This one day Media Workshop, led Media Players International, is for research students 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, will also help you to build skills that may be crucial to getting 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 an on-camera interview 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.
Here’s some feedback from our participants:
“Top notch. Best training I’ve had at Sussex (and I’ve had some great training here)” Ros Barber, English Lit. PhD student, Sussex University
“The amount of feedback was excellent (and kind/constructive). It was great you had read our research statements so clearly”
Alexandra Buckle, Music Lecturer, Oxford University
“Two wonderful coaches.. what a great and helpful experience! Thanks so much”
Professor Dr Andreas Rödder, visiting Professor of International History, LSE
“Excellent, well structured, informative, well-researched, engaging, warm and friendly trainers; thoughtful, responsive, good specific feedback” Hebba Haddad, PhD student, Psychology, University of Exeter