“It’s that reporter on the phone again.”

Media training to enhance confidence and competence

It seems to be a fact of life that many people who are highly confident and competent in their own professions feel nervous about having to talk to a newspaper reporter on the phone or, worse still, having to do an interview for radio or television. For some individuals, this apprehension may spring from feeling out of their comfort zone. For some, it may be a fear of the media.

There’s also another scenario that is all too common in some organisations - collective moaning that the media won’t publish good news and that they’re only interested in negative stuff that will make juicy banner headlines.

To help address all these issues, we offer a range of tailor-made courses.

The courses we offer include:

Recognising your news potential: Many organisations simply don’t recognise a potentially good media story even when it is staring them right in the face, possibly because managers and staff are too busy doing their jobs to realise that what they are doing may be of great interest to others. This course focuses, therefore, on what to look out for, how to recognise its potential, and what to do about it in order to make sure the story receives the treatment it deserves.

Dealing with crisis situations: For some unlucky organisations, their most intensive contact with the news media is when things go badly wrong. Then, it’s panic stations all round - possibly even a retreat into a siege mentality of 'no comment' or 'there is no one available right now to take your call'. This course is about how to manage your news media relations effectively when others are calling for your blood.

Can you write a good news release?: Most news editors would be able to dine out for a month or more on their stories about the awful news releases they receive day in, day out. There is an art to compressing mounds of information into a tightly written news release, putting the most important information in the opening paragraphs and, of course, making it interesting and topical. This course concentrates on key journalistic techniques which, if observed, will increase the chances of your material getting beyond the news room waste paper bin.

Preparing for and doing radio and television interviews: Amazingly, many a leading expert can be reduced to quivering jelly at the thought of doing a 2-minute interview with a radio reporter or television news journalist. Microphones and cameras seem to have quite an unnerving effect. Yet it needn’t be like that. It’s all a question of understanding the rules, preparing well, and sticking as closely as possible to your plan once the interview starts. This course deals with the essential do’s and don’ts of media interviews.

We can help you make the most of your media opportunities. Contact
us on 0121-765 4222.