NewCommunications for Public Leaders: Storytelling, speeches, social media and media interviews

Dates:  

• 10 - 14 August 2026 - London (£2,850)

Workshop Outline

Every successful public leader is a master of the art of communication. Whether we like it or not, effective communication with key audiences, using a variety of tools, is one of the key tests for leaders. We judge our leaders on their ability to articulate their mission, educate and inspire and build a rapport with audiences.

This intensive skills-based workshop is designed to give leaders in the public realm the key insights and skills they need to prosper in the modern media age. We will use immersive learning techniques to give you practical tools and skills to use at work. The workshop is a hands-on, lively, stimulating and tailored experience, with case studies, visits, role-plays and professional feedback and guidance. You will end the week with renewed confidence, solid determination and new abilities to succeed.

This workshop will cover a wide range of topics in the field of modern communications, looking at how institutions develop their strategies for communicating with key audiences. We investigate how to develop a communications strategy, how to understand and segment audiences, how to develop feedback loops and listening activities, how to use the ancient arts of rhetoric and storytelling in a modern digital context and how to handle a tough, hostile media environment. We will use practical exercises and role-play to hone media handling and interview skills and develop messages for your public audiences.

Who is the workshop for?

Everyone working in a communications setting will benefit from our programme, whether in the public or private sector, a non-government or international organisation or an academic institution. You might be a public leader, manager or director of communications. You might be developing a career in government communications, public relations, speechwriting, marketing or advertising. This programme is aimed at communicators of every kind, across the spectrum of government-to-public communications, marketing communications professions, journalism, broadcasting and those who want to develop their own understanding of modern communications.

Workshop Objectives

On completion you will be able to:

• Develop your knowledge of how leaders in the public eye use a range of techniques to communicate, shape opinion and drive behaviour change.
• Help you to learn transferable personal skills for use at work in your current and future roles.
• Develop your skills to speak, persuade, answer questions and stay on message in challenging situations.
• Benchmark and stress-test your own skills set, identify areas for improvement and recognise where new skills should be developed.
• Establish good practice across the world as you share experience from your country with others in comparable situations.

Key topics

This workshop will cover a wide range of topics in the field of modern communications, looking at how institutions develop their strategies for communicating with key audiences. We investigate how to develop a communications strategy, how to understand and segment audiences, how to develop feedback loops and listening activities, how to use the ancient arts of rhetoric and storytelling in a modern digital context and how to handle a tough, hostile media environment. We will use practical exercises and role-play to hone media handling and interview skills and develop messages for your public audiences.

The workshop will include presentations, exercises, case-studies and discussions.

You will have the opportunity to discuss practical issues affecting your own professional life and to compare and contrast experience with counterparts from different countries.

• The art of storytelling, crafting a narrative and how to apply storytelling techniques to public institutions.
• How to write and deliver compelling, memorable and effective speeches in a variety of settings, from board rooms to stadiums.
• How to deliver a message on radio and television and to prepare spokespeople for tough interviews, including filming and playback.
• How to write like a journalist, including scripts, news releases, social media and articles.