This is a one-day Advanced Media Workshop for Local Government, designed for Officers and key Elected Members who already have some knowledge and experience of the UK media and public relations. It is therefore aimed at being very challenging, with demanding subject areas and tough interviews.

We will concentrate on Crisis Management within the field of Public Administration, developing the skills needed to handle all types of interviews, from the conventional office based interview via the phone with a newspaper reporter, to radio and television interviews, to the more intimidating "doorstep" journalistic encounter.

We are very keen to emphasise the issue of control - how to take control of the interview - and we will show you effective ways of achieving this.

We are also keen to emphasise the need for handling Crisis Management and Success Message scenarios - since this is the crux of most media interviews.

We show you practical examples on video of how NOT to do it, what not to say, before we get down to getting your message across effectively.

We now start our "real life" print, radio and TV interviews. We have tailored a series of interview scenarios specifically for Local Government, the NHS and RSLs.

The key to our course is Playback Analysis Technique. We record every interview and analyse them to highlight positive and negative aspects.

The interviews get progressively more difficult (taking into account how each individual is getting on) until each participant is battle-hardened.

The most important thing is confidence. We aim to build it, exorcising any "demons" gnawing away at the back of your mind about the Media.

Using video playback analysis, we ask you to take part in a series of real life interviews for newspapers, radio and television interviews.

These will include:

• Conventional "office based" television interviews
• On site interviews (possibly outdoors)
• Down the line radio and TV- (ie staring into a camera with presenter at a different location)
• "Doorstep" interviews, with the element of surprise - being caught unawares and unprepared

We will help you:

• Develop successful media handling skills
• Develop the skills for effective newspaper interviews
• Develop the skills for effective radio interviews
• Develop the skills for effective TV interviews
• Handle Crisis Management and Success Message scenarios
• With Issues Management Crisis Planning
• Learn the techniques for taking control of media interviews
• Practise difficult interviews with challenging material
• Put over a positive image of your Council, NHS Trust or RSL
• Improve proactive communication of your achievements

We are also including sections on Press Releases and Press Release writing as well as Press Conferences.

New elements in this Workshop will include:

• Celebrating success - how to make "mundane" stories newsworthy.
• How to recognise the positive newsworthiness in your organisation
• How to put together the bones of Press Release in five minutes flat (which can then be put out by the Communications Department)
• How to arrange a Press Conference on a small scale for local media
• How to participate in a Press Conference (we will re-enact one for you, asking you to take part, including handling questions from the floor.)
• Media tools - such as holding statements and Q&A sheets
• More practice at handling media interviews for the local press

Today's media are much more discerning and to raise your profile by getting maximum media coverage, it is essential to have a variety of voices capable of handling media interviews.

The media prefer to hear an in-depth account of what is going on from people with specific expertise, as well as from a variety of different "voices" to make the coverage more interesting.

We also emphasise the need to turn around the blame culture, which so many councils suffer from, particularly from the local media, into something positive, through a sustained strategy of proactive news management.

The ultimate ambition is to position your organisation as a "Rolls Royce brand", befitting one the region's largest employers.

For more information please use the contact form below.