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.
I found trying to answer questions about topics I wasn't overly familiar with an additional challenge on the day (although appreciate that the skills needed are the same). Thank you for a good day and some really good tips.
I personally thought Richard was an excellent trainer with a strong ability to tailor the subject to individuals and the group. Richard had a vast knowledge and was able to answer all my questions and concerns. I left feeling comfortable after what could have been a stressful training session. many thanks
I have since been interviewed on Farming Today, and I have to say that the training was put into use. I may not have got it all right, but I did feel that I did get some of my messages across, and having prepared and thought things through beforehand made a big difference. Thanks!
Overall excellent. Only reservation, I thought the interviews staged in the afternoon could have moved quicker or perhaps not everyone needed a turn. It would have been good to have had immediate playback on filming....for feedback.
An extremely useful, valuable and enjoyable day, many thanks.
I enjoyed the day immensely. I would quite like a copy of my filmed interview.
I thoroughly enjoyed the dayz training, very worthwhile,I learn't a great deal, and was reassured.
Excellent course and facilitation .
I really found the benefit of this day and feel I will be better prepared especially with regard to getting key messages across. Thank you
Thank you Richard, it was an excellent day!
Very informative training day
The training was in a very tight schedule, which allowed less time for slowly working up participants into the subject matter and developing confidence.
What a dude! Professional, focused, put you on the spot and gave fantastic insight into media from both sides of the camera. Best course of it's type I've attended - very well done!
I learnt a lot of useful skills and knowledge from Mr Richard Uridge, and the other peers at the workshop. Mr Uridge is a competent and prominent trainer, and all the trainees, including myself, found it enjoyable and useful workshop. Thank you very much indeed.
Really enjoyed it. Thanks Richard.
The day was fantastic!!! So well presented etc!
One of the best training days I have attended in a long time
I found the workshop extreamly useful and Richard's approach not intimidating but very inclusive, and he took out the mystique and worry of being on a radio interview.
I would definitely recommend this course. The workshop was well organised and professionally managed. I feel much better prepared to be interviewed on camera now! Thank you!
A very good course! Some coverage of 'print' (press releases) would have been useful.
Excellent course - Richard was brilliant. The only neutral I added was because I would have liked to see a little more on print media response strategy
Best continuing professional development skills programme I have ever undertaken. Being in the public spotlight is not my favourite of places but I feel I now have the skills to perform creditably, to ensure the message I want to give is heard and to do this with a degree of confidence. A huge thank you.
Excellent workshop - very focused on the need and without lengthy sermons, but rather a plethora of useful tips and practical guidance.
This was a very helpful session, especially the 1 + 2 or 3 interviews. I think we could have had more opportunity to review our own interviews.
Enjoyed by all participants (Dean and senior management team in the Faculty of Health at Keele University).
I had a great time on the course, and came away with a lot more confidence. I am looking forward to booking more courses when the funding allows.
A thoroughly enjoyable and useful day.
I thought Richard was an excellent trainer. Very impressed with the whole day and how it was run. The only let down was the terrible food!
Thanks very much to Richard for making it a thoroughly worthwhile.Very useful course - personable instructor whose experience and commitment to personalising the experience for each individual was especially useful. Good group size and range of activities to keep interest going. Perhaps dragged a little on the "Media Relations" day as getting thorugh interviews and critique for 10 people took some time but was a useful exercise.
The course was fantastic, it gave me the opportunity to increase my knowledge, put things into practice and have things I may have already known reinforced by a professional.
The size of the group meant for a lively day and it was fantastic value for money.
Have already recommended it to colleagues!Excellent trainer! Richard certainly knows his stuff!
Excellent course - one of the most useful I have been on. Thanks!
An excellent course that was very well presented by a trainer who was clearly experienced in his field and put his message across in a relaxed and good humoured manner. Thank you.
Excellent facilitator with clear objectives and great delivery. Thank you
Richard tailored the day to cope with only two attendees which was great. I am sure there was considerable benefit in being such a small group!
It was a really good day. Enjoyable and useful.
Would have preferred the course over a two day period, to give us chance to perfect the new knowledge and practice until we got it right.
Absolutely great. I thoroughly enjoyed a day which I had not been looking forward to at all. Thanks.
Instead of thinking "oh no" if I get called upon to do media interview I will now be actively seeking them. Excellent course.
