We speak frequently on politics and public affairs, and our media training expertise includes numerous presentations at professional training conferences with public information officers of federal agencies, trade associations and non-profit communicators.
In addition, we are pleased to provide training sessions and facilitated meetings for public affairs officers in a variety of formats.
Please contact us if we can speak at your event or help you deliver high impact communications in media interviews, presentations and other offline and online forums.
Federal Communication Commission - Single Session
AAA Mid-Atlantic - Half-Day Training
Environmental Protection Agency - Custom Training
US Census Bureau - Full-day Training
Federal Communication Commission - Single Session
We delivered a custom-built single training session at an onsite meeting of FCC Web staff. The goal of the session was to provide an overview of federal Web standards, guidelines and governance principles to staff who maintain and support the FCC Web site.
Each participant received a review of the fundamentals of Web governance and federal guidelines, a tour and references to online tools and a workshop element using materials provided by the instructor.
The presentation included:
:: Guidelines for Web governance which address how to ensure the site remains current
:: Methods for evaluating what exists on the site and duplication
:: How to integrate OMB's new policies for federal agency public Web sites into Web site management workflow
:: Information on automated methods of compliance with OMB guidelines and building scorecard tools
AAA Mid-Atlantic - Half-day Training
We provided a custom half-day media training sessions to officials from AAA Mid-Atlantic during their annual retreat.
The training exercises included video support for mock interviews, which provided participants with an on-camera experience and a critique of their strengths and weaknesses as a communicator.
Our format covered a variety of requested topics, including:
:: Hands-on Training in Media Relations
:: Mock On-Camera Interviews with Performance Critiques
:: Crisis Communications, Anticipating the Worst
The workshop format was designed to provide an interactive hands-on experience. For example, each participant will work with the instructor and their colleagues to construct a “Message Box”. Their understanding of the utility of readability and plain English in public relations will be deepened through a quiz that measures their vocabulary. The Crisis Communications section would include relevant and appropriate role-playing exercises.
We worked closely with the client to develop this training session using relevant examples tailored to their organization's experience.
Environmental Protection Agency - Custom workshop
We provided a custom-built media training session at an onsite meeting the Innovation, Partnerships and Communications Office staff.
The goal of the session was two-fold: to provide foundation training in message development to the entire office and also support a working meeting where a smaller group discusses a conceptual message box we developed related to an issue relevant to the office.
Each participant of the large group session gained an understanding of the fundamentals of positioning theory, instructions on how to build a “Message Box” and a hands-on demo using materials provided by the instructor. An addendum of resources and recommended reading was distributed to the group.
After the preliminary presentation, a smaller group convened a roundtable to discuss and critique a custom message box we designed in collaboration with the staff of the program office.
The materials for this second session were assembled with input and clearance from the program office in advance of the gathering. After the message box was refined by the smaller group meeting, the materials were used to help frame the public debate of the issue.
US Census Bureau - Full-day Training
We provided a day-long custom media training session to the New York Regional Bureau employees at the US Census Bureau. The goal of the session was to help staffers prepare for their role in the 2004 Census Test when they met with community groups and the media.
During the day we covered six select topics:
:: Message Development: the Foundation of Strategic Communications
:: Essential Tips for Delivering Better Media Interviews
:: Mock on camera interviews with performance critiques
:: Crisis Communications & Lessons Learned from Census 2000
:: The Press Release: Fundamentals of Packaging Your News
:: Writing and Implementing Your Communications Plan
We used a workshop format designed to provide an interactive hands-on experience where appropriate. For example, each participant worked with the instructor and their colleagues to construct a “Message Box” related to the census activity. We deepened participant's understanding of using readability and plain English practices in public relations with a vocabulary quiz.
We worked closely with the US Census Bureau Communications office to develop this training using examples tailored to the Census Bureau experience, including Census 2000 examples. The Crisis Communications section included relevant and appropriate role-playing exercises.
Following the training session, a written critiques of each participant's on-camera performance was prepared. A copy of the video along with the written critique was delivered to each participant, with the office leader receiving a report for the whole group.
