Before the Microphone: The LinkedIn Audit That Should Come Before Media Training

Media training usually starts with the message house, the bridging technique and the dreaded question you hope nobody asks. All useful. But by the time your spokesperson sits down with a UK journalist, the reporter may already have formed a view — and it probably came from LinkedIn.

That is not paranoia. It is routine. A journalist researching a story will search the spokesperson's name, scan the profile, check recent activity and look for anything that complicates the pitch. Sometimes they are checking credentials. Sometimes they are checking whether the person quoted in your release is the same person who has spent the last six months posting about something entirely different.

This is the interview before the interview. And it is worth preparing for with the same care as the real thing.

The profile is the first draft of the interview

Your press release says the spokesperson is a supply chain expert. Their LinkedIn headline says “Founder | Investor | Speaker | Disruptor | Coffee enthusiast.” One of those is doing a job. The other is doing a small, avoidable amount of damage.

Journalists are not looking for perfection. They are looking for coherence. Does the profile support the story you are pitching, or does it create a question mark that the reporter now wants to resolve on the call? A profile that aligns with the pitch makes the spokesperson feel credible before they have said a word. A profile that contradicts it makes every answer feel like a correction.

Before media training, run a short LinkedIn audit. Not a rebrand. Not a week of content creation. Just a focused review of what a journalist will see if they spend five minutes looking.

Start with the headline and banner

The headline is the first signal. It does not need to be a press release, but it should make sense to someone outside the business. If the story is about regional expansion, “Managing Director at [Company]” is fine. “Helping ambitious brands unlock growth” is less helpful, because it says nothing a journalist can use.

The banner image matters less, but it can still create friction. A stock image of a handshake is neutral. A banner advertising a sale that ended in 2024 is not. Neither is a picture of the spokesperson accepting an award that has no connection to the current pitch. Small inconsistencies prompt bigger questions.

Check the location and the “About” section too. If the release says the spokesperson is based in Manchester and the profile says London, a journalist may notice. There may be a perfectly good reason. But why make them ask?

Read the last twelve posts, not the last twelve months

You do not need to audit every post since the profile was created. Start with the most recent activity: posts, reposts, comments and articles. This is what a journalist is most likely to see.

Look for three things:

• Tone. Does the spokesperson sound like the person in the press release? If the release positions them as a calm policy expert and their recent posts are combative, that is a gap worth discussing.
• Topics. Are they posting about the same issues the story covers? A spokesperson does not need to be one-dimensional, but recent activity should not accidentally undercut their authority.
• Comments. Public comments are part of the profile. A throwaway remark under someone else's post can be screenshotted, quoted or simply noted. This is not about sanitising a personality. It is about spotting the line that would derail an otherwise straightforward interview.

If there is a problematic post, do not automatically delete it. Deleting can look worse, and journalists are not generally trawling for old posts unless the story warrants it. Decide whether it needs context, a response plan or simply a note in the briefing document. The point of the audit is to avoid surprises, not to create a fake version of the spokesperson.

Recommendations are evidence — until they aren't

A handful of specific recommendations from credible people can support a spokesperson's authority. A wall of generic endorsements from people who seem to have swapped favours over lunch is less persuasive.

Look at who has recommended your spokesperson and what they say. If the recommendation sounds like a job description, it is not doing much. If it names a real project, a measurable outcome or a difficult situation handled well, it is useful background for the journalist.

Also check the reverse: who your spokesperson has recommended. It is a small thing, but it contributes to the overall impression of judgement.

Look for contradictions, not imperfections

This is the important bit. You are not trying to make your spokesperson look bland. You are trying to spot the places where the profile and the pitch tell different stories.

Does the profile describe them as a founder when the release calls them a chief executive? Fine, if the business is the same. Does the profile list a previous company that the release has quietly omitted? The journalist may ask why. Does the profile say “open to work” while the pitch is about leading a growth story? That is a contradiction that needs a plan.

None of these are necessarily fatal. But each one gives the reporter a thread to pull. Better to know where the threads are before the call starts.

Align the profile with the pitch — without turning it into a press release

The goal is not to rewrite the profile around a single interview. That would look odd and would age badly. The goal is to make sure the basics are accurate, current and consistent with the story.

A few practical moves:

1. Update the headline so it reflects the current role in plain language.
2. Pin a recent post that supports the pitch, if one exists.
3. Add a line to the “About” section that explains the spokesperson's relevance to the topic.
4. Check that the contact details and website links work.
5. Brief the spokesperson on what the journalist will see — including anything they may be asked about.

That last point matters most. The audit is not about hiding things. It is about preparing the spokesperson to speak to what is visible.

A 30-minute audit before every media window

You do not need a monthly content programme to get this right. Before a significant interview or launch, set aside half an hour. Search the spokesperson's name as a journalist would. Read the profile as a stranger. Notice what creates a question. Fix the easy things, brief the harder ones and move on.

In a crowded media landscape, the small signals matter. Your spokesperson's LinkedIn profile is one of them. It will not carry a weak story. But it can quietly support a strong one — or quietly undermine it before the interview has even begun.