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Intensive Communications and PR Programme

This 10-day communications course is a comprehensive programme for PR professionals. You will learn the latest best practice and state of the art across the full spectrum of communications and PR disciplines. Topics include strategy, campaigns, media, writing and live TV interview training. 

  • Face to face (London) | 10 days | £5,775 +VAT

Course Outline

Day 1: Essential Media Relations

This one-day module covers the key concepts and techniques that effective PR professionals use to get stories covered positively and prominently in print, broadcast and online media.

  • The media landscape: how to map out the full range of forms of news media, and how to engage effectively with different media
  • Journalists: how to understand and work with journalists to influence and shape coverage
  • News judgment: understanding how journalists decide what makes news
  • Pitching stories: how to sell-in stories to journalists by creating and executing effective pitches

Day 2: Creativity in Communications and PR

This one-day module delivers inspiration and practical tools with which to create distinctive PR ideas that will outshine the competition, stick in people’s minds, and achieve results.

  • Creativity in PR: principles of creativity and its importance for PR
  • Creativity showcase: a case-study driven rolling workshop in which learners examine the key success factors behind creative PR campaigns and extract practical lessons
  • Facilitating creativity: a toolbox of practical creativity techniques and processes
  • Creativity in practice: an in-class creativity workshop applying all of the creativity concepts and techniques covered during the course

Day 3: Strategic Media Engagement

This one-day module covers sophisticated approaches to media relations that will enable PR professionals with some media experience to take their career to the next level.

  • Creative news and media management: how to generate creative news angles and secure prominent coverage even for borderline stories
  • Innovative media engagement tactics: how to engage journalists using innovative techniques
  • Online media relations: how to conduct media relations on the Web and align your media relations work with online social media
  • Preparing and coaching spokespeople: how to brief and debrief spokespeople so that they perform effectively in media interviews

Days 4-5: Media Training

This two-day module builds universal skills for speaking with journalists in any kind of media encounter. You will practice realistic on-camera interviews with positive and supportive coaching. Topics include preparation, confidence, dynamics, body language and difficult questions.

  • Effective preparation for interviews
  • Body language, such as appearing engaged
  • Voice – including tone, projection, variation and emphasis of key points
  • Confidence and clarity (ability to be understood and avoidance of jargon)
  • Avoiding tricks, traps and pitfalls

Day 6: Advanced Communication Strategy

This one-day module covers strategy at manager and director level, including creating and deploying sophisticated strategies for complex situations, large organisations, multiple countries and brands.

  • Evidence-based communication strategy: how to measure and prove the value of communication
  • Advanced strategy tools and concepts: specialised techniques for developing complex PR strategies
  • Justifying strategy: securing management support: how to get support from the top for ambitious PR strategies
  • Rolling out and managing a communication strategy: the systematic process of creating and deploying a PR strategy

Day 7: Speech Writing

This one-day module covers the art of creating memorable speeches. You will learn to create powerful and natural language fit for the speaker and occasion. Topics include planning, structure, flow, rhetoric, transitions and other key components.

  • Speech planning
  • Structure and flow
  • The spoken word
  • Key elements and delivery

Days 8-9: Internal Communication

This two-day module covers employee communications from strategy to execution. You will learn best practice in building internal communication strategies that raise motivation, productivity and collaboration.

  • Core principles and defining concepts that underlie practical and strategic internal communications
  • How to create an internal communication strategy complete with organisational systems and a practical action plan
  • Internal communication platforms and channels: a toolbox of practical internal communication techniques and channels
  • Internal communication campaigns and programmes: a how-to guide to launching internal communication programmes, based on case studies of award-winning campaigns from around the world

Day 10: Advanced Communications and PR Management

This one-day module covers best practice in designing communication departments, managing PR teams and directing campaigns.

  • Strategic management for communications and PR departments
  • Operational communication management: policies, processes and resources
  • Programme management, measurement and evaluation
  • Managing and leading a PR team
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Meet your trainers

Following are some of the ISOC trainers who regularly lead this course, depending whether you join us in London, Dubai or live online. 

Trainer profile: Felice Hawley

Felice is a versatile editor, writer and broadcaster with in-depth experience of economic and business news. During a 16-year career at CNN, she helped create and then produce the award-winning live business programme “World Business Today”. Moving to text, Felice became Managing Editor of Hoover’s Online Europe, responsible for a team of journalists. She later went on to launch several websites, intranets, extranets and microsites. She writes, edits and manages content for organisations including Transport for London and the NHS. Felice consulted on web and print materials ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Trainer profile: Tim Harrison

Tim is a strategic communications consultant with more than 20 years’ experience, helping organisations to deliver their messages effectively to multiple stakeholders, including media, investors, regulators and policymakers, as well as employees.

Operating at the most senior levels to devise and execute strategic communications plans including media relations, crisis and issues management, reputation management, investor relations and internal communications, he is also a highly experienced and effective coach and trainer, helping senior executives to gain maximum impact from media interviews, presentations, public speaking, and investor engagements across a range of industries and geographies.

Tim has spent his entire career in corporate communications, both as a consultant and in-house. From 2006-16 he worked for HSBC, first as Regional Head of Communications in the Middle East and North Africa, then in global communications roles, before leaving the bank in 2016 to pursue a consultancy career. Prior to HSBC, he worked across a range of sectors, both as a consultant and in-house practitioner, consistently delivering business benefits from communications strategies. His experience includes spells with Abbey National/Santander, BNY Mellon Edelman, Asda’a PR and Charles Barker. A graduate of Oxford University, Tim is married with two children and lives in London.

Trainer profile: Adam Kirtley

Adam is a veteran presenter and reporter with more than 30 years' experience as a BBC journalist. He presents on BBC local and national and radio, including  Five Live business show Wake Up to Money and Radio Four's flagship consumer show You and Yours. He still reports for the BBC World Service, where he began his career. Adam has interviewed numerous bankers, finance ministers and CEOs during his BBC career, and for the last 15 years has used that experience to train executives in media interviews, crisis communication, public speaking, presentation skills and messaging. He is also an accomplished conference facilitator and workshop leader. Adam has worked across Europe, the Middle East, North America and Africa for organisations of all sizes, from multinational finance and pharmaceutical companies to governments and NGOs.

What you will learn

After this course you will be able to:

  • Understand how the media are organised, and how journalists think and work
  • Engage confidently and effectively with journalists
  • Plan a communication campaign using practical tools
  • Apply and adapt 10 universal platforms for creative PR
  • Develop enhanced writing skills to amplify the impact of everything that you write
  • Write powerful and memorable speeches
  • Create an internal communication strategy for your organisation

Who should attend?

This is an intermediate-level course designed for learners with existing knowledge and several years of experience in communications or PR. Learning is pitched at a level to help you develop strategic approaches and apply sophisticated techniques. This course is recommended for communications and PR professionals seeking a broad-based skills boost across a wide spectrum of specialist competencies as part of their continuing professional development.