Democrat or Republican, everyone will voice an opinion during the next few weeks whether their party of choice will call the White House home sweet home. There is one certainty we know for sure: extraordinary speaking skills are the vehicle to drive you to the top. How many people outside of the state of Illinois or Washington D.C. heard of Senator Barack Obama prior to the Democratic Convention four years ago? Then there is the little known Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, who delivered a successful speech at the Republican National Convention receiving praise from both parties for her speaking ability.

Whether or not Barrack Obama/Joe Biden or John McCain/Sarah Palin are the victors on November 4th, both Obama and Palin are two politicians whose abilities to deliver a stellar speech helped make them household names vying for the two top jobs in the country. Never underestimate how far extraordinary speaking skills can take you.

You, too, might be a great speaker, but speaking skills won't guarantee you success with your media interviews. Why not, you might be asking. First, we're speakers and well, we like to talk. Let me rephrase that, we like to deliver speeches. I've coached some brilliant speakers who during our preparation interview exercises, rather than answer the questions, start delivering monologues!

Governor Sarah Palin is a good example of someone who presented a well-received speech, but is having difficulty answering questions during her media interviews. You didn't have to see the parody of her CBS news interview on Saturday Night Live to know that she is struggling. She is neither as engaging nor as confident as she appeared at the RNC. If you missed her interview on the CBS news, you can go to www.YouTube.com and search for Sarah Palin/Katie Couric's video of the interview to decide for yourself.

Media success requires new skills to learn and develop. Most media stars have received professional coaching, often more than once. The first tip you need to discover is what it takes to become a savvy media guest. It begins with your preparation. We recommend that you answer the questions below before your interviews to help you with the process:

• What do I know about the program or the publication where I'm going to be interviewed?
• Will my information help the viewer, the reader or the listener?
• Is it news worthy?
• How can I position myself as an expert?
• How do I prepare for different types of media interviews?
• When should I pass on giving an interview?
• Is my area of expertise topical?
• How should I look?
• What are the differences in mediums?
• What is the best advice about getting invited back?
• What are your key talking points and how will you work them into the interview?

If you aren't receiving professional coaching, practice your interviews and record yourself on-camera. You want to look for any distractions and listen to your answers. Are you staying on message and delivering your information with clarity and confidence?

During my career in television news and as a talk show personality, I vowed that someday I would be in a position to help people take advantage of the positive publicity media interviews could bring them. Every time someone would unravel during an interview, would try to help them as much as possible to get their message out. Stepping in front of the TV cameras, a microphone or a reporter and delivering a successful interview is challenging for most people. The stakes are too high to waste valuable media exposure.

Professional media coaching can be an investment that some speakers cannot afford to make. At the same time, you can't afford to make mistakes. I developed the Media Star Power Coaching Kit especially for speakers and made it affordable so that everyone can take advantage of the basics media skills, learn what to do and how to do it.

Hans asked me to tell you about the creation of the Media Star Power Coaching Kit. It came about because of a speaker friend. He heard my speech in Hawaii about "How to be a Media Star." He related his tough media experience just the day before. He said, "I survived, barely, but professional coaching would have made a difference." Even though I had been asked to write a book several times before, his one comment signaled the urgency to write it then; no one should be at a disadvantage when a media opportunity knocks.

The two thoughts to leave with you are one, prepare for your media interviews so that you can dazzle, be effective and produce results. Speaking skills and shining in media interviews are two vastly different abilities. Two, everyone has valuable experiences and knowledge that others need to know to succeed. Most speakers' biggest regret is that they didn't create products earlier in their career. Share your information and don't wait to package and produce your product.

You can check out www.MediaStarPower.com to get more information about the Media Star Power Coaching Kit and to receive additional tips and techniques to help you excel in your media interviews. We want you to be a media star!

Judy Jernudd, TV Personality, Speaker and Author of Media Star Power Coaching Kit www.mediastarpower.com 310.215.9975 Judy@mediastarpower.com.