This was some of the best training i have attended. Fun, Informative, relevant and concise. Would definitely recommend to others.
An excellent course and really enjoyable day.
Good course, very worthwhile.
This was an excellent workshop and I would certainly recommend it to others likely to face the hungry wolf that is the modern media.
Excellent workshop - very useful and outstanding leader who carried us along with his energy.
Richard was a very engaging trainer who ensured everything was communicated and explained in an effective manner.
The Presenter was exceptionally competent, both in his knowledge, and in his ability to put it across well. Thank you Richard!
It was an excellent session - very useful and informative - I certainly feel more self aware and confident.
Very enjoyable and extremely useful workshop. I feel much more confident going into interviews now. Richard was extremely helpful, knowledgable and made everyone feel involved and tailored questions to our specific areas.
Only minor comments may be to give attendes an idea at the start of the day about the structure of the day and also a final on camera/radio interview rather than finishing with the group debate. Thank you!I was really impressed with the training - thank you!
If theres one negative comment it would be that the venue wasn't ideal.Very useful and enjoyable day
This was my first session with ACM, the group size was ideal and there was a relaxed atmosphere.I am looking forward to my next one.
Overall it was excellent!
I just have one suggestion which is that I would have liked the section covered in the first part of the afternoon to have been partly covered before we broke for lunch as there was a lot more to absorb in the afternoon than in the morning.
Thank you for a great workshop!Not only was the workshop useful, it was also really enjoyable. Thank you.
Very enjoyable, well taught course - will prove very useful in the coming months & years! Thank you.
A really good training course, I felt much more confident about giving interviews afterwards.
An excellent day and very constructive. I left feeling much more able to deal competently with media enquiries.
Thanks again to Richard for a great couple of days which have given me a lot of confidence to tackle writing press releases/getting interviewed for print and if ever faced with a TV/radio interview I'll now be able to cope!
I think too much food is ordered - I hate seeing waste and on both days there were sandwiches left over - perhaps less should be ordered?Thanks very much!
Richard was really challenging which I found great and the things he taught us were clear and effective, it really encouraged me to put preparation into talking to the media and making it work to my advantage instead of just panicking and winging it!I definitely feel I will be more in control.
Excellent all round sessions.
Before this course doing interviews on tv and radio filled me with dread, but now even though i think i will always feel nervous about them i think i have enough tools to deal with what might be thrown at me! It made me step out of my comfort zone, which is always a good thing.
A useful addition might have been to have staff interview each other, to build confidence in the process by making it less threatening.
This was an excellent course: fun, effective and succinct. One of the best RSPB courses I have attended. I'd definitely recommend it to colleagues.
Very useful course
The course was well run, informative and relevant.
Richard is an ideal candidate to deliver the training and his expertise in the field is evident and breeds confidence. The use of specific case studies was useful for myself and my colleague and meant the training had meaning and our experience was more valuable.A very comprehensive course which was very well run. We were all put at ease which made taking in the information and participating a lot easier. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and left feeling more confident in my Media Skills.
Fantastic Course, learnt loads, would reccommend to others and the trainer very good.
I enjoyed it more than I expected to! It was very useful.
It was positive that all the scenarios were created, based on situations that we could encuonter in our line of work
Excellent session - well delivered and very useful.
Throughly enjoyed the training and felt it was excellent value for money. I felt I really gained a lot from the day.
I could not have hoped for a more articulate, thoughtful and professional trainer. The workshop reinforced and built upon my previous experience and achieved all of my aims.
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.
Advanced Media Relations Skills
This was my third training session with ACM and as usual i thouroughly enjoyed the session - excellent trainer
Very interesting, gave you confidence in your own abilbilites, although challenging.
Provision of written handouts essential.
The training day was of an exceptional quality from the external facilitation viewpoint. However the breaks were not catered for properly and the candidates ended up arranging the catering once the course was underway and it was clear that nothing had been organised by the Trust. It would also have been helpful to have handouts of the main points. It is now nearly 4 weeks post event and there has not been any access to on line course material as promised.
Thoroughly enjoyed and learned much that can be used in present area of work.
A very useful asnd educational day. The essentials of a large and complicated subject were managed well in a one day scenario.
An enjoyable and useful experience helped by the environment and small number attending
An excellent, experiential course which gave refreshment in communication skills as well as the opportunity to test out interview techniques. It's given me faith to book other training with you and I've forwarded your details and a recommendation to our training department / others.
