We invite every single participant in our workshops to give us written feedback. Over the years we've received thousands of comments and the overwhelming majority have been positive. In fact there has been only the occasional piece of constructive criticism. If a response seems appropriate - for example, because we have taken on board a suggestion - it appears in red next to the comments. To read feedback from a particular workshop simply select from the drop down menu below. If you'd like to see an actual feedback form from a real customer click here to open up an example (the client has given permission for it to be reproduced by the way). The comments from these forms and from our online feedback forms appear - unedited - below so you can see for yourself what people make of our training. We also receive unsolicited testimonials. To read samples of these letters click on the name of the organisation that has sent them. The first example is from Witness Service and the second from Holiday Travel Watch.
Advanced Media Relations Skills
I learnt a lot but availability of some material beforehand with clear messages and objectives which are then reinforced later will be great in fact you should try and develop a training DVD on this subject with help from an educational perspective to sell communication styles and techniques to students; the DVD could be a prelude to the course; this course is really good but has great potential to really make it superb especially considering your knowledge and really friendly and supportive style.
A good day of tailored training. I've been handling media interviews for over 15 years but I learnt some new and very hepful techniques during the course of the training.
Emergency Planning and Call Handling
Some real life examples. Calls that had been recorded in emergency situations played to the group for example. It was an excellent and enjoyable course. Good for team building as well as skill development.
Joining instructions were not rec'd before the training so no idea of course content/aims of the day.
Thank you for allowing me to Observe. I have given the feedback above as an Observer. I found the training to be extremely useful, relevant and interesting. I'm sure all the attendees got a lot out of the day!
Just a note to say how much I enjoyed - and benefitted from - Wednesday's session. Please pass on my thanks to Richard for a thoroughly enjoyable and productive day. The session delivered a great deal of relevant information and insight but was also great fun.
The next training session would need to be a fullscale test of the Emergency Plan involving all personnel.
The course was excellent and Richard was a very skilled communicator and educator, I learnt a lot!
Printed material, covering the main learning points, would have been nice.
I really enjoyed the course. I found it enlightening and entertaining.
Overall a very good and enjoyable course. Richard succeeded in creating a comfortable atmosphere for role play which for some is very daunting. He had obviously done prior research and I was impressed with his knowledge of the area etc when setting the scenarious that we were dealing with. It made it a lot more realistic. Overall an excellent day and one of the best courses that I have attended.
Just wanted to say thanks for a great days training.It's not often that I have come out of training run by the CC and felt it had been a worth while day. I certainly now feel more prepared to become part of a team that can deliver what is needed in a crisis.
Thanks to Richard for making us feel comfortable whilst in role-play. I enjoyed the day immensely. I learned more about what to expect in a crisis and at the end of the day felt confident to face an emergency if/when the situation arises.
I have to say our trainer Richard was fantastic and made the whole day enjoyable, relevant and worthwhile. Well done!!!! The only thing I would like to have seen was a more structured reflective learning session with some supporting material.
No dessert at lunch! Full credit to Richard. His experiences and advise were highly relevant.
Really enjoyed the training, didn't know what to expect, but found it very interesting!
An excellent course tailored to meet the needs of employees having to adapt to call handling procedures in an emergency situation.
I would just like to say a personal thank you to Richard for making the day such a success. After speaking with some of my other colleagues since the course that day, we all agreed that it was down to Richard's balance of professionalism, experience, and good humour that made it a highly valuable exercise and a pleasure to be in his company - and I certainly felt more empowered when answering the phone for the first time today! Many thanks, Lucy Salvage, East Sussex County Council.
The training was well organised and run, but I did not find it at all relevant to the kind of facilitation I am going to be undertaking for my work. I would have liked more detail around handling group interviews and steering conversation.
Some interesting discussions, but at times, the time allowed for completion of some of the tasks was excessive, so it was hard to remain focussed. Also, appreciate need to consider skills required to be a good facilitator and decision maker, but more practical tips and guidance would have been helpful.
Many thanks to Richard for the day in general, but especially for his efforts make up for NHS economies by providing some ad hoc catering. All much appreciated.
