Can AI Help You Become Better at Media Interviews? I'd Like You to Help Me Find Out.

Over the past 30 years, I've media trained thousands of people, from business leaders and politicians to NHS clinicians, charity spokespeople, sports people and emergency service professionals. Thank you to everyone who has trusted me to help them develop their skills.

A spokesperson addresses the media, answering questions during an interview session, as cameras and microphones capture the discussion.

One thing has always been true. The best way to become good at media interviews isn't by reading a book (although they can be helpful in grounding you in the priniciples of interacting with the media) It's by doing interviews.

The challenge has always been that practising realistic interviews can be expensive, time-consuming and usually requires another person to play the role of the journalist.

So I began asking myself a question. Could artificial intelligence become an effective media interviewer?

Over the past few months, using vibe coding, I've been developing an app that combines my media training guide with AI to create realistic interview practice sessions.

The result is Media Coach AI.

The idea is simple. Once you’ve studied the theory, you choose a scenario, provide a briefing, select the journalist type and the AI journalist conducts a realistic interview, asking follow-up questions just as a real journalist would. The app analyses your performance and generates detailed feedback, highlighting your strengths, identifying areas for improvement and offers practical suggestions to help you become a more confident and effective interviewee.

It isn't designed to replace professional media training (which I always recommend people do). Instead, it provides the opportunity to practise whenever the user wants, as many times as they like, building confidence before they face a real journalist.

Although the app is still under development, it has reached the stage where I'd really value feedback from people prepared to test it.

I'm interested in hearing from:

• communications professionals

• journalists

• PR practitioners

• media trainers

• business leaders

• charity spokespeople

• healthcare professionals

• students

• or anyone who regularly gives interviews.

I'd love to know:

• Was the interview realistic?

• Were the questions relevant?

• Was the feedback useful?

• What worked well?

• What didn't?

• What features would make it even better?

You can try the current development version here:

Please bear in mind this is a development version, so you may come across the occasional bug or feature that still needs refining. That's exactly why I'm inviting people to test it.

If you have a few minutes to try it, I'd be grateful if you could send your comments, suggestions and honest feedback to: info@paulpennington.com

Every suggestion will help shape the next version.

Artificial intelligence is changing journalism and communications at an extraordinary pace. My aim isn't to replace human journalists or media trainers, but to use AI to give people a safe, realistic environment in which to practise one of the most important communication skills they'll ever need.

I'd love to hear what you think.