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.
Exceptionally useful training which will make my presentations more interesting.
Thank you - i have already used the information and experience gained on the course
It was a very useful and informative course.
I have been trying to put what I learnt into practice every day.
Thankyou.Sandy Keating was an excellent Tutor, right from the start she made me feel at ease with her friendly approach. I feel the amount of people on the course was just about right, if it had been any larger a group I don't believe people would have felt as comfortable about speaking out. All in all an excellent course.
outstanding course
Furthermore, can I thank you for a really useful day and congratulate you on your training model. During times of austerity, especially within the charity and voluntary sector, your service is still enabling us to develop professionally. ACM provides great value for money. (You can use this if you like!)
Creative and professional writing skills
Really interesting and motivating session. I certainly learnt alot. The only comment I have about the venue was that the room wasn't particularly well- ventilated and I felt a little uncomfortable towards the end, but other than that, the location was fine and easy to get to.
Very enjoyable course with lots of the all important humour! Picked up some really useful tips which I can use, hopefully making otherwise dry and dull documents a bit more lively!! Thanks!
I really enjoyed this workshop and it gave a good hints and tips to my future writing, Thank you a lot Richard!
Training was good and interesting but not 100% relevannt to my job/sector (media) but that's only fair as it was not a media workshop!
I'm sending my colleagues along to your next workshop I found it so useful. Perhaps a smaller group size would help though I understand the economies of scale. Thank you.
Money well spent. It's made me approach the writing process in a much more scientific way. I think about what you said every time I have to write something. Would recommend highly.
Excellent value for money. Thanks.
I am now following the hints and tips we covered on the day and I have to say it's made my writing so much more enjoyable and I hope more readable although you'll have to ask my colleagues that!
Fantastic practical advice that I can put to good use in my writing immediately. Thank you Richard.
I'd like to request an electronic copy of any notes to accompany this course so that I can disseminate recommended practise to colleagues. Do you have any notes to accompany the professional writing skills course that you could email to me?
An enjoyable and informative day - thank you.
The trainer was very knowledgeable, friendly and was able to get his message accross clearly and what he taught us was extremely useful.
The food was not suitable and delegates went out to eat instead. The orange juice was also sour.The trainer was particularly good and had a really welcoming manner
Crisis communications and media management
Insightful. Worth every penny. You'd pay ten times as much for this elsewhere.
Richard Uridge is an excellent trainer and draws on his extensive experience and journalistic background. He is very generous with his "insider" tips. I think that the whole group benefitted greatly from the day.
Suggestion - two days of training would be even better.there was a good variety of activity and oppertunities to speak with others as well as have personal issues addressed.
Thankyou :-)Trainer excellent
A challenging, thought-provoking but fun day. Thank you Sandy!
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and found it both informative and engaging. I would like to have seen a few more practical activities but apart from that everything was great!
I enjoyed the course and Sandy was very good.
Sandy was excellent.
I expected more role-play - dealing with unexpected difficult people nad openly aggressive people/ racist people. The group's needs were well addressed but as I had a more general need (rather than dealing with specific difficult people all day) I don't think I got as much out of it as some other people did. The trainer was really good and some of her advice on managing the situation at home (e.g. don't take it home with you) as well was really good. More role play would have been good - maybe get a drama student that the group doesn't know to come in and confront people so its more realisitc.
I was very happy with the course and I found all the information to be very useful to my own circumstances.
The training was fun, engaging and relevant - thanks Sandy!
I found the trainer's advice and the personality information/brainstorms and case studies to be most valuable
The trainer was really informative and interesting and had a wealth of useful tips.
Great techniques for helping to stop a conflict from escalating and getting out of control. Liked the practical activities and especially the chance to talk to other people about my situation.
Good strategies for calming difficult people. thanks.
Particularly liked chance to use my own experience, and Sandy gave us the right amount of time to work with other people and to run the session herself. I'd recommend to my colleagues, love to send my difficult staff member along too!
Excellent ideas about how to change the way I see conflicts. Understand I can't change bullies but I know how to cope with them better now. Thanks
Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience. It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there with impossible staff. I've already been able to put into practice some of the tips for handling my difficult manager.
Very informative and helpful
There were initial difficulties finding the correct location but I am not sure where the fault was. Anyway, Sandy handled the situation in the most professional manner. The course was useful and also the notes. Sandy was very focused, had a good pace and delivered the course very effectively. I would recommend her any time. Thank you.
