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Media Training Open Courses

Posted on 15 May 2008 by peter in Latest Media Training News

Open courses

Speaking to the media? Make sure you get it right!

London – FULL

Manchester – FULL

Edinburgh – Friday 20 June, Marriott Hotel, Central

1st delegate: £275 + vat

Additional delegates: 195 + vat

– LIMITED DELEGATE PLACES – BOOK NOW

This course will help you to:

• Establish key messages that accurately portray your organisations

• Give you confidence when speaking to journalists

• Take control of your media image

• Promote good news and delicately handle the bad

• Prepare you to perform confidently and calmly in the face of difficult questioning during print and broadcast interviews

Trainers

Harry Smith – ITN –

Hazel Irvine – Loose Women

Hazel Irvine – BBC

Paul Murricane – STV

Fiona Ross – BBC

Daniel Lee – The Guardian

Eamonn O’Neill – GQ and Esquire

Agnes Stevenson – Glasgow Evening Times

For further information, or to book your place:

Phone: 0800 032 11 27

Email: info@media-mentor.co.uk


Top Ten Blunders In Television Interviews

Posted on 15 May 2008 by peter in Latest Media Training News

(all real examples our TV broadcasters have experienced…)

  1. Wear a bright white shirt, with no jacket. The cameraman will have to close the lens so tight that only your shirt will appear on screen, and everything else will be in darkness.
  2. Don’t bother checking what’s behind you. It’s not your fault if you are doing an interview about hospital cleanliness, you’re in the car park, and there is a spilt bag of rubbish on which a porter is sitting, smoking.
  3. Stare intently into the lens while answering the questions. The reporter won’t feel ignored and take revenge by asking tetchy questions, and the audience won’t be unnerved to have someone preaching at them.
  4. Never ask what the questions will be in advance. It’s much more fun to be surprised by them.
  5. Make sure your answers last for several minutes. TV reporters love the challenge of trying to find a 20 second sound bite they can use.
  6. Forget it is an interview and just have a chat. Give answers such as “yes, that’s true.” or “well, as I pointed out in the previous answer, that’s just wrong. I think you should check your facts.” The audience will easily be able to guess what you are talking about
  7. When doing a live interview, if you’re not happy with your answer, swear, look at the camera and say “I’m sorry I made that C**P. I’ll do it again.” The audience likes a glimpse of behind-the-scenes behaviour.
  8. Stand stock still during the question, but as soon as you start to answer, lunge forward and shout into the microphone. You can’t be sure it is switched on, and this way the audience will hear you.
  9. Sway from foot to foot while answering. It helps you think more clearly, and the audience enjoys the sight of the entire background swaying as the cameraman tries to keep you in shot.
  10. As soon as the interview is over immediately pull a face, say something like “if you believe that you’ll believe anything” and walk away before the camera can cut away from you. If in studio, wait a second then walk between the camera and the presenter as you leave.

Please visit our television media training page to find out the right way to handle television interviews


Top Ten Blunders In Live Radio Interviews

Posted on 14 May 2008 by peter in Latest Media Training News

(all real examples our radio broadcasters have experienced…)

  1. Don’t have an opinion. Just expect you are there to answer the questions.
  2. If you do have a clear opinion, forget to research any facts to back it up
  3. Be unaware of the names or identities of anyone else taking part in the same item.
  4. Be unaware of the length of the item. Expect a two minute interview and enjoy the surprise when you discover it’s scheduled for twenty minutes.
  5. When driving to the studio, listen to your favourite music CD and make a few phone calls. Don’t bother to listen to the programme or become familiar with its style.
  6. If offered a plastic cup of water, refuse. Your mouth won’t dry up and you will not need to cough during the interview.
  7. Arrive two minutes before the interview, safe in the knowledge that your studio is situated right next to the front door.
  8. Start a lively conversation with the presenter during the previous item, and apologise loudly when he or she starts broadcasting the introduction to your item.
  9. Take in copious notes so that you can read your entire answer. There will be plenty of room between you and the microphone for a pile of documents. The listeners will be impressed to hear you shuffling large amounts of paper. At least, the sound will resemble a forest fire crackling and they will be intrigued to hear if anyone survives.
  10. Have a stiff drink or two about half an hour beforehand to relax your nerves.

Have a look at our radio media training course for some real advice.


