Sample Programmes

Sample one day course with a media focus

TIME	ACTIVITY
9.15am	Registration coffee/tea
9.30am	Introduction to course
9.40am	Bang the Gong (an ‘icebreaker’ exercise to get participants thinking about getting rid of jargon)
10.10am	Simplifying science (presentation followed by an exercise for participants to simplify descriptions of their own work)
10.30am	Coffee/Tea
10.45am	Condensing and adding hooks (presentation followed by exercise)
11.30am	Analogies (exercise to come up with analogies for specific scientific concepts)
12.15am	Responsibilities of communicating science (presentation followed by discussion)
12.45am	Lunch
1.45pm	Mock Radio interviews (individual interviews for each participant and feedback)
2.45pm	Coffee/Tea
3.00pm	An academic point of view (talk from an academic experienced with dealing with the media)
3.30pm	The media machine (presentation on how the media works)
3.45pm	Hacking It (an exercise to give participants a feel for what journalists do)
4.45pm	Summary
5pm	Close

Sample half day course with a science writing focus

TIME	ACTIVITY
9.15am	Introduction to course
9.20am	Getting started (ideas on how to overcome writer’s block)
9.45am	Structuring your writing (presentation followed by an exercise)
10.45am	Coffee/Tea
11.00am	The science of readability (presentation and discussion on the ways of measuring how easy writing is to read)
12.00am	Storytelling (A professional storyteller tells two stories. We discuss what makes a good story and then participants work in groups to make their own story)
1pm	Summary and close