IRMI News

CSOs in Shot. Zaporizhia Workshop Takeaways

Shooting interviews, preparing news stories for the media, press release writing, brainstorming and feedback gathering. Vexation follows failures and joy follows little victories. On seeing your face in the shot you realize that the statements could have been said better, stated clearer or protracted less. It is so challenging at times to be able to do that in several minutes!

First of the two Zaporizhia workshops for CSO communications staff has come to an end.  It was run, the same as the previous ones in other cities of Ukraine, by IRMI and Thomson Foundation within Regional Voices project.  The participants of the workshop represented CSOs that assist internally displaced people. Not only were they provided with an opportunity to know each other better but also had a chance to exchange experiences and improve their presentation and communication skills.  In four days the trainees found out how to make their organizations more attractive for the media, how to present their organization, how to make a press release more to the point, etc. The group was taken on a visit to Zaporizhia office of National broadcasting company of Ukraine.

Below are the impressions of some of the trainees.

“The assignments were well structured and useful, the trainers motivated us to take on challenges. My favorite session was on-camera work. Now I know what pitfalls to expect and where my room for improvement is. Exciting, informative, useful and extraordinary that session was”, says Ana Turyanytsia of Caritas Ukraine.  

“I was part of a previous course for CSOs”, says Veronika Fomenko of “Pravo Na Zakhyst” Charity Fund. “The course gave as a clear idea of how to word the mission, vision and values for our organisations. It is now much less of a challenge to do on-camera work and prepare a speaker for an interview. I guess, the second course has given me an impetus to restructure and improve the strategic communications plan. I am very much looking forward to the Radio Day, scheduled for part two of the course, for I have no experience with radio interviews.”    

“Stand-up is an extremely useful exercise”, says Nataliia Kazionnova of Donetsk Institute of Information (DII). “I had no clue that a minute pitch in front of the camera may be so challenging. I am a practitioner and took part in a number of workshops, also as a trainer. The course still had a lot of useful information for me. Thank you.”

“It is important to establish contacts and interact with colleagues. In my opinion, our part of Ukraine is forgotten when it comes to inviting us to participate in training events. Being part of this course I realized that I lack experience of on-camera work. Even though I used to be interviewed, I did it spontaneously”, says Liudmila Chaplyhina of Obiednannia pereselentsiv Ukrainy of Kamianets Podilski. “I would pursue with the writing of press releases, it is very important. Do invite us again.”

Second of the two trainings for the same group is scheduled for 18-22 July. The participants received a home assignment – to prepare presentations of their organizations – creative, informative and to the point ones. The plan is to polish the acquired knowledge and gain new experience.

Interested? Join in! The call for applications for a CSO course in Mykolaiv is due soon. Follow our news and apply!

As a reminder – Regional Voices: Strengthening Conflict Sensitive Coverage in Ukraine’s Regional Media is a year and a half EU funded initiative, implemented by the Media Consortium of five organizations: Thomson Foundation, Institute of Regional Media and Information (IRMI), MEMO 98, Association Spilnyi Prostir (ASP) and The European Journalism Center.

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