Free Communications & Media Training For Scottish Activists Campaigning Against Poverty

MEDIA TRAINING - Calling all Scottish poverty warriors. Free media and communications training is available in Scotland. 

Free media and communications training for activists who have experience of living on a low income organised by the Poverty Alliance. 

 Course overview

This short online training is designed for activists who have experience of living on a low income to develop their media and communications skills. It is suitable for those with no prior experience of working with the media and for those who would like to build on existing skills. You will learn techniques for talking about poverty in a way that connects with people’s values to win hearts and minds. You’ll learn a bit about how the media works, how you can prepare yourself to work with journalists with confidence and improve your interview, writing, and public speaking skills depending on your interests. You’ll be part of a small team of activists learning together and you’ll receive one-to-one support to get your views heard by the media and policymakers. The course will also cover one session on other campaigning tactics including social media and lobbying, and we will provide briefings on the policy solutions that Poverty Alliance and our members are pushing for.

The course consists of six sessions running from the end of July to September with opportunities for media engagements in September and October.

 Who is the course for?

Places are limited but the course is open to everyone who:

• Lives in Scotland
• Has recent (or current) experience of living on a low income
• Is available on the course dates set out below
• Is keen to use the training to either speak publicly or to the media about the changes governments need to make to prevent poverty and pull people out of it.

Everybody who fits the criteria is welcome and we are especially keen to hear from parents, people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and people who receive social security payments.

Poverty Alliance will support you to communicate your solutions to poverty in a way that will resonate with the public and be appropriate for the publication or news channel you are working with, but this will always be in the form of optional advice and the solutions to poverty you choose to talk about will be entirely up to you.

There will be 10 places available on the course. If we are oversubscribed, places will be given to people who are keen to undertake media work and are happy to talk from their own personal experience. Selections may also be made to ensure the diversity of the group.  

 How to apply

Simply email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 3 July stating your name, age, location, gender identity, ethnicity, any access requirements, along with a very brief note of why you are interested in the course and what issues you want to talk about (one or two sentences is fine). 

 Expenses

All sessions will be conducted online via Zoom. If you do not have WiFi or a device that connects to the internet we can help you cover the costs. We will also recognise the value of people’s time whenever they undertake media or public speaking engagements organised by Poverty Alliance through vouchers.

 Planned sessions

The course will be run across five 90 minute online training sessions running from late July to mid September, with up to two additional one hour one-to-ones. If you choose to undertake media engagements these will be arranged in September/October depending on your availability.Course dates

11.00 – 12.45, Tuesday 28 July: Introduction to working with the media
We’ll provide an overview of how the media works and the range of media and communications work we can support you to undertake. We’ll cover the factors that you should consider when working with the media and help you start thinking about what you might like to try.

11.00 – 12.45, Tuesday 4 August: Framing poverty to win hearts and minds

We’ll present findings from research on public attitudes towards poverty and share ways you can talk about problems and solutions that have been proven to resonate even with people who don’t agree with you. A short writing/sharing exercise will help you think about how you can implement these in practice.

11.00 – 12.45, Tuesday 11 August: Speaking from your own experience

In this session you’ll share the issues and policy solutions you want to talk about. From this you’ll develop your own core narrative and translate this into key messages which you’ll use for any media work. You’ll also start to think about the kinds of media or communications work you might like to do.

 Week commencing 17 August at a time of your choosing: Individual two hour one-to-ones to discuss how you’d like to put what we’ve learned into practice.

11.00 – 12.45, Tuesday 1 September: Optional session on campaigning, lobbying and social media

The content of this optional session will be tailored to the interests of the group but can cover campaign organising, social media and/or lobbying politicians.

11.00 – 12.45, Tuesday 15 September: Putting it into practice

We’ll undertake practice interviews/draft articles/record video clips based on what group members have identified they’d like to do.

If you choose to undertake media engagements these will be arranged in September/October depending on your availability. We will also arrange a feedback session in mid-October to share our reflections on the course. If there is interest it may be possible to continue working together.

Image: Challenge Poverty with the Poverty Alliance, media & communications training.

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