At The Modern Fire, we take a unique approach to media training by structuring our programs around the concept of the hero’s journey. This ties into our core philosophy – that every person facing a microphone or camera is embarking on their own heroic quest.
I’ve long been fascinated by Joseph Campbell’s work on the hero’s journey. It’s a narrative template found across cultures and throughout history. In this archetypal story, the hero leaves their ordinary world, faces challenges, receives aid from mentors, undergoes a supreme ordeal, and returns home transformed.
I see media interactions following a similar arc. The “call to adventure” is the opportunity to engage with the media. Crossing the threshold represents entering the high-stakes arena of the interview or press conference. Challenges abound in the form of tough questions and the pressure to perform under scrutiny. My team and I act as mentors, equipping our clients with the skills and wisdom needed to succeed. The “ordeal” is the moment of truth in front of the camera or microphone. The return is when the spokesperson emerges triumphant, delivering their message with skill and finding themselves transformed into a more capable, confident communicator.
By mapping media encounters onto this resonant mythos, we tap into something primal and inspiring. It elevates media training from a rote exercise to an epic tale of challenge and growth. Our clients become the heroes of their own stories, called to rise to the occasion and emerge changed on the other side.
This approach also draws on the insights of Jordan Peterson, another key influence for us. Peterson emphasizes the importance of taking on responsibility and facing fears as the path to a meaningful life. By framing media appearances as a heroic challenge, we encourage participants to embrace the difficulty and reap the rewards of personal transformation.
Of course, we complement this mythic framing with concrete skills and strategies. But by casting media mastery as a hero’s journey, we engage the emotions and imagination as well as the intellect. It becomes not just about getting through an interview unscathed, but about the fundamental human drive to grow through adversity and return with gifts of wisdom.
This is the deeper significance of naming our company “The Modern Fire.” The hearth fire was the center of the ancient home, a place of gathering, storytelling, and transformation. By crafting their own stories and skills, we help our clients become masters of the modern media “fires” so they can enlighten and inspire their audiences.
In a world often jaded about spin and media manipulation, our approach resurrects the noble and heroic dimensions of public communication. Our unique philosophy and methodology kindle the innate human impulse to rise to challenges, learn hard lessons, and share wisdom with the community. In doing so, we not only make our clients better spokespersons, but invite them to become better, braver people.