This was my first ACM training experience. I attended both the Facilitation Skills and the Writing Press Releases workshops, and was very pleased with the content and the pace of both. I think Richard is an excellent trainer and would highly recommend him/ACM to any of my colleagues. Thanks for a great two days!
Richard was exceptionally good as a trainer. He exemplified the qualities of a good facilitator. Thank you for a most enjoyable course.
An informative and enjoyable days course. I found Richard not only good at leading the course in that he was qualified and able but further in that he enable everyone in the group to participate and become involved without some of the pressures that might be felt on other courses. It was a day of free flowing interaction and whilst helpful was also enjoyable.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day and gained some valuable ideas to take back and put into my work.Thank you.
An excellent day - very well facilitated and a relaxed, comfortable environment generated to encourage participation. Would recommend to others.
The trainer did a great job, was very helpful, approachable and appeared to have given a lot of consideration as to what each of our jobs involved. I have learnt a great deal on the course although I would have liked to have gone more in depth into each section that we mentioned, which were also listed in our booklet. The booklet itself could go more into detail about each point, provide useful hints & tips rather than provide merely an overview of this issue. In terms of the practice excercises, they were very useful and fun to do too. I felt however, that we spent too much time on them. All said, I would still recommend the course to anyone who wants to ensure their meetings are well managed.The course convener, Mr Uridge, did a fantastic job and I feel more confident now in performing more professional and business-like at meetings. I do hope I shall have the opportunity to attend one of his training courses again.
Very useful, very enjoyable and interesting. Trainer was effective and highly skilled.
Without doubt one of the best training courses I've ever done... Very interesting, stimulating and useful.
Excellent value and very helpful - I will be recommending this courseto other colleagues and shall investigate other ACM courses.
I would have paid double the fee for a smaller group that would have allowed 1 or two extra interview sessions per delagate. Although the technical side is useful it is the practical side which is most beneficial. Alternatively think about running a second course which is more practical.
Unfortunately I had to leave the training day early, I thought that the training was excellent and probably the best that I have participated in. Thank you.
A couple of people were talking about fear at lunchtime and that it can block you remembering the best way to present yourself and maybe we could have looked/explored coping with fear/nervousness more.I did enjoy Richard's approach and humour very much. The certificate of completion could be sent to my e-mail address to save you paper and postage.
I found the experience very enjoyable. Thanks.
YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH CHARGING MORE FOR YOUR COURSES.I'VE PAID A LOT MORE FOR MUCH LESS!
The group exercise in the afternoon, although useful was time consuming and it may have been better to spend more time on developing our individual skills.
Chairs in venue very uncomfortable.
Great day, very nerve wracking but enjoyable.
This was an extremely motivating and well put together course. The information was relevant to all areas of my work, and I know feel prepared and inspired to be interviewed in any situation.
Course was definitely value for money and I would recommend it to colleagues (and have done on my return today).
The diverse mix of people and the use of real examples helped create great interest.
The venue was quite cramped and either too hot or too draughty - might seem petty to mention this but it was quite headache-making by the end of the day - otherwise a good course. Thank you.
It was really helpful to hear the journalist point of view from someone with genuine experience.
A very useful workshop that has allayed many fears I had of working with the media. As the subject matter was very new to me I felt I could have done with longer breaks as it was a very full day. Having said that i don't know how it could be shortened as everything seemed so relevant. My only comment on the venue would be that having arrived at 9.15 some of us had to hang around outside the building until someone let us in!
I would have liked more training with dealing newspapers and press releases but this is an excellent courses that makes me want to carry on training with yourselves on other courses.
A little more in relation to print newspapers etc. would have been useful maybe tips on how to get articles into the press.
A very informative, educational & enjoyable seminar, thank you.
The venue was not particularly comfortable - the rooms and in particular the chairs were uncomfortable. However the training was of excellent standard, with a very knowlegable facilitator, who kept the pace and content appropriate. A good mix of delegates in attendance, whcih made for a very enjoyable day.A very enjoyable course - I will be looking out for more!!!
This was a fantastic workshop, which has left me feeling far more confident than I did previously. I will be recommending your training for others in my team to participate in. Many thanks.
