Media Training for
CEOs, CFOs & Founders

Media training for CEOs, CFOs, and founders is specialized coaching that prepares executive leaders to communicate with authority, precision, and authenticity in any high-stakes public or press situation.

That includes media interviews, press interviews, media engagements, and interactions with major media outlets, earnings calls, investor briefings, congressional testimony, panels, presentations, product launches, crisis communication, and TEDx talks.

It goes far beyond message prep and talking points. Real executive media training builds the mental focus, composure, and embodied presence that lets your actual leadership come through, especially under intense scrutiny from journalists, producers, analysts, and investors who are trained to find the gap between what was said and what was meant.

Susan’s approach draws on 36+ years of coaching executives and public figures at the highest levels, combined with neuroscience-backed performance training, Aikido-based communication principles, and deep experience on both sides of the media relationship, as a publicist who booked clients on CNN, Oprah, Good Morning America, and 60 Minutes, and as a coach who has prepared leaders for successful media interviews, challenging interviews, and high pressure situations that can define or derail a career.

Training doesn’t just prepare you for the interview. It prepares you for every high-stakes moment that follows, across your entire tenure as a leader, strengthening your communication skills, confidence, and ability to remain calm under pressure.

Executive media training with Susan Harrow covers:

Message development: identifying 4–6 core key messages and talking points that reflect your authentic voice, your company’s mission, and the positioning that matters most to your audience, whether that’s investors, journalists, producers, analysts, or the general public, so you can stay focused and deliver clear, quotable sound bites.

Bridging techniques: the skill of moving from a host or journalist’s question, including difficult questions, tough questions, or unexpected questions, back to your core message without sounding evasive, defensive, or off-brand. Susan’s Aikido-based approach makes bridging feel powerful and credible, never dishonest, while helping you maintain control of the conversation.

Mock interviews and video feedback: every session includes recorded mock interviews with immediate playback. You see exactly how your tone, pacing, body language, eye contact, and facial expressions land, and adjust in real time as you practice responding to challenging questions.

Crisis and hostile question preparation: adversarial journalists or hosts, curveball analyst questions, earnings surprises, and PR crises are all rehearsed in advance. You leave knowing exactly how to handle tough questions, respond effectively in crisis situations, and communicate in a professional manner around sensitive issues.

Scenario-specific coaching: from investor presentations and earnings calls to congressional testimony, boardroom negotiations, TEDx talks, and live TV appearances, sessions are built around the specific moments your role demands, using personalized coaching and expert coaching techniques.

Training also addresses executive presence, vocal authority, presentation skills, communication style, and the subtle non-verbal signals that audiences, cameras, and the media pick up long before you’ve said a word.

Susan also assesses every executive across six dimensions: Clarity, Presence, Structure, Vocal Delivery, Emotional Connection, and Authenticity, ensuring your message, key points, and delivery land with clarity and authority.

Most CEOs, CFOs, and founders choose to work together on a monthly retainer so that preparedness becomes a standing capability, not a scramble before a major event, effectively forming an ongoing media training program.

For more compressed or urgent timelines, sessions are available as a half-day or full-day intensive, simulating real high-stakes situations, media interviews, and challenging interviews with reporters and journalists.

The right format depends on your existing comfort level in media interactions, what’s coming up on your calendar, and what’s at stake.

Some executives arrive for an intensive day weeks before a major funding announcement or earnings call. Others work with Susan over multiple sessions ahead of a press tour or product launch, building long-term communication skills, public speaking ability, and confidence.

Either way, you’ll leave the first session with skills you can apply immediately, and a clear sense of where to go deeper. What once felt high-risk starts to feel like a distinct competitive advantage.

Susan Harrow is one of the most experienced media trainers in the world, with over 36 years of coaching at the highest levels of business, government, and public life.

She has coached Fortune 500 CEOs, tech founders, CFOs navigating difficult earnings cycles, executives preparing for congressional testimony, and leaders on the verge of their first major press appearance and media engagements.

Before becoming a media trainer, Susan worked as a publicist, booking clients on CNN, Good Morning America, Oprah, 60 Minutes, Forbes, Inc., The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and dozens of other major media outlets. She understands exactly how journalists and reporters think, how to respond to a reporter’s question, and how to handle challenging questions in interviews, because she spent years on the other side of it.

She is also a black belt in Aikido, a former teaching tennis pro, and a former HR consultant who analyzed the body language, facial expressions, and communication style of more than 3,000 C-Suite and sales candidates for job fit at a Fortune 500 company. That rare combination informs an embodied coaching methodology that no other executive media trainer offers.

Susan is also the author of the bestselling Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins), a foundational book on presence, authenticity, and integrity in high-visibility moments.

Because expertise, credentials, and a great communications team are not enough.

The most brilliant executive leaders can freeze, fumble, ramble, overexplain, or say exactly the wrong thing the moment a camera turns on, a journalist asks an adversarial question, or an analyst corners them on an earnings call, especially in high-pressure situations or when faced with difficult questions.

For a mid-level employee, a bad interview is an embarrassment. For a CEO, CFO, or founder, it can be a reputation-defining or reputation-ending event. A single misquoted comment or off-the-cuff remark can trigger an immediate share price decline. A fumbled crisis response can extend a damaging story from days to weeks. A defensive investor call can undermine confidence mid-raise.

Media training closes the gap between who you are and how you come across under pressure. It strengthens your ability to communicate effectively, stay focused on your key messages, and deliver with clarity and confidence.

77% of investors say CEO thought leadership directly influences investment decisions. Your media presence, your past interviews, and how you communicate under pressure are already part of due diligence before you walk into a funding room.

This is a skill worth building long before you need it, not something to scramble for the week of a major announcement.

Executive media training with Susan Harrow is customized to your specific situation, role, goals, and timeline.

• Full-day intensive sessions start at $10,000.
• Ongoing coaching packages are available beginning at $4,000/mo.
• Short launch prep starts at $3000.

Each engagement is designed as a personalized coaching experience that strengthens your communication skills, confidence, and performance in media interactions.

To discuss your specific media situations and get a personalized quote, schedule a free 15-minute strategy call here.