Building Better Relationships Through Effective Communication

media training

Effective Media Relations

You may have it backwards.j0422120.jpg

The highly evolved skills that most successful executives use in their work often are not the skills they need to be successful at media relations. In fact, they're most likely backwards. This intensive four- to six-hour workshop shows high-level corporate executives what's missing in their current approach to interacting with news media and gives them hands-on experience with building authentic relationships with members of the Fifth (and, now, the Sixth) Estate.

If you're looking for just another set of tips, tricks, techniques and other means of manipulating relationships with news media, this is not the program for you. This workshop is grounded in the fundamentals of building successful relationships such as cultural awareness, listening, respect, responsibility and empathy.

The program is customized for the specific requirements of each client organization. Using demonstrations, exercises, video examples and, as required, videotaping, participants learn about the culture of news media, principles of media relations, surefire tips for aggravating reporters, David Kirk's Seven Commandments for answering questions and even the Zen principles that apply to answering questions. Then, using specific models and examples specific to their current challenges, participants practice the principles they've learned.

For additional information or to schedule a workshop, please contact me.

Testimonials

“I like working with David Kirk for a couple of reasons, besides his good looks and personality:

  1. The projects we work on together feel solid. David brings a perspective that help and inspire me, to do my best for each client.
  2. He knows a lot of stuff. All kinds of stuff. From prior experience or from the vast amount of information stored in his head, or the latest thing he has found on the net. He is pretty amazing actually.
  3. He cuts through the bull and gets at the core of the project.
  4. Besides smart, he is quick.
  5. He can take a jumbled pile of words and ideas and make incredible prose, usually with very little editing.
  6. And did I say how clever he was? Probably not. And if he was writing this rather than me, it would sound a whole lot better. Hey David, could you rewrite this before you put in your references please, so I sound smart?

PS. I have not only hired David for our stuff, in fact mostly I hire him to work with our clients.”

Penelope Malish is a principal in the graphic-design firm, Malish & Pagonis


Penelope Malish recommends David Kirk.