Media training for scientists

Comments on the course from previous participants:
“The thing I liked most about the workshop was the chance to get on the other side of the camera/microphone for the first time with real journos!”Grant Drummond
post-doctoral fellow, Howard Florey Institute
“I learnt heaps – as demonstrated by the way our stories developed throughout the day. Highly recommended to all Fellows.”Tracey Bessell
PhD candidate, Monash Institute of Health Sciences Research
“I was a little skeptical about the course, but I found it very useful. It was practical, and I gave it the highest scores in the assessment at the end.” Professor Graham Farquhar
Deputy CEO Greenhouse Accounting CRC

Science in Public holds regular media training courses for scientists in collaboration with our colleagues from Econnect Communication. These courses are fundamentally different to corporate media training. They are designed to help you understand what  the media needs to bring your work to life, and to help you work out how to help the media tell your story accurately.

Our next courses in Melbourne will be held on:

  • Friday 24 September 2010
  • Wednesday 13 October 2010
  • Wednesday 17 November 2010

We also have a course coming up in Sydney:

  • Wednesday 15 September

We will hold more courses outside Melbourne if there’s sufficient demand. We welcome expressions of interest for possible future courses. If you can deliver four people we can probably find others in your area.

If you’re interested in attending one of these course, or have any questions about the course, please contact Niall - niall@scienceinpublic.com.au or (03) 9398 1416

For more details please read on or download our media training flyer.

Our media training workshop will help you feel comfortable with the media and have more control over your media appearances. Working journalists from television, radio and newspapers will interview you and will also answer your questions.

The course will help you with all your non-scientific communication with stakeholders, customers and the media. And it will give your media advisers confidence that you will be a good performer when media opportunities arise.

Our course features two experienced science communicators as presenters and three working journalists from television, print and radio who will interview you during the course of the day.

Science in Public’s creative director Niall Byrne usually presents the course together with Tim Thwaites, our resident science writer and broadcaster, or Sarah Brooker, our managing director.

The journalists for each course are confirmed a few days before the course.

Journalists who have been involved include Gerard Scholten and Martine Griffiths from Channel Ten News; Blanche Clark from The Herald Sun; Bridie Smith from The Age and Donna Demaio from 3AW radio news.

  • Courses start at 9.30 am and finish by 5 pm
  • Melbourne courses are generally held at The Clare Café, 421 Rathdowne St, Carlton (cnr Palmerston St)
  • Refreshments and lunch provided
  • Cost is $650 + GST per person
  • Numbers are limited to 12 people

Reserve a place by emailing niall@scienceinpublic.com.au or calling 03 9398 1416

Interested in other science communication courses?

Econnect logoThe workshop structure is licensed from our friends at Econnect Communication. They run a range of workshops including:

  • presenting science
  • talking science with the media
  • communicating science
  • engaging the public with science
  • managing media issues and crises.

For more details visit their workshop page at http://www.econnect.com.au/workshops.htm

More about the media training workshop

We supply participants with details of the venue and any other arrangements. Please note the outline below is indicative only as we tailor each workshop according to the needs of participants, as determined at the beginning of the workshop.

We will invoice prior to the course. The fee is payable in advance and will be forfeited if you cancel less than seven days prior.

The course in detail

This practical workshop will help you:

  • know what to expect when the media does a story
  • practise your interview techniques with working journalists
  • get your message out as accurately as possible

Specific topics include:

  • what makes a good TV, radio or print story
  • how to take control of the media agenda
  • making the big announcement
  • what to do when a journalist knocks on your door
  • handling difficult questions
  • organising a good media release
  • in the hot seat – interview practice with working journalists.

The workshop objectives are:

  • to understand the media and how it operates
  • to develop some skills and confidence in dealing with media interviews
  • to apply principles of message-design to media management.

The workshop evaluation is:

  • reaction-based – workshop feedback sheet provided at end of workshop and results collated
  • learning – assessment of learning on an individual basis is provided throughout the workshop by both oral and written feedback
  • behavioural – individual feedback provided as skills are practised in the workshop, plus individual feedback forms.

Program outline

1.  Introduction, objectives of workshop
2. TV news
  • TV news journalist – presentation and discussion about what makes TV news stories work
  • Demo interview with one participant on video
  • Individual interviews on video while rest of group looks at:
    • Packaging TV news story
    • Preparing the ‘grab’
3. Print media journalist
  • Presentation and discussion about what major metro newspapers require to make a story work
4. Media releases and shaping your story
5. Radio
  • Radio journalist discusses the various formats of radio and what is required from radio to make a story work
  • Demonstration interviews of news, program and current affairs interviews
  • Individual interviews with radio journalist while rest of group looks at:- their TV interviews
    • controlling agenda with radio
    • dealing with more controversial/difficult interviews
    • what to do when the media comes unexpectedly to you
6. Evaluation of workshop

Our course presenters include:

Niall Byrne

Niall Byrne’s nine years with CSIRO Animal Health gave him practical experience dealing with media issues ranging from worms, to the deadly equine mobillivirus that killed a horse trainer and his horses. He managed the media crisis triggered by the escape of rabbit calicivirus in 1995.Today he runs Science in Public, putting science and scientists in public space. His clients include the Prime Ministers Prizes for Science; Fresh Science, Nature and a host of science organisations.

Sarah Brooker

It was during her honours year that Sarah Brooker discovered she preferred talking about science more than doing it. She ran away with the Shell Questacon Science Circus and into the world of science communication.She honed her communication skills by presenting general science to school students, then moved onto responding to enquiries about gene technology and biotechnology for the Federal Government’s Biotechnology Australia. Sarah has presented widely on biotechnology in Australia and attitudes and perception to gene technology.She now works with Science in Public helping scientists communicate their work through writing and presenting, the media, exhibitions and events.

Jenni Metcalfe

Jenni Metcalfe combined her passion for journalism and science when she became Communication Manager for CSIRO’s Tropical Crops and Pastures in 1989. While working at CSIRO, Jenni recognised the need to help scientists handle the media more effectively and with more confidence. She developed her first media and presentation skills course for local CSIRO scientists, and soon other divisions (and later other research organisations) were requesting her workshops. Jenni has now been running these specialist workshops for more than 12 years right across Australia. Jenni joined Econnect in 1995. She has expertise in media publicity and liaison, communication strategy development and implementation, and community liaison and consultation.

Tim Thwaites

Tim Thwaites is a freelance science writer and broadcaster who specialises in putting science, medicine and engineering into everyday language. He has more than 25 years experience of writing, editing, sub-editing, teaching and broadcasting in Australia and overseas.

After a degree and graduate work in zoology, including several years overseas, he trained and worked as a journalist at The Age. He has since written and sub-edited for newspapers, newsletters and magazines both nationally and internationally.

Tim has worked for universities, government departments, research institutes, private companies and professional organisations producing background material, writing press releases, editing publications, and organising publicity. He is a member of the executive committee for Fresh Science, a national competition for early career researchers and also teaches non-fiction writing at La Trobe University.

Tim is a foundation member of Australian Science Communicators and the first editor of its newsletter. He was co-chair of the program committee for the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists held in Melbourne in April 2007 and is currently the President of the Australian Science Communicators.
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