Canadian Jewish Congress is proud to offer two media-related workshops to all volunteer and professional Jewish community leadership, and their communications teams nation-wide.

All interested parties are encouraged to contact Jordan Kerbel, National Director of Public Affairs as soon as possible to begin booking dates. Jordan’s contact information is as follows:

Jordan Kerbel
National Director of Public Affairs
Canadian Jewish Congress
jkerbel@cjc.ca
416 638-1991 ext 5142

Course 1:  CJC Media Training Workshop

Program Synopsis: The course is designed to help train our spokespeople to be effective media communicators. The training provides them with the necessary skills to get their messages out through the media at every opportunity. The half-day session is designed to give the participants a thorough understanding of the needs of the reporter and what kind of messages/quotes are most likely to make it into a story. The focus is on messaging, specifically pinpointing the skills necessary to communicate those messages under what can be challenging circumstances.

Who Can Benefit: CJC offers this program to all lay leaders and professional staff who may have cause to speak with the media. The ideal trainer-trainee ratio is 1:3 to make sure everyone gets sufficient individual attention, and 1:4 is the practical maximum for a half day session.

Topics Covered:

• Preparing strategically for an interview
• Learning how journalists craft their stories
• Developing messages
• Conveying messages during an interview
• Undergoing simulated media interviews using real-life media scenarios with interactive role-play and TV camera recordings
• Preparing media strategies, including to deal specifically with negative, hostile or “hard hitting” interviews
• Developing techniques for staying on track and on message, specifically when the interviewer is trying to shape the agenda
• Preparing for and successfully handling a “crisis”
• Crafting an “exit strategy” if an interviewer has a pre-conceived negative agenda

Assessment:

Each of the participants is recorded so we can watch them on playback. Together, we evaluate the performance– what worked and what didn’t– and concentrate further on what requires more practice. A brief written evaluation is prepared for each participant, with appropriate follow-up to make sure their skills remain sharp.  Ongoing “on demand” assistance is provided by CJC experts in the event that participants wish to consult with us prior to an actual interview.

Course 2:  CJC Community Media Awareness Workshop

Program Synopsis: This program is designed to give participants a sense of the inner workings of the media, how stories make it to print/air, and how our community members can help shape those stories by becoming active with their local media.

Program Description: The focus of the course is to teach people the most effective ways to get involved with the media. The course covers all of the potential roles our community members can undertake such as media spokesperson, letter-writer, reporter, and producer. You will learn how to become effective media communicators, acquiring the skills necessary to both develop messages and deliver those messages at every opportunity.

End Result: By the end of the program, our participants will be left with a newfound sense of empowerment when it comes to the media. Once they have this basic knowledge and understanding, they are better equipped to deal with the media in a variety of roles, and as an extension become better community advocates.

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TESTIMONIALS

I want to express my gratitude to you for organizing the media training workshop with Jordan Kerbel. I have attended media trainings previously in my role as director for the Daniel Pearl Foundation, and have not found them half as helpful. His experience on both sides of the camera, his expert guidance on messaging, his role playing of answers to difficult questions, his examples of real life interview mistakes, and his guidance during the video taping of our interviews all made me feel more confident in my ability to express my views in potentially challenging interviews.  I think this kind of training is useful not only for media interviews but in the discussions that many of us engage in with friends and colleagues when Israel or Jews are under attack.  Rather than getting defensive, we just need to remember the message!

Thanks,
Tamara Pearl
Director, Daniel Pearl Foundation

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Jordan Kerbel’s media training program is essential to the Jewish leadership experience.  The program is relevant and innovative, providing leaders with the opportunity to hone their communication skills with regard to interacting with the media.  Each time that I participate in the program, I learn something new.  I have no hesitation in recommending this program for all who represent Jewish communities from around the world.  -

Zach Newburgh, President Hillel House

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When Jordan began his media workshops with a large number of Canadian Jewish students, it really filled a void that had existed for so long. Dealing with media, and crafting a message, is very difficult to do without the proper training, and Jordan has connected with our students to teach them how to best communicate our message. I believe strongly that the work that Jordan has been doing with student is crucial, and I would strongly encourage him being given the opportunity to continue his incredible work.”
 
Alex Halpern
President
Canadian Federation of Jewish Students (CFJS)

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On behalf of the youth and my colleagues I want to thank you again for sharing your expertise with us.  We all left the workshop with a long list of media ‘do’s’ and media “don’ts’.  We felt your session was entertaining, engaging and informative.  We all noted that your interaction with the youth was consistently supportive and encouraging.  Your gift of your time and talent has definitely made a difference in the lives of youth living with epilepsy and for this we are grateful.  I look forward to working with you again in the near future and I will recommend your media strategies workshop to all of my colleagues.

Sincerely,
Mary Secco
Executive Director
Epilepsy Support Centre

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Dear Jordan,

I just had to take this opportunity to THANK YOU so much for the time you spent training me to deal with the media. It was the most enlightening, educational and enjoyable session I’ve had in a long time, and you taught me such valuable skills, which I will apply to so many other things as well. It was like re-training my brain!!  Your warm and calm and sincere nature allowed me to feel confident and comfortable with something that I had thought was going to be very intimidating.
Sara Zagdanski
Co-Chair, Israel @ 60
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto