sector, seniority, or media environment, is selling a product — not a professional service. The right coach builds the engagement around your executive's actual interview portfolio, communication style, and risk profile.

Fifth and most subjectively: chemistry. Media training involves vulnerability — the executive will be recorded, reviewed, and critiqued. They need to trust the coach enough to be honest in the room, and the coach needs the professional courage to give unvarnished feedback. The best predictor of coaching outcomes is the quality of the coaching relationship.