Home | Contact

MEETING THE MEDIA - Summer Edition (G019)

Workshops > Public > Complete List > Meeting the Media (Summer edition)

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

This two-day summer workshop offers an opportunity to refresh media skills and prepare for the busy fall and winter seasons. It’s a chance to assess and improve interview performance and enhance your effectiveness as a spokesperson – and more generally as a communicator dealing with management, colleagues, clients, partners - in a challenging but positive environment.

It’s also a chance, if appropriate, to try out possible messages and communications approaches for future programs, issues and policies, strategies, etc. in a realistic interview context working with some of Ottawa’s top media trainers. Even if you're not directly invovled with media, the skills and techniques learned in this workshop are invaluable when presenting, briefing, speaking in meetings, dealing with committees or on similar occasions. They can be applied whether the audience is the boss, other bosses, colleagues, stakeholders, the public …or members of the media.

You’ll be able to:

Confirm the basics;
Sharpen and solidify skills;
Focus on strengthening specific elements of giving media interviews;
Practice various types of interview;
Test messages and approaches.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

Your current skill level and how to enhance it.
Ways of increasing your interview effectiveness.
Planning for, focusing on and reinforcing transmission of key messages.
Maximizing opportunity and minimizing risk.

Participants will be contacted prior to the workshop and asked to provide particular issues/situations they are concerned with, possible messages, areas of interview delivery they want to work on and other relevant information.

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY?

Workbook
Personal evaluations and recommendations
Your interview tapes

Agenda Day 1
8:45 - 8:50 AM	Registration, Coffee and Introductions
8:50– 9:15 AM	Lessons Learned - What did or didn’t work Instructor-led discussion on what has and has not worked for participants in dealing with media, possible reasons and lessons to be learned as well as the issues they wish to focus on during the workshop.
9:15 - 10:00 AM	Preparing and Planning - Basics Review Instructor-led discussion and review of the components and process of developing the basic interview plan for an issue or situation, preparing the response model for expected questions and getting ready.
10:00 - 10:15 AM	Break
10:15 - 11:45 AM	Radio Interview Each participant will take part in a challenging recorded radio interview on the issues identified by them prior to the course. Each interview will be replayed and critiqued in-depth by instructors with an emphasis on strengths shown, lessons learned and areas for remedial development, including any specific areas identified by participants prior to the workshop.
11:45 -12:30 PM	Nasty Questions and Reasonable Answers Instructor-led review and discussion of types of questions and response techniques.
12:30– 1:30 PM	Lunch
1:30 - 3:15 PM	Sit-Down TV Interview Each participant will take part in a challenging recorded TV interview. Replay and critique of interviews.
3:15 - 3:30 PM	Break
3:30 - 4:30 PM	Appearance, Language, Behaviour and Other Matters Instructor-led review and discussion of body language, voice, facial expression, where and how to look and focus, dress and deportment, word choice and phrasing, “no comment,” recovering from mistakes, the perception you want to achieve and other related questions.

Agenda Day 2
8:30 - 8:45 AM	Coffee and Review outstanding issues
8:45 - 10:15 AM	Stand Up TV Interview Each participant will take part in a challenging recorded “stand-up” TV interview in the open air. Replay and critique of interviews.
10:15 - 10:30 AM	Break
10:30 - 12:15 PM	Scrums and Ambushes Instructor-led discussion on dealing with scrums and ambush interviews. Each participant will take part in a recorded scrum. Replay and critique.
12:15 - 1:15 PM	Lunch
1:15– 2:30 PM	Communicating with Media in a Crisis Instructor-led discussion and review of dealing with media in a crisis – best practices. Participants will be given a crisis scenario and divided into groups. Each group will develop a communications and media response and present this for discussion and critique. Participants will then prepare individually for an aggressive TV “double ender” interview on the crisis.
2:30 - 2:45 PM	Break
2:45 - 4:20 PM	“Double Ender” Interviews of Crisis Spokespersons Each participant will act as a spokesperson during the crisis and take part in a recorded “double ender” TV interview. Replay and critique of interviews.
4:20 - 4:30 PM	Review and Evaluation

Instructors

Stephen Goban

A CEC director, and principal of SBG & Associates, Mr. Goban has undertaken marketing and strategic communications for companies, associations and government departments.

read bio