Communications Training Workshops for School Leaders and Staff

Get Your Message Out

From working with reporters to the rules involving Open Meetings, this seminar helps leaders master the basics of effective communications, one on one or one to 101. Sections of this three-hour workshop cover general medial relations, interviews preparation, alternative forums other than the local news media and useful tools most districts have at their disposal. Learn how to make an effective public presentation, even if you don’t feel you’re a skilled speaker. Find out how to make the best out of a public meeting where the audience is hostile. This three-hour workshop is KDE-certified for most administrators and is part of KSBA’s Academy of Studies for school board members.

If You Tell It, They Will Come

Can you name student, school, district, board, and administration success stories that the community knows nothing about? Learn how to use existing resources and low-to-no-cost desired resources to the word about your district out to the target audiences. Set the stage for developing a district marketing plan. Create a setting where visitors know your focus is “It’s About Kids.” This three-hour workshop is KDE-certified for most administrators and is part of KSBA’s Academy of Studies for school board members.

When Pigs Fly!

Will our community ever get behind our academic programs like it supports our sports teams? You can make pigs fly when your district team completes this three hour workshop. Identify the academic achievements your community should be aware of. At the end of this seminar, you will have a length list of positive academic data points, existing promotional outlets and community partners who will help you spread the word. For a districtwide board, administrative and staff team.

The Perfect Interview

Don’t you just love it when a reporter calls? How successful are you at getting quoted on the points you want to make? You can take greater control of media interviews by following the practical steps covered in this two-and-a-half hour seminar. Issues include developing your talking points, drawing the reporter’s attention to your emphasis, getting coverage of positive items at board meetings, “off the record,” getting errors corrected and much more. For administrators and board chairpersons and members with frequent contacts by reporters. For public officials who do a significant amount of media interviews.

The Perfect Presentation

Next to doing a media interview, nothing unnerves some leaders than having to make a public presentation: talk to a local civic group, testify before a legislative committee or field questions from local officials at a public meeting. This two-and-a-half hour seminar covers development of your key messages and your own presentation style, effective use of “message re-enforcers,” and involving the entire audience during the Q-&-A session. For anyone who may be called upon to make a presentation before a public body.

Classifieds Communicate, Too

Who has more contact with the public: one superintendent and five school board members or hundreds of school secretaries, clerks, cafeteria and transportation staff? Build your district’s communications team with professional development for non-certified staff. This two-and-a-half-hour seminar covers areas such as handling the angry phone call, collecting the necessary information, making the correct referral and identifying school promotional opportunities. Includes a team-building exercise to demonstrate how these staff members can contribute to greater community awareness of how your schools are doing.

Communicating in a Crisis Situation

Kentucky school systems are required to have a crisis response plan, and while most plans have a communications component, just having it down on paper doesn’t mean you’re able to reach the critical audiences when an emergency occurs. This seminar focuses on reaching those audiences other than emergency responders, such as parents, staff, students and local or area news media. This two-and-a-half hour course will cover both internal and external communications, the critical decision-making process about what you can say, can’t say and should say, and how to demonstrate positive action to address the crisis, now and down the road. For key leaders who have communications responsibilities in such a crisis.

Make Your CATS Scores PRrrrrrrr

The time to try to focus attention on progress in your district’s CATS scores or No Child Left Behind AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) marks is not the day after the data appears in the newspaper. This two-hour workshop for principals, teachers and central office staff involved in assessment and accountability scores will give you road map on how to pinpoint your progress messages and focus attention on what you are doing to improve areas where student achievement can be improved.

Each seminar features:

Small group work sessions to demonstrate team solutions
Customization to address local issues and opportunities
PowerPoint- and video-aided presentation
Handouts for each participant
Future assistance for trainees from the presenter.

Each seminar class size is limited to 50 participants. A maximum of two full-length seminars can be provided in a single day.

For more information on the scope of this training, fees, credit hour approvals, etc., contact Brad Hughes at KSBA at 1-800-372-2962