It’s more affordable than you think. Here’s how to get a free budget proposal.

Congratulations! You survived 2018. Yes, I know I wrote a similar thing last year. But once again, it was a year of big breaking news stories: wildfires, storms and floods. And politics? Oh my. What will 2019 bring?  Is your news team up for the challenge? Here are 5 reasons why news directors should budget for talent coaching in 2019.

You have a new set: Those billboard monitors, touchscreens and tagboards are great. But they only work if your talent is prepared to turn away from the prompter and interact with the graphics.

Your A-team took the buyout: A wave of veterans retiring from the business has challenged a new lineup of anchors and reporters to step up.

Your A-team didn’t take the buyout: You have veteran anchors, reporters, weather and sports talent with outdated presentation skills.

Your audience is distracted: Inappropriate hair, makeup or wardrobe choices may be diverting attention from your journalism.

Your audience is disappointed: Ineffective anchors and reporters are posing in front of the story, instead of taking the viewer into the meaning of the story. If your talent is not engaging the audience, viewers have endless choices for something else to watch.

And a new reason in 2019: Video for social media platforms! Face the fact that your younger viewers may NEVER watch you on a TV set. They will follow your talent on social media. Talent performance on mobile screens is different! Don’t get left behind.

Perhaps the most important reason: invest in your people. They’ve worked hard to deliver the big stories this year. And yet, the most common complaint I hear from TV news talent is: I never get any feedback! Let’s all admit that the complexity of delivering news on traditional and new media platforms has everybody stressed out. News directors are too busy to give feedback.  Reporters and anchors who may find themselves shooting their own standup while tweeting and going live on Facebook may be multitasking too much to really listen. Talent coaching reinforces and builds on the good things your team is doing, while focusing on what needs improvement.

If any of the above situations describes your newsroom, please contact me for a custom coaching budget proposal. One size does not fit all. Talent coaching is more affordable than you think! You don’t have to buy into a longterm package to have a transformative coaching visit, with detailed notes that can be useful for annual reviews. Followup options can include low-cost Skype sessions to reinforce goals for improvement. Click on terryanzur.com to learn more.