G061
WRITING EFFECTIVE MEDIA LINES,
NEWS RELEASES & STAKEHOLDER MESSAGES

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND

Media Lines: When the media get in touch on a hot issue, you need to answer them with effective responses that put that issue to bed once and for all. This workshop shows you how. The instructor discusses the definition, purpose, approach and structure of departmental media lines and puts you through some informative and useful exercises.

News Releases: A high percentage of new releases end up on the news-room floor because they lack punch, brevity and useful information. In this workshop the instructor shows you how to write an effective news release that will improve your chances of good media coverage.

Stakeholder Messages: Whether we communicate with stakeholders through emails, face-to-face or through RSS feeds and other social media channels, the clarity and conciseness of our messages needs to be ensured in order to avoid confusion and inconsistencies. This workshop provides participants with the information, guidance and language they need to do just that.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• How to write crisp, concise prose
• Why media lines are important and useful
• How to write effective media lines
• Why some news releases fail and why some succeed
• How to write effective news releases
• How to write clear, concise and consistent messages

INCLUDED WITH THIS WORKSHOP

• Participant notebook consisting of presentation slides
• Dropbox link to post-workshop resources and useful information
• Morning and afternoon snacks and beverages and lunch
• Certificate of completion to add to your professional portfolio

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Citizen-Centered Communications
• Media Relations
• Verbal and Written Communications

Agenda
8:45 - 8:50	Introductions and Workshop Overview
8:50 - 9:30	Media Context and Need Media today. What media needs from us. The wider context: analyzing and synthesizing information, defining issues, and assembling clusters of information into a logical order under tight deadlines; the importance of effective messages; a practical approach to distilling information down to key points via the art of writing a précis.
9:30 - 9:50	Précis Exercise Participants are asked to reduce a text to one-quarter of its original length.
9:50 - 10:15	Rundown on Précis Exercise Volunteers present their versions. Instructor-lead discussion on methods of identifying and summarizing key ideas in the paragraph.
10:15 - 10:30	Break
10:30 - 11:45	Writing Media Line Context, structure, plain language and messages. Key tips and errors to avoid.
11:45 - 12:00	Exercise Participants break into groups and prepare media lines using case study.
12:00 - 12:45	Lunch
12:45 - 1:45	News Releases What the media want and need: the various sections of a release and how to prepare them.
1:45 - 2:30	Exercise on Preparation of a News Release Participants break into groups of three and prepare a news release based on a case study scenario. Review of release with the instructor.
2:30 - 2:45	Break
2:45 - 3:40	The Importance of Messaging Understanding and defining our positioning. Relationship between messaging and positioning. Developing and applying the "message pyramid". The traditional "R's" of message engineering - the "right" message, audience, vehicle, messenger and timing. The holistic "R's" - relevance, resonance and responsiveness. The practical "R's" - repeatability, revise-ability and reinforce-ability.
3:40 - 4:20	Exercise In groups of two, participants will develop a series of core and specialized messages for specific stakeholder groups and will report back with their results. Instructor-led feedback and discussion
4:20 - 4:30	Wrap-up and Workshop Evaluation