By the afternoon, the nervousness visible in the morning’s first interviews had largely given way to composure. This year’s cohort spent a day at Balliol College being put through their paces by a team of experienced broadcasters and journalists from Media First, several with backgrounds at the BBC and major national outlets.
Working in small groups, students took part in simulated broadcast and print interviews, with television exercises filmed so participants could review their performance. After each session, trainers provided one-to-one feedback, identifying strengths and areas for improvement in each student’s delivery.
The session covered core skills that underpin the IHTM’s media training day: understanding the modern media landscape, identifying the elements of a story that attract media interest, learning to construct clear key messages, and using bridging techniques to return to those key messages under pressure; even when faced with hostile, leading or off-topic questions.
Students described feeling far more confident fielding difficult or unexpected questions while keeping ownership of their subject.
Reflecting on the day, IHTM MSc Student Hadeel Abdelseid shared:
This training gave me the confidence to present on television. I now know how to stay focused, manage my nerves, and communicate more naturally on camera.
The media training day forms part of the MSc’s Leadership, Management and Communications Training (LMCT), a cross-cutting module that, among its core objectives, aims to build effective communication skills with different audiences; from academics and policymakers to funders, media, and the public.