I enjoyed the class and have already started to put some of the things I have learnt into practice. Although I am not doing any interviews myself I am supporting our members who wish to speak to journalists, I am able to support them more than I have done in the past. I am also more confident when I work with the media as a result of the training. I would recommend the course to a friend or colleague.
I would suggest either a change of venue OR at least a change of room, as the room provided was not suitable.
This was one of the best workshops I have attended. The facilitator was first class and I'm sure everyone went away feeling more confident about their roles as a result. Only negative was possibly the catering - not a very extensive range.
Richard was an extremely good facilitator - he was very professional and clearly knew 'his stuff'. However, he also drew upon and used very well personal experiences and tips/advice which were both interesting and useful.
Very informative yet enjoyable course - are there any follow ups to take it further?
You have a superb representative in Richard, who was wonderfully personable, informative and compelling in his delivery of the training in managing media relations. The day was full and thoroughly enjoyable, despite the generally dreaded filmed interviews - I came away with a vastly increased knowledge, an appreciation of the skills needed to improve our interaction with the media, and thoroughly impressed with Richard's ability to impart understanding to a disparate group, whose names and backgrounds he memorised immediately on introduction - an impressive skill indeed!!
This was a really interesting and challenging course. It makes such a difference to training events when the trainer is knowledgeable and credible - which Richard most definitely is. He was informative, entertaining, helpful and very approachable. As a Communications Officer I shall be recommending this course to the rest of my organisation.
I found Richard Uridge to be an excellent trainer.The session was informative, practical and fun. One of the best training events I have attended in a long time.
I would prefer the trainer to be a bit more critical about my existing performance so I could improve more.
Instructions for reaching venue on foot from Bristol Temple Meads station were very misleading - designed for people driving, not walking.
The trainer was experienced and highly competent. His presentation was confident and extremely perceptive of the various existing skills v. needs of his audience. Congratulations.
The course was good for people likely to do interviews. I feel my training budget could have been spent on something more relevent to my project.
Morning session was very intensive and felt a tad too long. I missed out on any training literature beforehand other than info on the trainer himself. It would have been useful to have a programme for the day. Trainer was excellent, great attitude and very professional.
Unlike previous media training (with Woodland Trust aeons ago) what stood out was the Trainer's knowledge of wildlife issues & being able to blend that with media requirements to provide highly relevant training.
Useful training although focus was very much on broadcast media. In my role, I am more likely to be dealing with local newspaper journalist. Thought provoking though, useful lessons to be learnt for everyday communication! Thank you.
Water available in the room, throughout the day.
Excellent and knowledgeable facilitator. Would have liked to look at printed media more. Spent a little too much time on the tv side of things. Room was a little small with no fresh air and awkward lighting. Made it a little tiring. Overall a very good course and I have learned techniques to take away with me. Would recommend others to go on it.
Feel much more confident in facing media interviews now.
Great course. A number of good takeaway points are easily remembered if I have to give a short notice interview.
I can honestly say this was the best training course I have been on. I have been disappointed generally in courses that I have attended in the past, however, I enjoyed this course immensely and got a lot out of it. Richard managed the workshop extremely well and all of the information given and the role playing helped me gain confidence and understanding of how TV and Radio work. I would recommend anyone to attend this course.
It was a great time and would have loved to have more recorded interviews.
Thoroughly enjoyable, thanks.
An excellent day. Many thanks for the tips/techniques - these are useful.
Richard is very knowledgeable. He creates a safe environment for the training which allows individuals to take risks. I really enjoyed (in a scary way!) and felt challenged by this workshop.
I felt that by the the time I was given the opportunity to try out what I had learned it was right at the end of the session and I was tired, headachey from the heat in the room and thinking about driving home, so I didn't really do it justice. I don't think this could be organised differently (except for sorting out the heat problem) and the course as a whole was very useful - media interviewers are a bit like barristers in terms of asking tricky questions!
A useful seminar which was enjoyable and relevant to our needs. Good use of participation kept the interest levels high.
I would have liked another chance to 'face the camera' as this was an area I needed help with.
A well organised workshop which gave me some very useful tools and more confidence as well.
