Brief

Freshwater was approached to deliver a day of tailored media interview training to the senior team at Salix Finance, in the most realistic setting possible. Our specialist trainers decided to set the session in a functioning TV studio.

Delivery

After assessing various TV studios across London, we decided on holding the session at London’s iconic 4 Millbank. The location provided the perfect setting for both the theory and practice elements of the day’s training – offering the full studio environment for television interview practise, as well as a separate room to discuss theory and practise radio interviews.

Ahead of the training, Freshwater undertook an in-depth analysis of Salix Finance and audited the delegates’ media experiences to date to help shape the training objectives for the session. This ensured the expert trainers, Freshwater chief executive John Underwood and award-winning journalist Trevor Barnes, were able to provide detailed theory and analysis tailored to each participant, based on their existing media experience, as well as the areas in which they wanted to improve the most.

One aspect participants identified that required particular attention was Salix Finance’s key messages, and what their organisation’s mission statement should be, given the complex nature of their work. This became a core part of the day and, as with all media training sessions we deliver where the agenda is highly flexible, the trainers recognised the need to perfect the key messages to ensure the delegates were better equipped going into the interactive practice session.

After the theory session was complete, the group was split into two, with half of the participants put through their paces in front of the cameras, and the other half taking the mic for radio practice. In-depth, realistic interviews followed, giving interviewees the chance to get the message across with clarity, confidence and conviction. Following the practice interviews, both groups received detailed analysis and constructive feedback of their performance from the trainers, allowing them to learn how to best maximise the opportunity for their message to come across in conversation. The groups then switched over, guaranteeing that everyone was able to partake in both radio and television style interviews, and understand the nuances of each medium.

The session rounded off summarising a number of key learnings and answering any prevailing questions, while participants were given copies of their interviews and our course manual, as well as offered the option to get in touch for post-course support.

Results

Salix Finance put their learnings into practice soon after the training and were well prepared for the media activity that followed. The chief executive and marketing manager were interviewed by the Telegraph as part of its ‘Best of British’ series, in which the paper showcases small businesses delivering jobs, growth and prosperity for people across the UK. The interview and campaign highlighted the key messages that had been discussed at our session, which were included in the Telegraph feature.

Feedback from attendees was very positive with the marketing manager commenting: “The trainers’ experience working in political environments and the public sector was invaluable and made the messages easy to understand throughout. The course’s flexibility was extremely useful; it allowed the right mix of theory, ensuring we got the most out of the practice interviews.”