Media

To promote your workshop and enhance the profile of health careers, you can inform the media beforehand of your upcoming visit! Research and contact the local radio stations, newspapers and television stations.    Organise interviews and media coverage of your visit which is effectively free advertising. Your RHSV and injection of enthusiasm and interest for the rural community you are visiting is bound to be snapped up by the media. It will help promote your visit to teachers and parents as well as encourage high school students to pursue that desirable health career!

Some of it may appear onerous but it is actually fun and not that time consuming especially if you spread the load – and it’s fantastic professional development for all involved!

1. Send your media releases one week before your visit.
2. Give a strong, catchy heading at the top of the release – your heading should summarise the story in no more than 6 words.    
3. Make your media release sound interesting and newsworthy – it needs to stand out from the other 200 releases they will receive that day.        
4. Keep it factual. Avoid broad generalisations and clichés. 
5. Don’t overdo the details. Give the key details only, include quotes and attribute all newsworthy statements to a particular person, preferably someone who is happy to be interviewed for further information.
6. Keep the text simple, using clear, accessible, everyday language.
7. Write in the third person.
8. Spell everything out, do not use acronyms and put the name of your Club near the beginning.      
9. Set out the media release so it is easy to read and edit by the journalist. eg. At least size 12 font and one and a half line spacing with no underlining.
10. Give the most important information in the first paragraph and keep paragraphs to 2 sentences. After the lead introduction, each remaining paragraph of your media release should be less important than the one that preceded it. The story may be trimmed from the bottom up, paragraph by paragraph when going to print.
11. Limit your media release to 1 page maximum.
12. Include the names, addresses and phone numbers of 2 reliable people who can be contacted at the bottom of the page. Give two contact numbers for each person if possible.
13. Check and re-check your media release to make sure there are no mistakes and to see if it reads well. 

1. Decide in advance 3 or 4 key points that you want to get across.
2. Write out key phrases in large print. 
3. Rehearse the key points out loud in private beforehand. 
4. Volunteer information - don’t wait to be asked. 
5. Anticipate the kind of questions you’ll get. 
6. Rehearse answers to anticipated questions. 
7. Practise key points in animated exaggerated ways. Have animated conversations with yourself. Avoid monotones.
8. Do facial exercises, vocal warm-ups, horse noises and diction warm ups.
9. You LOVE what you do, that is why you are promoting it to high school students, so show it!
10. Remember to have fun and engage with the interviewer in a genuine converstion.
11. Avoid long rambling answers and going off on a tangent – or the interviewer will need to cut you off.