Effective Training Skills - train-the-trainer
This was a fantastic workshop, and just what i was looking for. It enabled me to clarify a few existing strategies as well as learn some new ones. Sandra held a safe and ecouraging space for us to all explore the area's of facilitation that we wanted to individually as well as a group. I walked away with more confidence and tools to enable me to facilitate effectivley. I would highly recommend this course to those who are going to facilitate groups or are already doing so.
Could have been more intensive , the style of teaching whilst effective mitigated against wider coverage of the subject --perhaps balance was slightly too much towards active as opposed to more passive styles of learning to cover the subject matter
Really enjoyed the day & I think that we got more out of it as we were a very small group & everyone took part fully. Has made me re-assess my skills which I felt were only "facilitator" skills and when I got the opportunity this week to lead a training session I was using/thinking about training strategies, group dynamics & whether the aims & objectives were appropriate. Thank you!
I normally feel uncomfortable on courses which are 'involved' like this one, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it! I thought that Sandy was an excellent trainer, in that she was encouraging and positive and it was clear that she 'knew her stuff'. We had a lovely group and the course flowed really well. My only negative comment would be in relation to the directions to the Broadwalk Centre - the instructions weren't clear in that it directed you either north, south, east or west (tricky without a compass!) and also the directions said that the venue was located next to the Museum, which it isn't. But it didn't cause any major problems, and everyone found it ok.
A very enjoyable and worthwhile course, and one that I came away with actually having learned something. Thank you.
The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.
Thoroughly enjoyed the course, it extended my knowledge and experience immensely, and not only did I learn somegreat techniques and strategies, I also think this will change the way I participate in session that I attend due to understanding the reasoning behind the different uses of audience engagement.
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.
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.Emergency Planning and Call Handling
Made me think more when people ring in.
A really useful day, extremely beneficial. Thank you
This was one of the best training courses I have been on. The trainer was excellent, approachable, human and realistic.
Extremely useful training - many thanks Richard.
More practice time would have been good, maby 1 more day. It was a very enjoyable day Thank You
I thought Richard was both very professional and very proficient. I could not recommend this course or Richard as a trainer highly enough. The training i recieved will prove to be invaluable should I be needed in an emergency situation and for my continued professional development. Many Thanks
Richard's style of delivery was excellent
I would have liked to do another role play as I felt I made mistakes in my first one and wasn't allowed to rectify them. I understand the time constraints. I wonder if smaller roleplaying groups doing pre-written scenarios might be more effective as you could have more tries whilst keeping the peer review system. This may need more facilitatiors though as more potential to descend into chaos! Overall a good day well spent. I feel alot more confident about doing the job in hand. Thanks.
It was VERY prefessional.
Pity we could not emulate the operational side as well. But that would have needed Saturday as well.
Would this training be useful for working on the telephones at The Samaritans? Esp since they are recruiting on local radio and in other media just now.Excellent training and very effective. Lots of humour and everyone joined in. Really nice to have a difffernt perspective. Great, I want to do it again.
A good learning day and lots of fun at the same time.
A very worthwhile training day.
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.
I really enjoyed the Facilitation Techniques session yesterday. You bring a lot of practical experience as well as underpinning it with relevant theory which makes the day interesting and very useful. I have recommended that we send all our project managers on the course.
Motivational trainer and great course
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for delivering such a splendid day of training for us yesterday. We really appreciated the opportunitiy to work with you & enjoyed the practical activities that you engaged us. The theoretical back up, provided in the handbook, will offer us a good reminder and useful resource to utilise. Many thanks
The workshop would be improved further by the use of some case studies/videos etc of successful facilitation to illustrate more tools and some good/bad examples.
Could have used a larger room.
Although we don't do much organised facilitating here I thought it was very useful and good value for money. It also gave me the confidence to move on in my role at work. A very stimulating day so many thanks Sandy. Great to have a chat with you after. I hope your daughter enjoys her trip to Oz and then the studies in the States. And yes, I think " Bowling in Bagdad" has great potential!!! All the best.
Overall the workshop was very beneficial. The only feedback I would have in relation to possible improvement is around the inclusion of people's working styles (Belbin etc). I didn't think this was relevant to my area of work, i.e. one off focus groups, consultation events.
Excellent course. Only improvement would have been more link between the overheads/activities and the handout that was given - although the handout is useful, it would be a better record of the day if it had been referred to more.
