Agencies & Consultancies

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Kickstart Your PR!

Two-day intensive public relations workshop

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Big Fish Balance

Mental health and wellness for communications professionals

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Kickstart Your PR!

Two-day intensive public relations workshop

  • Capturing media attention
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  • Supporting sales and marketing

Is something broken when it won't stop working?

My washing machine is broken. It washes, it drains, it spins and the clothes come out clean. So what's the problem? It takes far too long to do it!

Is something broken when it won't stop working?

No-one wants a rushed job, 'rushed' implying that the quality won't be as goodUntil recently, my washing machine had various cycle options, including the so-called 'quick wash' (which took the best part of an hour), the 'normal wash' (over two hours) and the 'if you've got nothing else to do with your life wash'. Now my 'quick wash' takes so long I have to do an emergency 'stop and drain' if I want to keep my sanity. But what has all of this got to do with PR?

It happens to be a pretty good example of something doing the job expected of it but simply taking far too long to do it. In PR terms that could mean missing the news value in a story, sacrificing other work and/or over-servicing to the point where you start to lose money.

No-one wants a rushed job, 'rushed' implying that the quality won't be as good, but equally when the builders say they'll be "finished by Christmas" you do expect Christmas to be the one within the calendar year you're currently in.

...we're not in the business of painting the Sistine Chapel. The lifespan of much of what we produce is so short that there has to be a realistic approach to how long we're prepared to spendI don't remember anyone ever telling me how long I should take to write a press release but I can't help thinking that the two days I spent on my first (over 25 years ago) was a tad on the long side. One boss of mine used to talk about 'commercial reality'. He recognised that while PR and advertising did involve a great deal of creative thinking, we're not in the business of painting the Sistine Chapel. The lifespan of much of what we produce is so short that there has to be a realistic approach to how long we're prepared to spend (and how much a client is prepared to pay) on any one job.

Whether it's time management, client handling or internal negotiation you need to improve upon, something is wrong if you can't remember the last time you left the office before dark. We all have manic periods when we have to burn the midnight oil, we all take on jobs thinking they're relatively simple only to find that we've seriously underestimated how long they're going to take, and we've all over-serviced a new client when trying to impress them with our talents. But in the agency world, we sell time. And if we're giving too much of it away for free, it's not only bad for business, it's bad for our physical and mental health.

In the agency world, we sell time. And if we're giving too much of it away for free, it's not only bad for business, it's bad for our physical and mental healthThere are many reasons why people work long hours. Poor time management, too eager to please, lack of confidence and not wanting to be seen to be slacking are a few of the common ones. But sometimes the problem is more deep-seated and the company simply takes on or delivers too much work for the number of people being paid to do it. Whatever the reason, we can help you work out what the underlying problems are and develop the programme to address them.

Now, I must go and check if that wash I put on yesterday has reached the spin cycle yet.

© Lorraine Forrest-Turner forrest-turner.co.uk

Training Courses for PR and Comms Agencies

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All of our training courses for agency professionals

talented with clients

Be credible, effective and prevent problems

talented in the office

Manage time, people and campaigns with ease

talented with the media

Writing and pitching stories that get noticed

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Wellness Programmes for PR and Comms Professionals
Advanced Presentation Training
with Clients

Become a captivating and effective presenter

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Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health
Big Fish Balance

FAA Level 1 Award, Regulated Qualifications Framework

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Beating Burnout
Big Fish Balance

Stop stress from dragging you down

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Becoming a Manager
in the Office

Incorporate great management techniques into your daily life

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Bespoke Leadership Coaching
in the Office

By application only

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Bite-Sized Leadership Coaching
in the Office

Rapid coaching conversations

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Client Management
Talented with Clients

Improve and develop your working relationships with each client

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Confidence and Assertiveness
in the Office

Say what you mean, professionally and directly

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Creating Work-Life Balance
Big Fish Balance

Don't choose between your career and your life: have both

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Crisis Communications
with Clients

Where do you start when it all goes wrong?

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Grammar Crammer
in the Office

Grammatical errors and how to avoid them

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Getting Buy-In
with Clients

Influencing and Persuading

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Internal Communications Training
in the Office

On demand courses for internal comms professionals

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Improving Personal Communication Skills
in the Office

Make good working relationships great

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Kickstart Your PR!
with the Media

Introduction to PR

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Mastering the Art Of Writing
Talented with the Media

How to write almost anything

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Menopause in the Workplace
Big Fish Balance

How it can affect us, our work, and what to do about it

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Mental Health in the Workplace
Big Fish Balance

Cultivate good mental health

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Mental Health for Managers
Big Fish Balance

Create greater mental wellbeing in your team

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Mindfulness in the Workplace
Big Fish Balance

Keeping your focus in times of chaos

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Management and Leadership Training
in the Office

Get the best out of your team

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Neurodivergence Awareness in the Workplace
Big Fish Balance

Embrace Neurodivergence for a More Inclusive Workplace

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Neurodivergence for Managers
Big Fish Balance

Unlock the Potential of Neurodivergent Team Members

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Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Big Fish Balance

Equip yourself with the tools to build more confidence

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Practical Creativity for PR
in the Office

Power up your brainstorms and boost your creativity

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Practical coaching skills for managers
in the Office

Increase your team's engagement and productivity

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Professional Impact and Presence
with Clients

Stop being overlooked

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Editing and Proofreading Other People's Writing
in the Office

The seven steps to successful editing

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Presentation Training
with Clients

Make every presentation more engaging and effective

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Refresh your press release writing skills
with the Media

Be more successful at getting your stories published

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Social Superstars
With the Media

How to Make Your Clients' Social Media Communications Shine

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Supercharge Your Writing
with the Media

Take your writing to a higher level

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Supervising First Aid for Mental Health
Big Fish Balance

FAA Level 3 Award, Regulated Qualifications Framework

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Pitching to the Media
with the Media

Get more of your stories published

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Time Management for Remote Working
in the Office

Manage your workload from home

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Time Management
in the Office

Manage your workload and get tasks completed on time

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Writing compelling content for the media
with the Media

Make your writing effective, engaging and shareable

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Writing effective news releases
with the Media

Get more stories published

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