This two half-day online Media Workshop, led Media Players International, is for research students and early career researchers who want to publicise their work in the non-specialised media. Making the case for your research to the general public through the media has never been more important, and this course will give you invaluable lessons from two very experienced ex-BBC journalists, Tim Grout-Smith and Lily Poberezhska. The course, which we have given at 38 UK universities, and several DTPs, will also help you to build skills that may be crucial to getting research grants in the future. Even if you have no plans to talk to journalists, the these highly transferrable skills will help you to deal with difficult questions in vivas and at academic conferences, in converting research findings to business applications and in any situation when you need to talk about your research to non-specialists.

You will learn what makes a good story in media terms, how to spot one in your own work, and how to handle the tensions between scientific/academic and journalistic methods.

Then we help you to prepare yourself for a media encounter: dealing with the initial enquiry from journalists, developing your messages, answering difficult questions with confidence and using effective interview techniques for press and the electronic media.

In the afternoon you will get a chance to practise down-the line TV and radio interviews on your research subject to try out techniques learned earlier, and receive individual feedback from us on your strengths and areas for improvement.

We keep the whole day interactive, with exercises and interview practice, and we strive to make it enjoyable as well as practical. We do not believe in learning by humiliation, and seek always to build confidence, not throw you in at the deep end.

Every exercise is tailored to your individual research interest. That’s why it is really important that we get a summary of your research in non-specialist language (template provided) at least a week before the session. Please send it to the organiser, or direct to us at mediapie@gmail.com

AGENDA FOR THE ONLINE MEDIA WORKSHOP

Day 1

9.15-11.00 Trainers’ introduction. Exercise: introducing yourself to a non-academic audience. What makes a good story? Understanding the Media. Language and Audience. Identifying “newsworthy” elements in your work.

1100 Coffee break.

1115-12.15 Initial contacts with the media. How your press office can help you. Exercise: Writing a headline and a summary for a press release on your work. Tips on using social media to attract journalists' attention to your research, and building relationships with journalists.

1215-1300 Interviews as an active opportunity, not a passive experience: preparing your messages. Taking control of the interview. Techniques for handling difficult or hostile questions.

Day 2 (participants work in two separate groups/Zoom meetings)

9.15 - 13.00 (with breaks after each recording round) Exercise: recording of 2 on-camera/radio down-the-line interviews for each participant based on the information about their research in the pre-course questionnaires

And here’s the feedback from some of our participants:

"I enjoyed the course very much, I thought there was a good level of interactivity even via Zoom. I feel much more confident that I would be able to interview well." Claire Sedgwick, PhD Culture , Media and Visual Studies, Nottingham

"Thank you very much for the amazing online media training. It has helped me to communicate my research better. The trainers were really kind and supportive of us." Aira Ong , PhD Business Plymouth

“One of the most useful and hands-on online training sessions I have ever participated in. Thank you!” Saskia Faulk-Antonakis , Doctoral Researcher Business Administration Plymouth

“I appreciated how direct with her feedback Lily was, and how specific. I think we all learnt a lot from that. I was also grateful for the amount of extra work undertaken to ask such probing and thought-provoking questions. ..I thought the two-day approach to this workshop was well thought through, and I appreciated having the afternoon to do something else. Time spent on Zoom is exhausting! Louise Calf, PhD Archaeology, York

“ ...thanks for this excellent seminar! It was obvious throughout how much we are learning and on the top of that, it was very enjoyable! ..I don’t have the greatest experience with Zoom workshops, but this one was thoroughly engaging and enjoyable! Anna Detari, Music PhD York

Telling the World: Publicising Your Research through the Media