ACM Training | workshops & courses

A series of rigorous television interviews of differing styles built around a rapidly changing breaking news scenario designed to develop the ability of participants to deliver and hold a key message under intense and sometimes hostile questioning.

AIMED AT

Heads of departments/services and senior managers who already have a good understanding of the interview process – in particular the importance of identifying a key message and “selling” it through strategies such as repetition. The workshop will build on existing skills and benefit anybody who may have to represent the authority in times of emergency and/or crisis. Participants are likely to have been interviewed many times before on radio and by the print media but perhaps have less experience in front of camera.

CONTENT

The workshop is highly practical and will give participants a chance to develop the skills they already have and learn new ones that are relevant not only to emergencies but also to everyday working life. The workshop is centred on a fictional but highly plausible scenario, which develops from an innocent-sounding initial report through to a full-scale incident. This scenario (see examples below) forms the basis for a series of challenging interviews ranging in style and duration. The interviews will include:

Door stepping (being approached by a camera operator and reporter without warning).

One-to-one set piece “pre-recorded” (a formal, pre-arranged interview between interviewer and interviewee that is recorded for broadcast a short time later either in part or in full).

Press conference (a pre-arranged situation where representatives of the organisation face a barrage of questions from an audience of journalists).

One-plus-two “live” (a formal, pre-arranged interview between an interviewer and two interviewees conducted as if inserted into a live news programme).

Remote one-plus-one “as live” (a formal, pre-arranged interview between an interviewer in a studio and an interviewee at a remote location conducted as if through a satellite or microwave link).

These interviews will bring out a number of important learning points including:

The importance of using key messages.

How to identify those key messages.

How to sell key messages through techniques such as repetition, sound bites, use of language and other tricks such as telegraphing.

Holding the line – how to avoid being led “off-message” by awkward interviewers.

Getting back to the point – how to return to your key message when you are led astray.

“Down-the-line” – how to deal with an interviewer you can’t see.

Technological breakdown – how to reduce the risk of your best laid plans being foiled by dodgy equipment.

Editing - why your carefully chosen words of wisdom are often butchered and how to avoid them being turned into mincemeat.

Crisis! What crisis? Handling the media in times of trouble.

Holding statements – what to say when there’s not much to go on.

Breaking news – what to say when there’s too much to go on and the situation’s changing rapidly.

Two’s company three’s a crowd – the dangers of being interviewed with other interviewees.

SCENARIOS

Our scenarios are designed to be realistic, topical and testing. They a developed together with the client and based on the expectations of the delegates and their areas of responsibility.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Our workshops put the emphasis on practical experience. Each participant will be interviewed at least twice. On both occasions they will have time to prepare a key message from one of the above scenarios. They will then have to devise a strategy to “sell” the message to the audience – a strategy that will be put to the test during rigorous interviews. Participants view their interviews in the round and feedback, led by the workshop facilitator, is collective.

OUTCOMES

Participants should leave the workshop with their pre-existing media skills sharpened and with a new set of skills that will enable them to handle the media better in adversity. The skills they learn and develop are transferable in the sense that they are useful beyond the narrow confines of emergency situations. Participants should leave the workshop with a much better understanding of how the media works in times of trouble, how this impacts on the organisation and how the media can be harnessed to the benefit of all concerned.

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Your facilitator will be the BBC broadcaster, Richard Uridge. With a wealth of experience in presentation, journalism, production & direction, training & consultancy, Richard has been leading our Media and Communication workshops for the past 15 years. Should you wish to find out more about Richard, ACM Training's clients, our training programmes or productions, please return to the home page of our website, to make your selection.

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IN-HOUSE

...is the way we deliver training to most of our bigger clients. Depending on the workshop we can cater for up to a dozen people at a time - sometimes more. Contact us with your requirements.