You have a CNBC interview coming up. Your company is announcing a major acquisition. You step onto a stage in front of 2,000 industry peers. The big moment is here. Are you ready for it?
This is where the comparison between Janicek Performance Group vs Mekky Media comes into focus. These two Chicago-based firms both help with communication and visibility, but they offer support in different ways.
What Makes Janicek Performance Group and Mekky Media Different?
Mekky Media is a boutique PR agency. Their strength is getting you coverage with top-tier results. They specialize in creating opportunities for media attention, not necessarily preparing you in-depth for those moments.
Janicek Performance Group is an executive coaching firm. They help you make the most of that coverage, or any high-stakes board meeting or summit stage. Clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, C-suite leaders, founders, physicians, and sales teams. The coaching covers five pillars: Messaging, Vocal Delivery, Body Language, Mindset, and Appearance.
Simply put, Mekky Media gets you noticed. Janicek Performance Group helps you show up when it matters.
Mekky Media provides training through Elevated by Mekky Media. Their seminars run from half-day to multi-day workshops. Janicek Performance Group customizes engagements for months, offering HD video feedback and individual coaching from a team that includes Emmy-winning journalists, PhDs in rhetoric, professional actors, and speech therapists. The services go to different depths.
How Do You Choose the Right Partner for Your Big Moment?
You need to know what each firm does and where their expertise lies before you decide.
How Does Mekky Media Serve Clients?
Mekky Media helps you earn PR placement. They build relationships with journalists, develop pitches, and secure coverage in media outlets that matter. Since 2016, under the leadership of Michelle Mekky, they have delivered for brands like Red Bull, American Library Association, Giordano’s, and Abt Electronics.
Their training arm, Elevated by Mekky Media, offers sessions on messaging, interview techniques, public speaking, and body language. Michelle Mekky and David Viggiano, both with broadcast backgrounds, lead this training.
This training is solid and based on real newsroom experience. The main focus of Mekky Media is PR, so training is a secondary service. They offer workshops that are short, usually from a half to a few days. There is no ongoing coaching, executive leadership framework, or in-depth crisis communication support for senior executives facing major events. Their training prepares you for specific interviews, not all critical communications.
How Does Janicek Performance Group Help Leaders Succeed?
Janicek Performance Group was created to help leaders succeed in situations where communication must deliver results. Kathryn Janicek, a three-time Emmy-winning former broadcast journalist, built the firm to treat top-level communication as risk management. Janicek Performance Group is focused on outcomes and progress you can measure.
- The coaching is guided by five pillars: Messaging, Vocal Delivery, Body Language, Mindset, and Appearance. Kathryn Janicek recommends working on all five areas for events like board presentations, IPO pitches, earnings calls, crisis briefings, and major industry keynotes.
- Your coaching is tailored to the exact situation you face, and includes video feedback and a support team of Emmy-winning journalists, actors, PhDs in rhetoric, and speech therapists.
- JPG’s unique bench helps you build skills for investor roadshows, government hearings, and televised interviews, high-stakes scenarios with real consequences.
The client list says it all: McDonald’s (CEO and global presidents), AbbVie, UPS, Mattel, United Airlines, the Chicago Bulls, the LA Dodgers, Harvard, Princeton, Mayo Clinic, and Homeland Security. These organizations need their leaders to communicate clearly when there’s a lot on the line.
What Tactical Steps Does Kathryn Janicek Recommend for High-Stakes Communication?
- Before a board vote, rehearse your message, your delivery, and your body language for the exact room you’ll be in.
- Use video feedback to catch habits that might undermine your credibility in a CNBC interview or earnings call.
- Practice both verbal and nonverbal signals, since 93% of impact comes from how you deliver, not just what you say.
- Align your mindset and appearance with your core message for investor roadshows, IPO launches, and live media cycles.
- Work with a coaching team who brings in-depth broadcast and performance experience, as recommended by Janicek Performance Group, to hardwire these skills for every high-stakes scenario ahead.
Kathryn Janicek and her team focus on helping you change how you show up from the inside out. Their approach puts your real scenarios, whether that’s a global earnings reveal or a congressional hearing, at the center of your coaching journey.
What Are the Lasting Benefits of a Coaching-First Approach?
Landing a major interview is important, but your delivery shapes the outcome. As Kathryn Janicek advises, even with perfect PR, leaders must show up strong or risk missing the moment.
- JPG’s approach combines mindset, message, and nonverbal delivery. You learn to command the room in board meetings, sales pitches, or live events.
- Training is not short-term. Multi-month engagements help clients develop habits that stand up to pressure, time after time.
- Leaders who work with Janicek Performance Group report faster progress than standard workshops, building confidence and poise for every business-critical event.
This is how you gain skills for every high-stakes moment in your career moving forward.
How Do You Find the Best Fit for Your Next Big Event?
If you need media coverage, brand visibility, and strong relationships with journalists, Mekky Media is a reliable PR partner. Their services are ideal if you already have a communications team ready for your important moments.
- If your next board presentation could push a major initiative ahead or stall it permanently, consider coaching support.
- Is your organization facing crisis communications about to go public? Do you need your CEO to inspire investor confidence on an IPO roadshow? JPG gives your team the tools they need for these moments.
- When your success depends on what happens in that CNBC interview, boardroom speech, or earnings announcement, individualized coaching is the way forward.
Janicek Performance Group’s 1:1 coaching is custom-built around your needs, habits, and desired outcome. Their enterprise programs deliver the same actionable strategies for leadership teams and sales groups. If you want to get started at your own pace, the Public Speaking Playbook and other digital tools from Kathryn Janicek use the same five-pillar method proven for Fortune 500 leaders.
Ready to Strengthen Your Leadership Communication?
Mekky Media and Janicek Performance Group offer different solutions. Mekky Media can secure top-tier media opportunities. Janicek Performance Group, guided by Kathryn Janicek, helps you rise to the occasion and every high-stakes scenario you will face after.
If you’re preparing for your most important public moment, ask yourself: Do you need more coverage, or are you preparing to capture the moment when the spotlight turns on you?
For lasting executive presence and communication skills, Janicek Performance Group is ready to help you succeed in every high-stakes environment.