Bullet-point recapitualtion at each stage would have been a useful re-inforcement
The course was very good as an introduction to Facilitation. I think there is room for further development in terms of specific faciliation techniques. The course was very professionally delivered. I would like a DVD but will need to raise a purchase order. I will phone you about it. Thanks Dave
Was enjoyable and informative. Some information on the practical tools of facilitation would have been a useful addition.
I found the role play exercise at the end most beneficial. It would have been good to spend more time on this.
No walking directions were included from the train station to the venue which would have been helpful. Very pleased with the course and its content.
The training was illuminating in as much as it not only enhanced by skills and knowledge with regard to facilitation work but also offered some guidance on when and how to use these skills or an alternative as the situation demands.
Also very enjoyable and encouraged participation by all attending.I thought Sandra was an excellent trainer and I got a lot out of the session. It was insightful and challenging in a supportive environment. I liked the small group.
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.
Leadership & Management Skills
The course was great, I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot
I really enjoyed your courses. Our trainer Sandy, was brilliant. Now I feel more cofident with my job. Thank you very, very much!!!
Leadership & Supervisory Skills
Sandy was an enthusiastic and very professional trainer. Thank you!
It was an excellent workshop, really enjoyed it. It was very clear the trainer (Sandy) knew her subject matter indepth and implemented a wide range of techniques to make the information effective and interesting.
On a seperate note, your website homepage was a minor barrage of information. Would benefit from some colour and some pictures.I found the day most enjoyable and helpful. Thank you.
Thoroughly useful and enjoyable day. Good diverse group. Put at ease and felt I got a lot from it. Particuarly liked the fact the the "role play" was done within the group rather than separately. My biggest worry!! Thank you for a great day - Sandy was excellent.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and its content. The delivery was good and the interaction amongsth the team meambers was good. I enjoyed meeting perople from other areas of work.
Really interesting course with great opportunity to talk to other developing managers. Leadership is a big subject for one day and could fill a week's course easily! Great to have an overview but short time meant couldn't go into depth on any topic. Did not enjoy role play where had to deal with different difficult issues such as bullying - think could be given a case study or more information to work with on each problem before start the role play as was difficult to make up and act out a scenario with little information on the issue. Thanks very much for an interesting day!
I always feel that working through case studies or real work situations enables people to make the link between theory and practice. I would extend the day to allow more of this, as I think this would make the training more valuable.
I thoroughly enjoyed the training and I have learnt a lot from Sandra. Great Training. Many Thanks.
Very interesting workshop, the work in groups as well as the exchange of personal experiences have also been profitable. Many thanks. PG
I thought both Trainers were excellent, down to earth, approachable, very knowledgeable and knew their subject very well. Whilst the time spent with them was short, they adapted well. I felt challenged and surprised by some of the ideas that I and the team came up with. I think it would be really beneficial if we could have a longer time period on any of the subjects next time.
Thank you. I enjoyed the course very much and feel sure I would benefit from further training of this type to increase my confidence and gain better understanding and ways of working effectively with team members and those who I supervise within the workplace.
I enjoyed the working in teams as the day progressed the people became more and more involved and wanted to particpate.
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.
Marketing and Customer Service Strategies
Great session; really addressed the subject area effectively and succinctly. Very well facilitated!
trainning well organised very informative, encouraged active participation of all and well delivered. Well done Sandra, you show your professionalism.
I enjoyed the day very much. More documentation may have been useful as reference. I preferred to work in a Team of 2, as I felt that we got more out of the session. I would recommend the course. It was good to meet people from different work environments. I will be able to use my new skills when re-branding my department and I feel confident that I will build stronger relationships by giving a better service to my customers. Many thanks, lovely to meet you.
Thanks Sandra. Nice to find a trainer who knows her stuff as well as you do. We've already actioned much of what you helped us with.
Money well spent.
A thought provoking day that really focused our attention on our marketing with positive results.
We now realise where our customer services can be improved thanks to you Sandy.
A refreshing combination of theory and practice.
Media Strategies and Campaigns
I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Richard was a great tutor with a wealth of journalistic experience. He made everyone in the group feel included, even though my campaign was perhaps not as large-scale as some of the others. Thank you very much.
