Why You Should Attend This Course:

Getting positive coverage for your product, service or clients is a major part of a communicator's job.

The mainstream media remains a vital way of communicating information and messages to your target audience. In addition, the arrival of social media has meant that communication professionals need to consider how to engage with influential bloggers, particularly on specialist topics. This is an area fraught with danger to the uninitiated.

In pitching stories on behalf of an organisation or company, there are particular issues and sensitivities. Whilst creativity remains important, there are boundaries which must also be observed.

Learning Outcomes:

This course will focus on what will work and what will not work in getting your story told in the media. It will also look into how you could cut through the media clutter and achieve a higher success rate.

In this course, participants will

• Learn the elements of a good story and how to include them in your pitch
• Find out how you can enhance story pitches with creative ideas including photography
• Find out what it's like to be on the other side of the fence – being a journalist
• Increase your confidence when talking to clients and the media about your stories
• Learn how to pitch stories to bloggers and on social media

 
Agenda:

• Target your audience
• Know the media
• Understand your business
• Do your research
• Pitch newsworthy information
• Enhance your media pitch with good angles and visuals
• Develop concise and engaging writing skills
• Develop relationships with journalists
• Pitch to social media and bloggers

It will be an interactive course with hands-on training and engaging discussions

Target Audience

Corporate Communications, Marketing Communications and Public Relations professionals who handle media relations.

Trainer's Profile:

Bhavani has served in the Singapore public sector for 35 years in various appointments. She was the Director of Public Communications (2008-Jul 2011), and Director of Corporate Communications and the Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts from 2004 to 2008.

Her last job in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) was Director of Emergency Preparedness and Head of the Community Engagement Cluster for Media and the Arts.

In these roles, her scope of work was focused on coordinating Whole-of-Government communications, working closely with the other ministries and agencies.   She was also responsible for national level planning for crisis communications, ensuring a coordinated whole-of-government approach in handling various crises scenarios.  

She has also served as Head Public Affairs at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and later, Head of Media Relations at the Ministry of Defence. Both these postings added to her depth of experience in managing challenging issues.  

Bhavani served seven years (2002-2009) as President of the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore (IPRS). She was concurrently Chairperson of the Federation of ASEAN PR Organisations (FAPRO).  She continues to serve the IPRS in her capacity as Advisor to the IPRS Accreditation Board.

Bhavani is currently running a PR training and consultancy business - International PR Training Pte Ltd. She is also an associate trainer at the Civil Service College, Marketing Institute of Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation. 

Bhavani holds a degree in Business Administration (NUS), a Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom and a Master of Arts (Mass Communications) from the Oklahoma City University, USA.