Media Training for Executives and Spokespeople
Build Confidence. Control the Narrative.
Your ability to communicate clearly, confidently and strategically is essential—whether facing a routine media inquiry or navigating a high-stakes crisis.
Our media training sessions will prepare you for interacting successfully with the media. You’ll learn to deliver your message with authority and practice staying in control of the conversation.
Expert-Led and Fully Customized Training
Seasoned media relations and issues management expert Jeff Keay leads our media training sessions. Jeff brings his insider expertise as a national spokesperson and senior advisor for leading Canadian organizations to customize sessions to your organization’s needs.
Together, you’ll explore your organization’s priorities and existing media relations practices with recommendations for strengthening your most important connections to media and social media.
Whether you’re preparing a single executive for a high-profile media appearance or equipping an entire leadership team, we design the training to fit your priorities and reach your audience.
Who is Media Training For?
Our customized media training sessions are geared to:
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- Senior executives who serve as public-facing spokespeople
- Communications leaders preparing executives for media interactions
- Organizations looking to strengthen their crisis response and media readiness
What You'll Learn
We focus on practical, hands-on learning to ensure you’re ready for any media scenario.
Depending on your needs, sessions can cover:
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- Media Relations Best Practices – Understand the evolving media landscape and how to build strong relationships with journalists.
- Your Media Ecosystem – Identify key media players, audience expectations and communication opportunities for you and your organization.
- Narrative and Key Message Development – Establish and maintain the message and interview parameters, especially when dealing with a crisis situation.
- Strengthening Your Communications Infrastructure – Enhance your internal and external processes for media readiness.
- Crisis Communications – Learn and practice to prepare for tough questions, manage the response, maintain control in high-pressure situations and protect your reputation.
- Mastering the Interview – Learn and practice techniques for clear and confident media responses that keep you “on message.”
- On-Camera Practice and Coaching – Practice your skills in realistic interview simulations with personalized feedback and critique.
Skills You'll Build
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- Refining your key messages
- Staying composed and “on script”
- Delivering your message with impact
- Handling tough questions
- Keeping control of the conversation
Beyond the Session: Ongoing Support
Your learning doesn’t stop when the session ends. Every participant receives:
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- A custom post-session report with feedback and actionable next steps.
- Recordings of your on-camera exercises for continued practice.
- A reference guide on best practices to reinforce your skills for future media interactions.
Meet Your Instructor
Jeff Keay
Executive Consultant and Strategic Leadership and Media Consultant for Curious Public.
Jeff Keay is one of Canada’s leading media relations, communications and issues management professionals, having served for four decades as a senior strategy advisor, speechwriter and national media spokesperson for some of Canada’s best-known institutions and brands, including Deloitte, CBC-Radio Canada, TD and Royal banks. As a senior advisor on crisis communications and reputation management – and Curious Public’s Executive Consultant, Leadership Strategy and Media Training – Jeff provides coaching and senior counsel to many of Curious Public’s high-profile partners, including Alectra Utilities, Wilfrid Laurier University, Metrolinx and MaRS Discovery District. Jeff stays curious about what makes people tick and what cool new thing is just over the horizon.
Let's Build Your Session
Are you looking for a focused coaching session? Or an extended training program?
Tell us what you have in mind, and we’ll design a solution that fits.
James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship
In partnership with
What is the Scholarship?
To honour the memory of a great colleague, friend, and father, Curious Public is selecting one Canadian skateboarder to receive the James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship of 500 USD towards Woodward Skateboarding Camp.
The scholarship is ready for applicants between the ages of 7 and 17 starting on January 27, 2026. All applications must be received by April 30, 2026. This scholarship must be used during the summer of 2026 at Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania, USA. Applicants should be residents of Canada.
How It Works
Every year we ask for applications from passionate, Canadian skateboarders between ages 7-17. We review all the applications and choose one skateboarder to help send to Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania.
What You'll Get
500 USD to pursue your skateboarding passion at WoodwardPA this summer!
How To Apply
We don't need much. Just tell us a little about your passion for skateboarding and how it connects you to family and/or your community using this application form. Then, send it back to us by Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Past Recipients
2025
Charlotte Leluan
Gatineau, Quebec
“I’d always wanted to go, but it’s expensive. It was my last year to go, and I really wanted to make it happen. The scholarship made my wish come true.”
2024
Blake Marchildon
Orangeville, Ontario
“I learned so much being around people who are as passionate about skateboarding as I am.”
2023
Zoe Zollinger
Nanaimo, British Columbia
“100% a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s so worth it.”
The Story of James Bullbrook and His Son, Richie
Each summer James Bullbrook and his son, Richie, would make the trek down from London, Ontario, Canada to one of the Woodward locations so that Richie could hone his skateboarding skills. Trips to Woodward were special for James and Richie, and they really cherished the time they spent together.
Over the years, Richie has developed into a highly skilled and passionate skater, and that’s largely thanks to his time at Woodward and his biggest fan and facilitator, James.
In January 2022, James passed away suddenly at the age of 56. His many friends and co-workers were devastated. We loved him very dearly, and we miss him very much. We wanted to so something in James’s name that helps his memory live on in a way that reflects who he was first and foremost: an incredible dad.
That’s why we’ve created the James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship that makes 500 USD a year available to a deserving family from Canada who wants to experience Woodward, as James and Richie did.
"The best times in James' life were spent with his son, doing what they loved together. It's our hope that this small gift will bring kids and their parents closer for years to come.”