There were 3 of us on the course all in a smiliar type of role. Richard took the time to listen to all of our roles and aims and then tailored examples thereafter to each of us. I think we all found it very useful and it was great that we could discuss each other's aims and objectives so we could bounce ideas off each other which Richard encouraged. The intimacy of the group really paid off and it's the most interactive course I've ever been on. Also the food was great!
Some slots within the training day went on a bit long. In the afternoon, the feedback from the other groups was not really explored and we didn't get to see much of their material.
Many thanks Richard for delivering a fantastic workshop reflecting your in depth knowledge. Your constructive criticism was valued. I would still be interested to hear any thoughts from you (if any) on how a campaign can be run without displaying the sob stories of Deaf migrants. If you think I can help you in future, do not hesitate to get in touch!
Breakout sessions much too long. Not much recapping of salient/learning points. Our organisation (Families Need Fathers) probably too advanced for course level.
I enjoyed the day and found the content very useful, this will help with meeting my own objectives for the day and the reason I attended the course. I will be able to utilise the information and information gained positively to be able to instruct the students that I work with the rudiments of runing a media campaign.
Other than the mix up at lunch time, whereby the food was delayed, the course was great and currently using the strategic template for an upcoming event.
I felt that Richard our trainer was great, however, I did not feel I learnt anything new and I was very dissapointed about the content. I thought we spent to long on things that were not relevant. I aslo thought that we had far to long on team work tasks and breaks.
Enjoyed the course and the informal approach. Richard gave some useful tips about what makes a good news story as well as one or two other ideas. As a media strategy course, the one thing which would have been really helpful would have been to see a draft/sample Media Plan.
This was the best training course I have been on in years. Tailored to suit my individual needs and very practical outcomes.
Very enjoyable day, went very quickly, definitely feel more confident in what needs to be done.
Would have liked more detail on how to use viral advertising
Expert trainer, very helpful and knowledgeable. I have stated that the joining instructions were less than adequate only because I wasn't aware of a change in venue. At present I do not have any literature from the event. Otherwise an EXTREMELY useful event.
A really good session! I've done lots of this sort of thing, and this was one of the best. Full of practical tips delivered by someone with real & relevant knowledge of the habits of the media. The spread of participants from many industries - arts, health, charities, business - was also very engaging.
Thank you it was very helpful and really good to spend the day with a journalist and look at this from their point of view - the penny dropped a couple of times on where i go wrong sometimes.
The example I worked through on the course i continued working on - the visit happened today and already the Telegraph online have covered this at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3547533/Post-eBay-style-reviews-of-hospital-care-patients-told.html
So thank you!!A well-managed and interesting introduction that helped me focus my views and come to a better understanding of a way forward for my company's media strategy.
I thought it was a great workshop and got a huge amount out of it.
Timekeeping was out and lunch was over late, but the course was very helpful, gave me confidence and I will definitely book for more.
The venue was not particularly well suited to the course and it was quite uncomfortable perching notepads on knees. A chair with a 'tray' or tables would have been useful.
I would have like to seen examples of different communications strategies. This training help with the process of writing a strategy
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.
The trainer made all the technical stuff seem really easy which was good and explained how important the editorial side of podcasting is. Great day.
Richard said there'd be a podcasting podcast shortly. If it's as good as his workshop it'll be well worth subscribing. Thanks.
Thanks to Richard's expertise we started podcasting right away and have all been bitten by the bug. A thoroughly enlightening and illuminating day. Let us know about your advanced course please.
We got no training literature.
The last part of the day re RSS was a little confusing and I didn't understand how this related to podcasts, however, i really enjoued the day and gained a great deal from the day, thanks!
Overall very enjoyable, thanks Richard. I came away understanding a lot more about podcasting but also realising that its not that simple to create one and that we don't really have the resources at present to maximise this opportunity. It may be that we use a blog instead.
An excellent workshop all round.
Great to have such an experienced broadcaster as our trainer. Richard's programme making skills and his ability to pass them on in a relevant and engaging manner will really help our podcasting.
Excellent value for money covering, as it did, both the editorial and technical aspects of podcasting. Will be sending more staff along soon. Thank you.
More time, or an additional half a day to discuss the more technical side i.e. RSS feeds etc. would be helpful
Richard, as the trainer, and the structure of the sessions allowed for excellent interaction across the group, especially given their different interests/background. Well done and thanks.
