Background：
Philips Semiconductors Asia Pacific, headquartered in Taiwan,
is a global leading provider of solutions for multi-discipline
market sectors in consumers, automotive electronics, communications,
connectivity, multi-market semiconductors, etc. As a provider
of a wide array of products, the company makes frequent media
contacts to deliver up-to-date information regarding the company's
strategy and products. Since there are different spokespersons
in different business units, it is important to deliver the
same key message across the board to avoid creating confusions
in the public.
In order to prepare the public
facing product managers and spokespersons on these issues,
Philips wanted to hold a two-day media training boot camp.
The participants would be learning about issues such as public
speech and interview techniques, and take part in exercises
to practice on the concept.
Challenge：
Since there
would be twenty-two participants expected, all with diverse
language
background and schedule
requirement, organizing the event could be an issue
The itinerary
for some upper-level managers included a management meeting
on 1/25,
therefore arrangement must be made to allow them
to conclude the training by 1/24
Participants
came from all around Asia-Pacific; they must face media from
different
regions including China,
Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, India, etc., this created
a
challenge in designing the mock-up questions and interview
exercises
The participants
would be divided into teams of five to work on the hands-on
exercises,
with other scheduled PR
activities requiring their participation, careful time management
must be exercised
The one-on-one
interview exercise needed to be broadcasted live to other
participants
Seating
and furniture arrangement must be quickly displaced for the
different activities
Client Expectations：
Provide participants
with key basic interviewing techniques
Tight and well planned
activity schedule
Practical lessons for
the participants
Results：
Activity Proceedings: Careful time management
was achieved through precise planning and division of labor;
from the morning lectures to the three hands-on exercises
and mock press conference, the activities came within expectations
Guest Speakers:
Alan Paterson of Bloomberg and Karen Kou of EETimes Taiwan
were present to speak on the differences between the two media
types, interviewing techniques, and the reporting angles from
media's perspective. Karen Kou also mentioned on the media
characteristics in the Greater China regions.
One on One Interview:
The participants generally did well in the interview exercise
and were able to apply the lessons from the lectures and techniques
such as bridge, hook, and fishing to avert sensitive questions.
However, some seemed overly conservative in the effort to
avoid mistakes.
Participant Feedbacks:
From the participant survey results, the feedbacks were generally
positive on the training exercises; especially the mock interview
activity was helpful in two manners: validating the textbook
knowledge and learning through the peer review. The mock press
conference also received positive feedbacks for the opportunity
to face different media questions.
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