Training

Course duration : full day

 

Magazines are no longer just print titles. Today’s leading brands publish across print, websites, newsletters, social channels, podcasts, video and live events, often with smaller teams and more freelance contributors. This course explains how the modern magazine works and how to win coverage across every platform.

 

• The key players: the latest on the main magazine houses, independent titles and digital-first brands, and how publishers now work across print and online.
• A day in the life: how magazine editors, digital writers and freelance journalists actually work today, and what they need from PRs.
• Print versus online: long lead times for print, same-day turnaround for digital, and how to plan your stories for both.
• Beyond the page: opportunities in newsletters, social media, podcasts, video and events, and how one story can work across several formats.
• Shopping and affiliate content: how product pages, gift guides and “best of” round-ups work, and how to get your products included.
• Earned versus paid: the difference between editorial coverage, sponsored content and brand partnerships, and when each makes sense.
• Spotting the right opportunity: finding stories that suit a magazine, its readers and its online audience.
• Turning product news into a story: angles, timing and the assets you’ll need, including images, video and social-ready content.
• Headlines that work: writing subject lines and headlines that magazine journalists can’t resist, in print and online.
• Do’s, don’ts and best approaches: what editors love, what they ignore, and why personalised pitches still beat mass emails.
• Role play: participants practise selling in their stories to a journalist, with live feedback.

Course duration : half day or full day

 

Whether tasked with promoting a new washing powder or the benefits of a new drug, case studies are the lifeblood of the media today. They provide a human face to a story. They offer an excellent way to communicate specific messages, especially in highly regulated environments, such as when dealing with pharmaceutical guidelines (ABPI).

Often, a journalist can be persuaded to feature a brand/product/service if the case study is strong enough. PRs are often sitting on fantastic stories but do not realise it as they have not probed the case study in question and asked the right questions. As a result, the case study appears dull and the media reject the story. So, how can PRs ensure their case study is used? Led by a journalist who specialises in first person stories and case studies for the Daily Mail, this half-day or more in-depth full day course covers:

• Case studies – why the media want them.
• Capitalising on the growing case study opportunities in the media today.
• Essential case study requirements.
• How to get the best out of your case study interview.
• The 10 questions you must ask!.
• Tips on phrasing and ordering questions.
• Negotiating key message inclusion with the media.
• Role play: case study mock interview.
• Practical: Turning a case study in to compelling copy.
• Q&A session.

Television is often the hardest medium in which to secure quality coverage. Too many stories are simply forwarded to programmes without any thought about how they will work on screen for a daytime audience. A weak approach doesn’t just miss the slot. It can affect the reputation of the PR, the company they work for and the brand they represent.

Daytime TV remains hugely influential, from Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women on ITV to BBC Breakfast and Morning Live. Today, the best segments also live on long after broadcast, as clips on social media, YouTube and streaming platforms. So how do you target these programmes effectively?

Including input from a leading daytime TV producer or forward planner, this full-day course covers:

• The dynamics of daytime television: how programmes are planned, who decides, and how schedules and seasons affect opportunities.
• The key programmes and their audiences: what each show is looking for, and how their viewers differ.
• Making a story work for TV: visuals, real people, case studies, demonstrations and the “must have” ingredients producers look for.
• Spokespeople and talent: preparing a founder, expert or ambassador who is ready for live TV.
• Selling in a story: approaches, timing and forward planning, and why tailored pitches beat mass emails.
• Beyond the broadcast: how segments are clipped and shared online, and how to plan for social, YouTube and streaming.
• Branding and TV: the broadcaster’s obligations under the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, product mentions, and what is and isn’t allowed.
• Role play: participants practise selling in their stories to a TV producer, with live feedback.
• Q&A session.

Course duration : half-day

 

Journalists tend to get most of their quality stories from their tried and trusted contacts. A journalist will often go the extra mile for a PR they have successfully worked with in the past and this can mean that a good story becomes a great one. It’s a reciprocal relationship.