Whilst the day was very enjoyable and the trainer made everyone feel at ease I felt there wasn't an incredible amount of depth to the content. It was good to look at presentations from a non-boring angle however I came away with little more than that. It would've been good to look at presentations in more detail and explore more of the issues raised by the group at the outset.
I think this workshop was really useful and I learnt exactly how to make a good presentation and how to move away from the traditional boring powerpoint slides. I think the techniques taught will be beneficial to us as CSO's as we present to various teams and now that we know how to engage an audience well, i think the outcomes and responses will be improved.
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and now feel a lot more confident in my ability to deliver effective presentations. I have used the skills I learnt on the day in a number of subsequent presentations.
Presentation & Communication Skills
It would have been helpful to have had some quiet space to help students think about the presentation we were asked to prepare, or to be told in advance that it may be helpful to prepare a presentation in advance which can be delivered on the day.
Great for presentations, learnt some good tips. Could have been a bit more substance perhaps, but difficult with the group size. A tips sheet to take away might have been good.
This was the best workshop I have ever been to, purely because Richard knew exactly what he was talking about, he had a brilliant answer to every question, he is very experienced, well spoken, engaging, knowledgeable, and I actually felt like I learnt at this workshop! Thanks :-)
Good workshop but a bit basic for me - but that's because I went for the standard course but should have opted for advanced. Hope to do that in the future.
Found the training day very useful in terms of presentation content and I will put into practice methods learnt. I think I was expecting to also cover personal styles and ways to make the most of our individual strengths and lessen our weaknesses - however, a second day would have been needed as it was already a full day!
This is the second course I have been on with Richard Uridge as the trainer and both times he has been tremendous.
Richard is a fantastic trainer. His knowledge and experience made this workshop both useful, interesting and enjoyable.
Whilst the training was useful it turned out to be more of a refresher rather than something which would have brought me onto the next level of presenting. A proper advanced course would be more suitable for myself where the group is smaller and the presentations are filmed. Richard is a good trainer so I am sure another workshop could be created which I could consider attending.
This workshop was excellent. This will be used in our day to day work.
I have really enjoyed this course and have come away from it with a working presentation that KidsCan is now using in its work. Thank you for your help!
A subject i find very difficult to embrace but the course has given me strategies to improve my confidence and hopefully the delivery.
The course was useful and provided a lot of useful information that you can go away with to improve your presentation skills. I didn't think there was enough breaks; possibly an extra one in the morning would have been good, and the lunch break at least an hour, but the shortening of break times was probably due to the amount of material that we had to go through. I think there was a lot material to go through in one day, may be a little more time was needed, may be an extra half-day session where a lot more practical work on presenting was done. It would have been useful to see the video of each of the presentations within the groups that were formed, as a whole, or even privately so that we can see what we look like, and with my additional suggestion of an extra half day session, have another opportunity to do a different style of presenting the following day to enable us to improve on what we did the first time round. I'm not sure all personal presentation skills issues were covered on the course, possibly due to the size of the group and the short time, but on the whole I think the course was useful.
the workshop was delivered in a way that I was able to see difference from what I didn't use to do. Richard was very Patient with us , so thank you too Richard.
This course was very useful and I will be able to use things learnt in my day to day work.
I totally enjoyed the training.
A thoroughly enjoyable and informative day that was delivered perfectly.
Lots of good tips and information was re-inforced quite strongly throughout the day. Some more information on practically presenting yourself through body language would have also been useful - for example best ways to stand comfortably without appearing nervous would have been useful.
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!
Richard made the training entertaining and informative but, as the other attendees were Committee Managers, it was centred around minutes rather than letters writing.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.
Great trainer (Sandy) and lots of useful tips and hints.
Great workshop - not a lot there that was new to me as qualified teacher but enjoyed it all the same
I found this really helpful
I ran a workshop on June 8th and used some of the techniques I learned - thanks!the trainer was excellent and creative in her approach
Thoroughly enjoyed the session, the delivery was really good and the majority of training strategies used were remarkable to use that many in such a short space of time. I felt very comfortable throughout the day.
I am new to my administrator role and am just starting to get involved in the preparation and delivery of training sessions. I have to say your course was great for me and gave me so many ideas for delivering interesting and challenging sessions that are enjoyable.
Thanks so much for a great day and hope to see you again on another course in the future!Thank you Sandy you resolved my delivering training issues, also you clearly communicate in a very natural way, not making people feel under pressure. I particulalry liked the debate task and will introduce this to our training.
