(CC) licensed:thenextweb

The news is full of academic topics that need explaining well

Some academics find it almost impossible to condense a lifetime's learning into a 15 second sound byte. But with the number of news outlets proliferating on a daily basis, there is a growing demand for "Media Friendly" academics who can talk as "experts" on a wide range of subjects to the media.

Every news bulletin now contains either live links or pre-recorded interviews with academics talking about the latest ideas to tackle drug crime, the mounting debt within the NHS, or something "off the wall" like research into taking the perfect penalty kick in football.

Some universities are grabbing these opportunities with both hands as a marketing opportunity to sell themselves, their universities and the courses they provide. Others are being left behind.

We have been media training academics for some years now and the single biggest issue seems to be the "sound-bite culture" which some academics either reject or seem unable to tune into.

Basically, some people (perhaps unsurprisingly) find it almost impossible to condense a lifetime's learning into a fifteen second sound bite for the media. We believe this, like most other things, is a skill you can learn.

As universities are competing even more fiercely with each other to attract more students, your positive initiatives need highlighting even more strongly by the local, and even national media, in order to attract more students.

We are offering Media Training for academic and non-academic university personnel, ranging from Vice Chancellor to Assistant Dean level. Each Media Training Workshop will be tailored for the specific group allocated to it-so we will cover a range of subjects and specialities, including Sciences, Arts, Business, Computing and IT, Education, Engineering, Health, Humanities, Legal Studies, Sport etc.