A Flow media training session is about far more than learning how to handle yourself in a press interview. Yes, you’ll learn how to deal with the little tricks that journalists sometimes use to get you to say what you don’t want to say. And you’ll gain insight into the local and global media landscape. You’ll also find out what makes good news, and why your voice is so important.
But what participants often remark on, over and above the hints and tips they pick up, is the confidence boost they get from media training.
Bontle Madiba, online trade specialist at South African Tourism (SAT), says: “Each person in every company should go through this training. It brings an extra level of confidence and engagement with all people, not just members of the media.”
“It was extremely empowering for me,” says Abby, a product and hosting specialist at SAT. “I can’t believe how much I learnt in just a few hours – skills that can be honed and applied for many years to come.”
For Adele, SAT’s webmaster (”… not webmistress,” she explains, “because you have to ‘master’ the web …”), the training was “fantabulous, enjoyable and educational. The soft skills I learnt today will help me to handle situations very differently in the future”.
Flow offers media training to people of all skill levels in any industry.
“We’ve trained all sorts of people – CEOs, entrepreneurs, bankers, engineers, sportspeople – and everyone comes away having learned something new,” says broadcaster and travel writer Kate Turkington, one of the trainers. “We once trained a group of university professors who said the learning curve during our few hours together was the steepest they had ever experienced.”
Each session starts off with a bit of theory, leading up to a live on-camera interview with a top broadcast journalist – generally either Jeremy Maggs of eNews Channel, or Camilla Bath of Eyewitness News. Interviews are then watched back and feedback discussed as a group.
“Seeing how people settle into the interview, watching them ‘get it’, is very rewarding,” says Jeremy. “Being in front of the camera for the first time can be intimidating, but the training always kicks in and participants are generally better than they think they’ll be. Most interviews end up being easily broadcastable.”
If you would like to find out more about media training at Flow, contact Maria on 011 440 4841 or maria@flowsa.com.