-Lloyd Rang, President, Curious Public
Curious Public James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship Application
Applying is easy and will take no more than 10 minutes.
Curious Public wants to offer one deserving Canadian Skateboarder a 500 USD scholarship to Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania, USA.
All About You
We’re looking forward to hearing all about you and your skateboarding passion!
The scholarship must be used in 2026.
On behalf of all of us here at Curious Public, thank you for you submission. Stay tuned and follow us for updates!
Our People
Active
We’re driven by curiosity.
It's what helps us ask better questions, listen closely, and get to the heart of the challenge.
We are writers, journalists, public servants, campaigners, media specialists, digital thinkers, trainers, designers, and trusted advisors. We bring decades of experience across politics, public affairs, corporate communications, community engagement, media relations, crisis communications, and storytelling.
We are sharp, thoughtful, practical, and human. We know how to read the room, understand the moment, and help leaders choose the path forward with clarity and confidence.
Our Mission
We help organizations communicate to build trust, create momentum, and make their message matter.
Our Vision
We are the strategy-led communications partner organizations trust when the stakes are high, the path is unclear, and the message matters.
Lloyd Rang
CEO and Chief Strategist
Lloyd Rang is a strategic communications consultant, entrepreneur, award-winning writer, and one of Canada’s most sought-after speechwriters. He is known for his humor and insight, has written for government and business leaders and celebrities, has been a pundit on television and in print, is a featured conference speaker, has led corporate workshops in communications and has written for publications in the US and Canada. As CEO and Chief Strategist, Lloyd gives creative advice and insights on strategy, content and tactics to clients across the public and corporate sectors.
Tracey Sobers
Managing Partner
Tracey has served as a communications planner, strategist and executive advisor throughout her career. Building and maintaining effective relationships have underpinned all of her work with key stakeholders and within organizations. Tracey has a keen understanding of both the needs of clients, as well as the strengths of her team. That is the wealth of experience she brings to Curious Public as she manages the talent on board against the unique challenges clients face.
Anne Marie Aikins
Executive Lead, Public and Media Relations, Crisis Management
Anne Marie’s career has evolved from nurse counsellor and journalist to high-profile chief spokesperson for Metrolinx. Known widely as “the GO Train lady,” she has spent decades navigating high-stakes environments and building deep, trusted relationships across the Canadian media landscape. Anne Marie helps organizations in the health, transit, housing, tourism and tech sectors navigate complex communication challenges and chaotic pivots. She brings strategic grit and a dash of wit to every project, ensuring her clients achieve tangible, practical, and enduring impact.
Shannon Currie
Account Director, Strategy and Communications
Shannon is a strategic communications advisor and account lead with a background in politics, the arts, entrepreneurship and client service. She stewards complex client files across nonprofit, education, public-sector and corporate environments, often serving as the lead contact and producer on multidisciplinary work, including campaigns, brand and creative strategy, design projects and communications plans. Her work in political communications, client service and performance gives Shannon a deep understanding of how public narrative, policy, media and stakeholder priorities intersect — and how audiences listen, connect and respond.
Emma Earley
Senior Strategist, Digital Marketing and Communications
Emma understands people. She has a background in psychology and over eight years of communications experience, which helps her bring EQ and IQ together with analytical rigour and instinctive creative thinking to every engagement. Emma digs into organizational context, reads the audience, and applies strategic judgement to shape communications that land. Her experience spans integrated campaigns, digital and social strategy, strategic messaging, design, and paid advertising across business, non-profit, and consumer sectors.
Alan Findlay
Executive Lead, Strategic Planning
Alan is a visionary communications leader, C-suite advisor and storyteller. As a political journalist in Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton, Alan turned complex issues into concise, news-you-can-use narratives for readers. And then, as a political advisor, he used his talents to turn policy decisions into persuasive and memorable narratives. Alan spearheaded communications at two large Ontario government agencies where he worked closely with CEOs, executives, project partners and industry stakeholders to tell stories that demonstrated value and impact to the public and taxpayers and built meaningful relationships with many public and private-sector partners, including industry management and labour associations.
Kristen Gross
Account Director, Strategy and Communications
Kristen Gross is a communications strategist, senior advisor, and writer. As an Account Director at Curious Public, she advises clients across the public, healthcare, education, nonprofit, and corporate sectors, helping them clarify their message and navigate moments of growth, risk, and opportunity. Kristen has led projects for a diverse set of organizations. Her work spans strategic planning, narrative development, organizational change, and executive content. Inside Curious Public, she also helps lead the exploration of AI-supported workflows, ensuring modern tools are always guided by human judgement.
Jeff Keay
Executive Lead, Leadership Strategy and Media Training
Jeff is one of Canada’s leading media relations, communications and issues management professionals. He has served as a senior strategy advisor, speechwriter and national media spokesperson for some of Canada’s best-known public and private institutions and brands, including CBC-Radio Canada and TD and Royal Bank financial groups. As Curious Public’s Executive Lead, Leadership Strategy and Media Training, Jeff focuses on crisis communications, reputation management and the creation of robust communications infrastructures.
Jordan Ray
Account Director, Strategy and Public Affairs
Jordan brings more than a decade of public affairs, political, and corporate communications experience to high-stakes client challenges. He is known for his deep understanding of complex political ecosystems and modern campaign strategy. Jordan helps senior decision-makers navigate the cultural zeitgeist, manage uncertainty and risk, and ‘execute out-of-the-box’ ideas. He combines sharp strategic IQ and lateral thinking with the empathy needed to make every message matter.
