latest news from the orchard

May 22, 2012

In the hot seat

Filed under: PR, Training — Tags: , , , , — orchardnews @ 10:40 am

Two years after leaving the world of broadcast journalism I was back behind the microphone last week grilling the latest candidates to participate in Orchard PR’s media training course. Orchard PR’s resident media trainer Emma Anderson invited me along to play the “journalist” in the fictional interviews in which the candidates take part on the day.

When I was on air, I clocked up numerous hours trawling through interviews in search of the golden sound bite to help bring stories alive. Most journalists are looking for a sound bite no longer than 15 to 20 seconds in length. In the grand scheme of things, this is not long especially when you factor in pauses and common ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’.  It’s important interviewees are aware of what journalists are looking for and are confident in their key messages and can deliver them in a way that meets the needs of the journalist.

These skills are often the difference between an audience actually engaging in what you say or making them switch off entirely. This is where media training comes in and it can give interviewees the skills to deliver and impress. Where media training helps is in understanding the media, knowing your target audience(s), tailoring your messages to suit those audiences and having a “tool box” to help you prepare and get the most out of an interview.

As Emma often says, communicating through the media (both traditional and digital) is not a dark art, it is a learned skill and once you have built those muscles you need to exercise them to stay in shape.

Posted by Cat.

March 20, 2012

Handling the media is not a dark art

Filed under: Training — Tags: , , , , , — orchardnews @ 8:54 am

There can be no question that the new world we live in presents some extraordinary challenges for businesses; some we have never seen before and others we could have easily deflected in the past… not anymore. We live in a world of increasing transparency and accountability not least in terms of media expectation. We now have both traditional media and “new” media – a true age of 24 hour news.

Businesses are expected to talk, often on issues that are less than comfortable and certainly defend their position across a range of media platforms from newspapers to broadcast, LinkedIn to Twitter. In the past, an understanding of how the media works and how to deal with them may have been a “nice to have” but now it is vital if a business is to be seen to be reputable, accountable and to have a clear understanding of their position and messages to demonstrate expertise.

Being a credible spokesperson with an ability to craft positive and controlled messages has never been more important. Hiding and not engaging with the media is not an option. Worse still is being interviewed or writing a statement without understanding the media and doing it badly. The worst is rehearsing your message so much it is the only thing you say in an interview and you come across as a bit of a robot…

Understanding what the media do, how they do it and how you can deliver your business’ proposition in a credible and palatable way brings a level of confidence in the engagement which heightens awareness, reputation and trust in the spokesperson and the business.

Dealing with the media is not a dark art. It is a learned skill which can be taught and, once taught, it is a muscle that needs exercising to keep it honed.

Orchard PR aims to help you do exactly this: understand the media; refine your messages; and be seen as experts in your field. We are offering a comprehensive media training course at The Farmhouse in Guernsey on 24 April. The full-day course includes theory and practical exercises in a dynamic environment. You will leave the course with knowledge and confidence; able to flex your muscle in a variety of business communications.

For more information on the course, download our course flyer or visit the training section of the Orchard website.

Posted by Emma.

March 5, 2012

Tune up your social media

Filed under: Social Media, Training — Tags: , , , , , , — orchardnews @ 9:42 am

Social media, if you believe the hype, is the most important thing you need to focus your business on right now. Just for a nice change, the hype may be justified. Social media can be hugely powerful if harnessed in the right way. Making use of the networks, tools and platforms it provides can be very useful to online PR campaigns and can help win you precious profile and attention within a busy marketplace.

Jumping straight in and getting on with it can seem tempting. None of the tools themselves are that tricky to use, and there are online tutorials aplenty to show you how to design a Facebook page or win new Twitter followers quickly. However the first few steps in social media is also where many people get turned off. If there are no quick wins or no obvious results the feeling is often that they don’t ‘get it’ or more often that it doesn’t ‘get them’ and profiles are allowed to drift into dereliction.

It’s important then to think more carefully about what you want to achieve and how you are going to go about it before getting going. Like any campaign social media activity needs to be researched, planned, implemented and evaluated, then constantly monitored and refined. That’s before you factor in making it engaging and interesting to your core audience.

Orchard works with our clients on strategies for social media, figuring out how it can be integrated into their PR plans. We also offer interactive training sessions for small groups or 4-5 people wanting more insights into how they could use social media more effectively and time to think about their own businesses, bounce ideas around an open forum and discuss how they could put those ideas into practice.