Although I approached the day with trepidation it was effective thought provoking and enjoyable.Thank you for the very helpful information and the opportunity to try out the experience of being interviewed.
I thought the training provided by Richard Uridge was excellent.
I have been to many courses / workshops over a 30 year period and this was excellent - packed full of useful tips with an easy action plan approach to dealing with the media.
A very comprehensive one day course which sharpened up my previous training. A very enjoyable experience and I will strongly recommend you to my colleagues. Richard was very informative and an excellent communicator, testing our skills without destroying confidence.
This was one of the best courses I've been on. It completely demystified the journalism process and reduced my fear of being interviewd substantially.
I thoroughly enjoyed the training and felt Richard was the perfect choice of trainer. Working with someone from the media made it especially relevant, and his manner put us at ease and helped us to understand the interview process. Working with the camera was also an excellent tool as it means if we are in the situation again we will be prepared for it.
It was an excellent course that crammed lots in to a small space of time. It provided valuable advice on interview techniques and there was plenty of oportunity to put them to the test. I came out far more confident about doing interviews than I did when I came in.
I felt the course was excellent and the trainer was very knowledgeable about his subject and able easily to disseminate that knowledge in a way that was clear and understandable to those of us who had never done anything like this before. I felt it would have been helpful to view a 'good interview' and a 'bad interview' from real situations to reinforce the training we were getting but there may not be time for fit that in as the programme was very full.
Although very wary at the beginning of the day, my confidence increased during the training. This was in no small part (down) to the facilitator who helped take the mystery/fearfulness out of giving an interview. Good practical advice.
Very useful and enjoyable. Richard Uridge was ideal facilitator - using his wide experience in a v helpful way. Practice media interviews were ideal.
I did not know if the trainers were aware of some people's nervousness but when this came up it was well handled.
Brilliant day, very well organised. Hopefully we'll be back for another course soon. Thanks.
The facilitator was fantastic.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I look forward to my next radio interview!
Very useful workshop. The strategies that were explained will be applicable to many aspects of my role in which communicating information or responding to questions is required, such as consultation events and presentations etc.
Workshop was very useful and challenging.
One of the best training courses I've ever taken. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is nervous about dealing with the media and wants to learn some key skills in how to come across better and ensure your message is heard.
I took part in my first local radio interview today, 2 days after this training. I felt confident that I was able to deliver some key messages. This is a valuable addition to my skills,thank you for this opportunity.
This workshop was excellent. I feel much more confident about dealing with media enquiries and also think that the strategies learnt will be useful in other work scenarios.
The training course was one of the most useful I have attended in recent years. The trainer was excellent, very knowledgeable and provided very useful training. A day well spent.
Media Strategies and Campaigns
I thought the content of the day was excellent and very valuable to the organisation. It would have been beneficial to have had comfort breaks throughout the day.
Thoroughly worthwhile training course. Lots to think about and take away to the workplace to plan.
I found this workshop a friendly forum in which to share ideas and develop confidence in media. I came away with a far more structured mental approach to the media, one that I can share and develop with my higher management from here on in.
Richard's personality led the tone of the day to bring the best out of people who hardly knew each other before.
An excellent training session with a knowledgable trainer.
A really interesting, useful and thought provoking day.
I was very impressed that the trainer allowed training to go at our own pace, with a natural flow to the day (not speeding through subjects), and we were free to touch on our own experiences which were covered throughout the day.
Very useful training - although it didn't cover everything that was in the training description or include a specific request about incluidng video in a presentation (although I did forget to ask during the session) - I also personally would have liked some technical training on using powerpoint but probably a different training session.
I thought it was all helpful, but the afternoon particularly so. I think that we may have spent a little too long on the communications side in the morning.
Extremely helpful - superb advice and feedback given by a highly knowledgeable and experienced practitioner who tailored the material to the audience exceptionally well. Highly recommended.
Thank you for a well-organised and well-structured day.
Richard was a great trainer, everything was clear and easy to understand. It was also a great confidence builder!
Richard was very knowledgeable on his subject and I enjoyed and learned from the day's activities.
