IOF Skills Training
Patient and medical society representatives are often interviewed by journalists for TV or radio and many are asked to make presentations to large audiences. Yet most have little experience in these areas. How do you communicate an important message in a 1-minute sound bite? How do you grab the attention of an auditorium full of people? These are skills that can be learned.
Thanks to an educational grant from Roche and GSK, IOF has offered media and presentation training sessions to its members since 2003. The one-on-one media training and workshop has been offered to more than 200 participants so far, with courses given to small groups of about 20 participants each time. Members are invited to apply for the sessions which are held in conjunction with IOF-related meetings, including the IOF Worldwide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies.
Given by media experts, the skills training sessions encompass:
- Media training
- Presentation training
- Chairing and facilitating meetings skills (new in 2006)
The media training, for example, helps participants develop a clear and effective technique in dealing with the media. The trainers provide one-on-one analysis and valuable feedback to show participants how they can improve their communication style when speaking in front of a camera.
As feedback from all the participants has been extremely positive, IOF hopes to continue to offer the skills training sessions to its members in the future.
Feedback from participants of the media training sessions:
Jorge Cedno-Taborda, Vice President Venezuelan Osteoporosis Society (SOVEMO)
"I really enjoyed this course. The trainer was great and the content of the course was very useful. Repeat it and include more people (patients)!"
Frida Araujo, Mexican Osteoporosis Society (AMMOM)
"This is an important event due to the fact that we rarely have the chance to learn about media issues in an ordinary school. What we've accomplished here is how to focus our messages about the osteoporosis disease from a journalist's point of view."
Vincente Santtuonez, Peru
"I felt very comfortable as a result of the course. It was pesonalized training! It would be interesting having a course for journalists in Peru to train healthcare journalists. Thank you very much for all."
Michael Lewiecki, President ISCD, USA
"The media training session was outstanding. It is critical for all osteoporosis thought leaders to have a thorough understanding of media relations in order to communicate important issues on osteoporosis and bone density testing."
Refik Tanakol, Turkish Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism
"The media training course was very useful and provocative for me. By working with a professional reporter we have understood their point of view and have been able to look at things from their prespective."
Célia Coelho, SOBRAPCO Brazilian Society
"I would like to thank the IOF and Roche for the major opportunity of giving us a course where we will find ourselves on a number of occasions in situations in which our message of "What is Osteoporosis" will be broadcast on TV."
Feedback from participants of the media training sessions:
Jorge Cedno-Taborda, Vice President Venezuelan Osteoporosis Society (SOVEMO)
"I really enjoyed this course. The trainer was great and the content of the course was very useful. Repeat it and include more people (patients)!"
Frida Araujo, Mexican Osteoporosis Society (AMMOM)
"This is an important event due to the fact that we rarely have the chance to learn about media issues in an ordinary school. What we've accomplished here is how to focus our messages about the osteoporosis disease from a journalist's point of view."
Vincente Santtuonez, Peru
"I felt very comfortable as a result of the course. It was pesonalized training! It would be interesting having a course for journalists in Peru to train healthcare journalists. Thank you very much for all."
Michael Lewiecki, President ISCD, USA
"The media training session was outstanding. It is critical for all osteoporosis thought leaders to have a thorough understanding of media relations in order to communicate important issues on osteoporosis and bone density testing."
Refik Tanakol, Turkish Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism
"The media training course was very useful and provocative for me. By working with a professional reporter we have understood their point of view and have been able to look at things from their prespective."
Célia Coelho, SOBRAPCO Brazilian Society
"I would like to thank the IOF and Roche for the major opportunity of giving us a course where we will find ourselves on a number of occasions in situations in which our message of "What is Osteoporosis" will be broadcast on TV."