If you would like to attend one of our training sessions please contact chris@orchardpr.com for more details. Our next half-day session is set for afternoon of the 15th March and still has places available.

Posted by Chris.

February 15, 2011

New for 2011: Orchard is offering more training

Filed under: Training — Tags: , , , , , , , , — orchardnews @ 10:22 am

This year we are expanding our training offering to the Channel Island’s business community. Alongside our successful bespoke media training which, over the years, has seen many of the most senior people in CI business being put through their paces by Emma Anderson, we are promoting our presentation skills training and have launched a new course on introducing businesses to social media.

All three courses are designed for small groups of between four and six people, either from the same company or in a mixed group. We believe in learning by doing so, while there is some theory and knowledge to be gained, our courses mainly focus on delegates putting into practise what they have learned through mock interviews, presentations and activities.

For more details of our training options please visit the Orchard website or download one of the course flyers below.

Media Training 2011

Introduction to Social Media 2011

Presentation Skills Training 2011

March 2, 2010

The bunker mentality of public sector PR…

Filed under: PR, Training — Tags: , , , , — orchardnews @ 5:06 pm

The use of PR professionals, both in house and agency, by the States of Guernsey has come in for a great deal of scrutiny of late. Today’s Guernsey Press business page adds yet more comment to the debate courtesy of James Falla, ex Treasury and Resources comms director.

Perhaps reading between the lines there is a bit of criticism here for the way Deputies and civil servants have engaged with the media over recent years. It is all too easy for beleaguered Deputies to develop a bunker mentality towards the media: ‘they’re all out to get me’ is a refrain we hear all too often.

Likewise the media sometimes views PR as an unnecessary blockage to getting to the juiciest part of a story.

But, a good PR professional can play a vital role in keeping the public information wheels moving. As James says of his previous role, public sector PR is not about getting in the way of political access, but to facilitate access, and probably more importantly in our opinion, to improve the service to the media.

In our role as media trainers we frequently teach people how to give journalists what they want, in a form that is most useful to them, enabling key messages to be distributed quickly, clearly and simply. It is this skill that James points out is ‘underrated’ in the current assembly and is probably the cause of many politicians  run ins with the various media on our island. Engagement does not necessarily mean compromise, in fact it can and should lead to a win-win situation.

Rather than fighting against journalists, our politicians should work with them to keep the public more informed and educated.

Posted by Chris.

February 1, 2010

New headquarters for Orchard

Filed under: Events, PR, Training — Tags: , , , — orchardnews @ 4:46 pm

There is big news at Orchard HQ. We have a new home, a new office and a brand new space to make our own and it’s only a hop, skip and a jump away from our old premises.

The old office was pretty handy. We would chat to reporters from Channel TV while making our coffee in the morning and the BBC was just the other side of the kitchen door.

However, as the business and our expert team grew, the room became just a bit too squashed for our needs. In line with the rebranding last year, it was time to invest and inject new energy into the space in which we spend our days.

The new office is open-plan (all the better for internal communication) and large enough to accommodate our growing team and some. The Orchard personality is evident with a green and red theme and we are even cultivating an in-door lawn in the reception area.

What’s more, we are still located in the thick of the media hub, having just transported ourselves across the car park!

To see more pictures, check out our gallery…

December 17, 2009

‘Tis the season to be jolly!’

Filed under: Events, PR, Training — Tags: — orchardnews @ 11:13 am

Looking around the office we can spy bits of tinsel next to sparkling fairy lights and even a jaunty ‘chimney’ hat with Father Christmas’ legs sticking out from the top. Plus, the inevitable boxes of chocolates. It is officially Christmas!

As we approach the end of the year and the inevitable 11th hour deadlines, we’d like to thank our clients for their loyalty and friendship through challenging times for many of us.

From everyone here at Orchard to our clients, journalists, suppliers and colleagues in Jersey, the Isle of Man, London and Guernsey – we wish you a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

October 23, 2009

Launch party photos

Filed under: Events, PR, Training — Tags: , , , — orchardnews @ 4:18 pm

Oh yes, photos from our excellent party last night, held in honour of our new look.

Steve

Steve

We had an excellent night – the Gallery is a perfect venue – so thanks to Gen and Chris for being such great hosts!

For more pics see our gallery!

October 22, 2009

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