Many thanks for an excellent workshop, you delivered an excellent course which was great for beginners and old hands alike. All staff who participated told me they enjoyed it and I could see an improvement by the end of the day.
A fantastic training course that I would highly recommend to my colleagues. I think having the literature available to look at on the web site rather than being given a whole load of printed sheets on the day is a great idea particularly in an age of being paper free. With regard to the presenter of the course - Richard Uridge - he is a true professional and knows his stuff - thanks Richard a great day!
Despite being scared of public speaking, I really enjoyed the course and thought Richard was an excellent trainer.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and felt it has certainly helped me feel more confident about public speaking. The trainer was excellent. My only slight quibble would be that I think it would have been more helpful to have had less time on the morning session - what is communication? - and more time on preparing our own presentations in the afternoon. Perhaps lunch could have been a bit earlier. Also I do think it would have been helpful if we had been videoed and could have watched our presentations.
Team Building and Group Dynamics
I really thought that the workshop was excellent, and would certainly recommend it to others with difficulties. I found that the trainer was more than willing to tailor the course to exactly what our needs were, and was perceptive in finding out what these were subtly. I haven't see the literature, so I can't really comment on that yet, hence my neutral response!
Would have liked to have touched upon stress/anger management.
As a team we could have benefitted from some support/advice in how to deal with our problems, rather, there was only time to air the issues and I think we may struggle to move forward.
Very interesting.
This was an excellent day. I believe that it was very benifical to have a whole team go through ther course. It makes the team stronger.
Another excellent day giving lots of information that can be used on a daily basis.
Great group and interesting day.
There was no "training literature and other printed material." It was largely top down management communication that was addressed. The 3rd and 4th sections of the day weren't really covered. It was interested seeing different issues people were dealing with and talking about strategies etc. but there was limited drawing together of general points from these examples. It was very much up to the delegate to make sense of it. Role play contributes little or nothing in the context of a disparate group.
The trainer was good and got the group talking together very well. Lunch was a bit too late.
The pannini was undercooked and had a meagre filling.
The morning was useful and the content was good. The afternoon break-out group didn't work because one participant effectively took it over and it was really irrelevant to me and my workplace situation. I felt it would have been more useful to work with my actual work colleagues in this session as we could have come up with a more relevant scenario for us.
Workplace Training Skills (Train the Trainer)
Perhaps the workshops could be split into beginners and those who are improving their skills. I felt I didn't contribute much on day 1 as I didn't have any experience to draw from.
I thought this was an excellent course, well tutored and a positive experience all round.
Venue took much longer than anticipated. A venue more central would be better.
Ideally in the future whether is possible to organise dedicated workshops for different sectors (i.e.travel, retail, education etc). For example, in the above workshop there was a number of attendees who could easily fit in an education-oriented group.
I enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to others. Definitely gained something from it.
Thanks for a fun course!!!!
Sandra is a brilliant course leader. This was the most useful training I have received to date - thanks.
I left the training with increased awareness of my strengths as a trainer and with tools to improve the areas in which I feel less comfortable. I would be interested in doing the course again in a couple of years. It is the type of course where we can always learn and get constructive feedback to continue to improve as a trainer.
I felt that this would be better as a 2-day course. There needs to be more time for actually writing, refining etc.
It would have been really usefull to have all been given a sheet with the same infomatino (stats, large quotes etc) from which to write a press release. so we could see how others delt with the material, which bits were the most important, what works and doesn't. writing lots of different releases makes it harder to see what you should have done and difficult to compare your own efforts with others in the group.
I would like to take a further course which would look at PR strategy: which titles/media to target, methods of doing so etc.
It was very good - I'll be sending more of my team (when they are in post). Thanks!
Having been to a few of the workshops I am impressed with the consistency of training and the level of learning i get from each workshop. As a comparison the venues seem to vary considerable in terms of the staff working there as well as the quality of food and drink.
All venues should have non-caffinated tea and coffee available - for those with wheat intollerances (there were a few on the day) salads are easy to provide.
Really enjoyed the course!!
Very good value; an excellent course and trainer.
The course was excellent. I learned a lot and it provided lots of food for thought. Some discussion of News Releases versus the use of blogs, social media etc might have been interesting.