MEETING THE MEDIA: THE ESSENTIALS (G018)

Complete List > Meeting the Media: The Essentials

CEC MEDIA TRAINING MEETS GOVERNMENT OF CANADA COMMUNICATIONS POLICY REQUIREMENT

SECTION 20 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA COMMUNICATIONS POLICY STATES THAT:

Officials designated to speak on an institution's behalf, including technical or subject-matter experts, must receive instruction, particularly in media relations, to carry out their responsibilities effectively and to ensure the requirements of their institution and this policy are met.

The CEC's basic media training course, Meeting the Media: The Essentials, fulfills this requirement and has been delivered to hundreds of public servants, through both open registration and in-house workshops. The Centre also offers other media training courses and can provide customized courses and one-on-one instruction as required.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

The ability to deal effectively with the media in interview situations is an important skill for communicators and anyone whose work includes a media/communications/information-provision dimension. For federal public servants, the Government of Canada Communications Policy emphasizes the need for staff who interact with the media to receive instruction. This workshop is designed for those who occupy a position where they may, as part of their job, have to be available to media or who would like to expand their professional skills - in fact, even if you're not directly invovled with media, the skills and techniques learned in this workshop are invaluable when presenting, briefing, speaking in meetings, dealing with committees or on similar occasions. They can be applied whether the audience is the boss, other bosses, colleagues, stakeholders, the public .or members of the media. A maximum of 6 participants will be accepted for each session.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

• What's news, story selection, coverage drivers, differences between media
• The basic Do's and Don'ts of dealing with the media
• How to negotiate an interview - how to develop a strategy, prepare and stay in control
• Dealing with difficult questions
• Giving radio and television interviews

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY?

• Workbook with checklists, how-to procedures/reminders and templates
• Exercise hand-outs
• Interview tapes

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMPETENCIES

• Thinking Things Through: Innovating through analysis and ideas
• Engagement: Working effectively with people, organizations and partners
• http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/tal/kcl/ekl-eng.asp

PRINCIPAL INSTRUCTOR

Ian Parker, a former CBC and CTV journalist and producer, and long-time media relations and communications trainer, is a Senior Associate of the Centre for Excellence in Communications and the principal instructor for this workshop. Mr. Parker, well known as a host of CBC's the Fifth Estate national public affairs show, has many years of experience across all facets of news and current affairs programming and communications. An expert in media and communications training, he has developed and delivered a wide range of courses for government, corporate and institutional clients in Canada and the United States. Mr. Parker will join with other Centre instructors to provide a dynamic, practical and strategic communications approach to dealing with and communicating through the media.

Agenda
8:45 - 8:50	Introductions and Workshop Overview
8:50 - 10:00	Media 101 Media characteristics and operation: overview of radio, television print media; the Internet. What media want; how they get it; what they do with it when they get it – or don’t get it. Key aspects: media as opportunity; the idea of control; building and maintaining credibility - do’s and don’ts.
10:00 - 10:15	Break
10:15 - 11:00	Negotiating the Terms of and Preparing for the Interview; the Print and Radio Interview When the first call comes: negotiating the ground rules. Preparing: getting ready; developing a personal interview plan and strategy; avoiding pitfalls. The length and depth of print versus other interviews; the role of the voice and language in radio interviews; the interview plan; tips and techniques.
11:00 - 12:30	Exercise: Giving the Radio Interview Each participant will undertake a taped radio interview. Playback and feedback identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch
13:30 - 14:30	Bridging and Deflecting Techniques, Difficult Questions and Giving Answers Questions that are: direct; vague; partly true; based on erroneous information; emotional; hostile; hypothetical; personal. Conflicting agendas: you've agreed on what you will talk about but you and the journalist may have different agendas. Techniques for dealing with difficult questions: talking about what you want to talk about.
14:30 - 15:00	Preparing for the Television Environment and Interview An environment where impressions trump content; attitude; facial expression; body language; dress; hair; etc.
15:00– 15:15	Break
15:15 - 16:15	Exercise: Giving the Television Interview Each participant will undertake a taped television interview Playback and feedback identifying strengths and areas for improvement
16:15 - 16:30	Wrap-up and Workshop Evaluation Participants will complete a short evaluation