Postcards from Georgia – return to Tbilisi

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

bushIt’s the large poster with the picture of the President smiling down on the population that stays in the mind as you drive off the airport road into Tbilisi. The President of the United States that is, George W himself. To British eyes, it must be ironic – there to make us laugh, cheer us up by its incongruity. It takes a moment to realise that there is no irony intended at all – this is a country that is determinedly toiling away from a Soviet past and into a Western future, with all of the uncertainties and difficulties that future may hold. But at least it’s their future.

I was returning to Tbilisi, back to the OSCE headquarters in the Dacha complex for a second year, this time with a new cameraman Peter Johnstone who had never been to Georgia before. I did my best to prepare him for the city. Like many westerners he’d been telling his colleagues for weeks that he was going to Russia. We nearly missed our plane because at the last minute he went back home to fetch his winter jacket – a huge fur lined quilted monstrosity which would have sheltered a small family. He never wore it – a fact I pointed out many times as we sat on the rooftop terrace of the Kopola hotel sipping cool beer in the warmth of the evenings after work, mesmerised by the stunning lighting display of Tbilisi’s spotlit public buildings at night. Read the rest of this entry »


Postcards from Georgia! – I suppose this is all off the record

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

georgiaLife would be simple if all you had to deal with was re-building trust between communities that had recently been at war with each other, and monitoring the emergence of a democratic nation. That sort of stuff is easy isn’t it? But life is complicated. And the complications often arrive in a vehicle with the word Press on the side.

The OSCE Mission To Georgia press office is one of the most highly skilled media handling operations I have every encountered – and I’ve worked for ITN and Channel 4 television in the UK and the Discovery Channel in the US. To see Martha Freeman in action is to see a real professional who combines charm and efficiency with ruthless protection of the OSCE reputation. Read the rest of this entry »


Ramsay dictates what we eat in restaurants

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

Gordon RamsayGordon Ramsay has reportedly ordered that chefs should be fined if they serve fruit and vegetables which aren’t in season at the time.

Ramsay claims he has already spoken with Prime Minister Gordon Brown about the food issue, and believes it would cut carbon emissions because less food would be imported.

He told the BBC “I don’t want to see asparagus in the middle of December. I don’t want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home grown.”
Ramsay added that Britain has become a nation of lazy eaters who would rather follow trends than substance. He also suggests that Britain should make out-of-season produce illegal, saying that there should be “stringent laws” in place.

Read the rest of this entry »


Ant and Dec: not so funny after all

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

Ant and DecITV presenters Ant and Dec have had the smile wiped off their faces after they were told to return the prize given to them at the 2005 British Comedy awards.

ITV has revealed that the Catherine Tate show received more votes than Ant and Dec for the People’s Choice Award.

The TV station admitted that Robbie Williams was invited to present the award, and he agreed to do so, on the condition that Ant and Dec win the award. ITV complied with this in order to secure his attendance at the event.

Read the rest of this entry »


Britain’s future king: he’s no Harry!

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

Drunk Prince WilliamWho would have thought it? Once upon a time Prince Harry was thought of as the irresponsible brother, he went on wild nights out boozing and picking fights with bouncers, while William kept up appearances as Britain’s squeaky-clean Prince. Well no more.

Prince William has royally messed up in the eyes of the media after his three-hour trip to Afghanistan has been deemed as a ‘PR exercise’.

Not a particularly surprising assumption from the media after the Prince piloted military helicopters to a stag party on the Isle of Wight and over to his girlfriend’s house.

It may have been an idea to consider that his brother spent ten-weeks fighting in Afghanistan, a three-hour flight over there was never going to be a heroic comparison really was it?
Clearly some PR person thought ‘OK let’s remedy your insensitive and irresponsible image by flying you over to Afghanistan; yes that’ll work a treat.’ Hmmm not quite.

If you want to learn how to avert PR disasters call Axis Media Group on 0800 032 1127.


Will the Burmese Government let their people suffer?

Posted on 9 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

Burmese CycloneThe powerful cyclone which hit Burma last Saturday is thought to be the worst natural disaster the country has experienced in modern times.

Sadly, the death toll has been enormous with over a 100,000 people feared dead, and thousands still missing.

The disaster has been compared with the Indian Ocean tsunami which hit in 2004, the crucial difference between the two: in Burma’s hour of need the government refuse to accept aid.

Read the rest of this entry »


Why the media turned on Obama

Posted on 7 May 2008 by pmurricane in Latest Media Training News

obama

Read a great article here on why the media can make or break you.


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