Insight

Training and supporting confident spokespeople:

a guide for health sector communicators

By Senior Account Director,

Jess Farmery

Ask any health or MedTech Communications and PR Director for their list of non-negotiables, and a strong roster of spokespeople will be at the very top.

These individuals are the external face of your organisation, providing the crucial human voice that brings your messages to life whilst winning trust amongst your patient and clinician audiences. Whether they are navigating a tough media grilling as a crisis unfolds or translating a complex research breakthrough for a breakfast TV crowd, a skilled spokesperson is worth their weight in gold.

However, the best spokespeople are not born; they are made. It's a rare organisation where colleagues are queueing up with enthusiasm to face journalists and conference crowds. More often, a combination of nerves, a lack of role clarity, and the absence of formal training prevents talented individuals from stepping forward. This creates a common but critical bottleneck: you need experts and leaders to front company announcements, showcase expertise at events, and join podcasts and panels, but they lack the specific skills and confidence the role demands.

So, how do you bridge this gap? Try this strategic approach to transforming your internal experts into confident, compelling ambassadors.

Step 1: From CEO to clinician, match the best people to the right opportunities

Before you can train, you must identify your talent and structure your approach. This will make it much easier to manage inbound requests and ensure the right person is always put forward. You can subdivide your tiers by topic area or format of opportunity, so it becomes even easier to identify the right person at a glance. For example:

Tier 1: The C-Suite and top execs are best suited for high profile thought leadership opportunities, major news and announcements, and crisis response.

Tier 2: Managers and department heads are well-suited for vertical-specific news announcements, public speaking and thought leadership opportunities.

Tier 3: Call on your subject or technical experts - including in-house clinicians, product managers or customer success leaders - to represent the company’s stance on specific product, innovation, science or research topics.

At this point, it’s so important to look beyond the usual suspects! To fill your tiers, make it your mission to find a truly diverse group of people who demonstrate not just expertise, but also natural communication aptitude. That means clarity of thought, passion for their subject, and composure under pressure.

Step 2: Turning health experts into fluent spokespeople

Remember - effective training is a hands-on, tailored experience that goes beyond drilling key messages in order to build lasting skills and confidence.

What good media training should include:

Helping spokespeople to get to grips with company messages, but also helping them to translate them into their own voice, weave them into narratives and adapt them to fit the conversation
Explanations of the core techniques, from bridging difficult questions to steering interviews towards preferred topics and landing those all-important soundbites
The bulk of the training should be practical, recorded interviews. A trainer (often an ex-journalist) must conduct challenging interviews to test the spokesperson's command of the techniques under pressure.
A skilled trainer will coach on the nuances of different platforms – as you know, appearing on live TV is not the same as a pre-recorded podcast! They should also help each trainee to perfect their body language, posture, and vocal tone, so their physical presence matches the authority of their words.

Comprehensive training is the most critical investment.

Step 3: Practice, iterate, and build confidence

A single training session is just the start. Skills fade without consistent practice and a structured approach to building experience.

Build a spokesperson's confidence by starting them with friendly trade press, industry podcasts, or print interviews. These are often less intimidating than live broadcast opportunities and provide a safer space to refine their skills.
Use your PR agency or internal communications team to help keep skills sharp. They can set up mock interviews for quick practice and feedback and offer extra top-up training as required.
After every external engagement or media interaction, conduct a brief debrief with the spokesperson. Discuss what went well, which questions were toughest, and what could be improved. This ensures continuous learning and helps you refine your messaging.

Step 4: Amp up the pressure with immersive crisis simulations

For your Tier 1 spokespeople and senior leadership teams, taking part in an immersive crisis simulation will help them feel ready for anything. These simulations are an excellent add-on to standard media training, and they serve to test teamwork a decision-making under extreme pressure. A good simulation involves a realistic, unfolding scenario with evolving information, social media firestorms, and high-stakes media engagements like mock press conferences. For example, the simulation could replicate the demands that would be placed on spokespeople if your organisation were to be struck by a cyber-attack resulting in leaked patient data or a shut-down in healthcare management systems. Running simulations with different themes at least every 6 months should form the cornerstone of your organisation's crisis comms preparedness.

Step 5: Support, protect, and recognise

It’s important to acknowledge that being a spokesperson is an addition to, not a replacement for, an individual's primary role. To keep your front bench happy and engaged – and not overburdened - you need a support system that works.

Create and update comprehensive resources for all trained spokespeople. This should contain company messaging and proof points, a "fact sheet" with up-to-date stats, approved bios and headshots, and preparation tips
Your internal team or PR agency should be doing the bulk of the legwork before every opportunity to provide thorough briefings, anticipated Q&As, and handle all logistics for any media engagement.
To retain spokespeople, you have to act as a gatekeeper. Ensure duties do not become stressful, demanding, or interfere with their core job.
Acknowledge their work publicly in company meetings and privately with their line manager. Recognition is a powerful motivator for them and an encouragement for others to step up.

For organisations in the health sector, the people who represent you have the most important role of all. By treating spokesperson development as a continuous and strategic programme, you can build an army of credible, confident advocates who are ready to thrive in the spotlight and represent your organisation with skill and impact.

If you’re looking for an experienced partner to support your spokesperson development, Lexington can help. Our Health team has worked with global medtech companies and pharmaceutical companies as well as healthtech startups, NHS Trusts and charities to deliver:

Full and half-day bespoke crisis simulations
Onsite or virtual media training for C-Suite teams
Introduction or refresher skills training for your team
Executive profile raising programmes that span thought leadership, event appearances, media relations and social media

Speak to a member of the team to learn more about our tailored services and special third-sector offers for NHS Trusts and health charities.