Sound PR contacts are critical for today’s busy media, particularly since many journalists are desk bound. Every journalist has an inner circle of tried and trusted contacts. So how does a PR become one of these?

Working with a national journalist who knows all about good contacts (and is happy to share stories about both the best and the worst!), this half-day course will demonstrate how a PR can transform themselves from being ‘just a PR’ into a valuable contact. It will include:

• Exploring the barriers that prevents the PR from becoming a valued contact.
• Ways to overcome these barriers.
• Journalist insights : what really makes a good contact.
• The four key steps to building a valuable relationship.
• How to make the first approach.
• How to maintain a good contact.
• Role play : teams to practice turning a call into a valuable contact.

Course duration : full day

 

Starting out in PR can feel daunting. The media is diverse, fast-moving and changing all the time, and journalists are under more pressure than ever, with smaller teams, round-the-clock online deadlines and inboxes full of pitches. This full-day course gives new graduates and junior members of communications teams a thorough grounding in how the UK media works today, and how to build relationships that last.

The course covers:

• The UK media today: national, regional, trade and consumer media, and how print, online, broadcast, podcasts and newsletters fit together.
• The PR’s role and the journalist’s role: what each needs, and how to work together well.
• What makes a story: the key ingredients, and why news values still matter in a digital world.
• Inside a newsroom: a day in the life of a journalist on a digital-first title, and who’s who, from editors to freelancers.
• Inside broadcast: how TV, radio and podcast programmes are planned, made and shared online.
• Social media and creators: how journalists use social platforms, and where creators and influencers fit alongside traditional media.
• Media targeting: finding the right title, programme and person for your story.
• The media timetable: lead times for online, daily, weekly, monthly and broadcast media.
• Selling in a story: how to pitch, follow up and handle embargoes, exclusives and rejection.
• Using AI wisely: where AI tools can help a busy PR, and why journalists can spot a generic AI pitch a mile off.
• Role play: participants practise selling in their stories to two journalists, with live feedback.

Course duration : full day 

 

The full-day course addresses both the /technical /skills and /style/ requirements needed to deliver great writing. The morning part of the course addresses the following:

• punctuation.
• spelling.
• grammar.
• proofreading.

After each specific section, participants will be asked to complete an exercise to test their skills and improve their spelling, punctuation and proofreading skills etc. From a training perspective, this is critical in ensuring that the information is lodged and participants remember the key principles and rules of effective writing.

The afternoon session, co-presented with a national journalist, will then address writing techniques for the media – broadcast, print, radio and online. It will show PRs:

• how to adapt their writing style when targeting the media.
• simple ways to adapt a standard press release eg so it appeals to broadsheets, mid-markets and tabloids etc.
• how to write copy that captures attention quickly and with impact.
• killer words to use for key media.
• how to get the email sell in right.

Course duration : pending brief

 

Format: one-to-one, tailored to you. Available as a single session or an ongoing programme.

For founders, authors, business leaders and senior communications professionals who want to sharpen their profile, their media confidence and their judgement.

Maria Boyle brings 25 years at the top of PR: from becoming the youngest person appointed to the Hill & Knowlton Board, to running her own consultancy for over two decades and sitting on the Women in Journalism board. Her mentoring draws on that experience, practical, honest and grounded in how the media and boardrooms really work.

Sessions are shaped around your goals, and can include:

• Building your personal profile: defining what you want to be known for, and the opportunities that will get you there, from media and speaking to awards and board roles.
• Media confidence: preparing for interviews, panels, podcasts and difficult questions.
• Reputation and judgement: spotting the opportunity and the risk in a story, and handling sensitive situations calmly.
• Leadership in communications: for in-house heads of comms and senior PRs stepping up, from managing agencies to advising a CEO or board.
• Founder support: for female founders and entrepreneurs telling their story as their business grows.
• Connections: introductions, where appropriate, from a little black book built over 25 years.

Available on request. Get in touch to discuss what you need.