A great course, I learnt so much that will help me in my new role to deliver interesting training sessions. I would like a paper copy of the slides used as a summary of my learning - is this possible please?
My thanks for such an interactive and valuable training day yesterday.
Please can I have a copy of your slides from y-days train the trainer session.
I enjoyed it very much and so thank you.Would have preferred a link alongside the course booklet etc (though I may have missed one that was somewhere else on the site).
Other than that, the course was really good; I got a lot out of it and the trainer (Sandy) was excellent. I'd recommed her to anyone and as a result of my positive experience, I'm going to be sending some of my staff on this course in London over the next couple of months.i really enjoyed the training. THANK YOU
Really enthusiastic trainer which made the day very enjoyable and I would certainly recommend it to colleagues
A very challenging day, very effective training which kept the group active and encouraged good goup mixture and changes which gave everyone a good opportunity to explore other peoples experiences and knowledge. I have come back to work with better skills and understanding of how to deal with difficult people. Thank you.
Sandy was very professional and personable. She had very good knowkledge and understanding and presented a very well planned and thought out day. Thank you
Very much appreciated the time spent understanding each persons' exact needs.
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.
An outstanding and timely course which should be a regular part of all graduate school training
This was an informative workshop!
Although I enjoyed the day and it was good to talk with others in similar situations, I felt that the text which describes the course online was inaccurate. I was expecting to focus more on how to work with the media/press releases etc but not very much of what I was expecting was covered. To be honest, the list of things that were supposed to be covered seemed a little ambitious! I still don't feel that I know enough to be able to work with the media in my role.
Outline of objectives at start of course and also a follow up at the end to ascertain if we believe we have addressed them.
Also some additional information/hints/tips on where to publish press releases online i.e. www.prlog.com.With so many competing topics for stories, it can be difficult to know how to ensure your organisation's news releases are successfully and consistently picked up by the local and national press. Richard proved to be a competent and engaging instructor who provided helpful information about the news process. It was great to experience a 'hands on' approach to writing news releases by a seasoned and professional NUJ member and journalist.
Excellent course. I gained alot from the course. Richard was a great trainer- lots of knowledge and very approachable. The day was really enjoyable and I now feel more confident about writing press releases!
Very useful and would recomend it but could have been more targeted to the individuals
Very enjoyable and very informative
The course was very beneficial and we had quite a small group which was good. I was glad to see that my organisation had adopted some of the PR 'tricks' that Richard mentioned and I found the day helpful.
This was a very useful course and confirmed our current practice of press liaison as well as giving valuable tips on how to structure our releases.
It was brilliant to be trained by someone who was so experienced in their field and able to teach as well. A big contrast to other training I have been on, which was adequate but not as excellent as yours.
I really enjoyed the workshop and gave me an understanding of the subject. It is a lot harder than i thought it would be! It was a good experience to meet people from other organisations and to share their experiences. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the course.
It was a very useful and informative training day and I felt I learnt a lot about the subject matter. The course was very well delivered and the trainer was very knowledgeable and interesting, and applied the day to our everyday roles.
Very good and useful course perfectly delivered by Richard. Thank you.
I found the course extremely beneficial and will help me to write a better Press Release
Excellent facilitator, great venue.
Thank you for a really good course, and I will be looking to come along to another in the New Year.
I found this workshop very helpful indeed - I came away with lots of new ideas too. Thank you.
I found the day a wonderful opportunity to see the world from another important angle - so helpful at this early stage of my work to be able to think of the 'end' communication of what I am trying to put in place.
I thought the course was brilliant and very informative and useful. The only criticism I had was regarding the lunch - for the price I paid for the course I would have expected something a bit more interesting than sandwiches. But that is only a minor criticism!
The element that was missing for me was a focus on turning around potential bad publicity to good, rather than using press releases as a form of free advertising. Otherwise, I thought it was a useful course. In terms of timing, it may assist people who have to travel by moving to 9:30 - 4:30 timing instead - but this is a minor point.
Many thanks, a good reminder of how to construct a PR and establishing the purpose of the PR initially.
Excellent course! - I would strongly recommend it to anyone who works in a PR or marketing role as it caters for all abilities and experience. Trainer was extremely professional but at the same time there was a really laid back, friendly atmosphere. I came away with a lot more confidence in writing news releases. Thanks!
Could have done with some vegetarian food at lunchtime and more fruit.
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.