Media
and electronics industry training
As a leading journalist in the electronics industry, I train companies in how to work with newspapers and their Public Relations consultants to get their message across accurately and effectively. I also offer training in the different market areas and technologies for new recruits in PR companies. I have run over 20 courses for major multinational electronics companies and PR companies in Europe and the UK.
Please note I am not offering training in PR or disaster management but training that helps PR and companies work better with the press and avoid the misunderstandings that are all too common.
The training plan is modular, so just the right modules for your organisation can be chosen, and each module can be scaled from 1hr to half a day (3.5hours) depending on your specific requirements. Each module is also specifically targeted to the needs of the people being trained, with additional time in each module for question and answer sessions and excercises ranging from written tasks to role play.
One important element is the ability to ask ‘stupid’ questions to fill in gaps in your knowledge in a safe, non-critical environment, and the training package aims to create such an environment where no question is stupid.
Contact Nick Flaherty by email or on +44 (0) 117 942 6344 for more details, availability and prices, for further information or to suggest additional modules
Select what you need from these training modules:
| Media Training | |
| Improve your Writing | |
daily newspapers and websites; weekly; fortnightly; monthly; six monthly;
what they are looking for: news; features; products; technical
how to write material for: news; features; products; technical
how to talk to the press
when to talk to the press
what they want and what they will do given the chance
Off the record; Unattributable; Embargoes; NDA – often not possible, with sample
press releases & briefings – how they are used
Role play interviews with aggressive, passive and inexperienced journalists
Feedback in a group to develop personal appropriate approaches to each
Types of journalist
Types of interviewee
How stories are researched and written
Know your environment
What exactly are journalists looking for
Market and Technology Training
Module: Semiconductor industry
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Process technology roadmap
CMOS, SiGe, GaAs, BiCMOS, DRAM, SRAM
Iline, phase shift, lithography, steppers etc
Module: Wireless Communications
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
GSM, UTMS, iMode, GPRS, 3G, BFWA, TDMA, CDMA, WAP, Bluetooth, HomeRF, etc
Module: Networks and the Internet
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Hubs, routers, Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IP, VOIP, Ipv6, HTML, XML, Java etc
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
SDH, SONET, PDH, IP, VOIP, circuit switched, etc
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Video: MPEG1,2,4,7,21
Audio: MP3, AAC, DVD,
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Satellite: QPSK, Viterbi
Cable: QAM, Reed solomon
Terrestrial: COFDM
DAB: OFDM
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Processors, USB, Firewire, 3D graphics, DVD-ROM, DVD RAM,
Module 10: Consumer electronics
Major players
What are these and why do they matter:
Firewire, MP3, AAC, DVD etc
Your writing heroes
What are we trying to achieve - writing for your audience
What this is not - a tutorial on spelling and grammar
Who is your audience? Dealing with multiple audiences
What's the story? Dealing with multiple stories
Multiple audiences and multiple stories?
What will you write - Structure:
Why do I care? S
ix very good friends: Who, what, how, where, when, why
The Pub Rush & Elevator Pitch
Brainstorming
Plan by paragraph
The delayed drop - writing exercise
Checking: Your facts, people's names
Spin
Lies, damn lies and Statistics
Sources, authenticity & credibility
Quotes and attribution
Libel issues - defences
How are you going to say it - Style:
Active - what is it, when to use it
Passive - what is it, when to use it
What's the difference - writing exercise
I hear voices: narrator styles
The pros and Cons of:
Omnipotence - can see everything that's going on but no character to identify with
First person - identifying with the writer but cannot see what else is happening
Third person - Identify with the character, can see other parts of the story Puns, alliteration, clichés
Writing formats: News Features Pamphlets Flyers Reports - internal, external
Common mistakes up with which I will not put:
Hanging participles; Ending with prepositions; Inverted sentences; Split Infinitives; Some thoughts on dashes, commas and apostrophes; Sound it out
Stress: Writing under deadline - preparing the way; The power of adrenaline; Writer's block - what is it, some ways of dealing with it
Writing heroes part II .... Further reading
Please note these are not exhaustive lists