The School of Arts and Humanities are pleased to present an opportunity to Arts and Humanities doctoral students to participate in a media training session.
The training sessions aim to help students produce concise yet detailed messages about their research and why it matters. Structuring and delivering ideas using the discipline of journalism helps articulate them more precisely and in an easily digestible timeframe. Students may subsequently use this method as a basis for conference slots or funding bids and will feel more comfortable and focused in an interview situation. The trainer will explain how to structure and develop the presentation, delivering key messages to a deadline.
Training dates:
| Session A: Constructing your Message | Session B: Sequencing your Research Outreach and Impact | |
| Monday, 10 November 2025 | 9am - 1pm (max 8 students) | 2pm - 5pm (max 8 students) |
| Thursday, 13 November 2025 | 2pm - 5pm (max 8 students) | 9am - 1pm (max 8 students) |
Limited number of spaces are available, applications will be considered on a first come first served basis.
Application period: 1 October to 24 October, 12pm
Application form: https://forms.office.com/e/e6HCn4rDuZ
Contact: Candice Anderson at csahoffice@admin.cam.ac.uk
Dr Vince Hunt is a journalist with over 30 years’ experience in newspapers, radio, television and online – mostly with the BBC – and has won many awards for his work in news, music and documentaries. He advises clients in the UK and abroad on media presentation, teaches multimedia journalism skills at Manchester Metropolitan University where he is a senior lecturer.
Two four-hour online sessions designed to develop your skills disseminating your research and focusing on your key messages using digital media outreach, such as a podcast or journal article series. The Session A will record and caption a concise ‘video selfie’ pitch outlining the key points of your research and the Session B will help you sequence your research into connected themes. Equipment required: Smartphone, existing account to free Adobe Express, laptop.
SESSION A: CONSTRUCTING YOUR MESSAGE
A four-hour session, rehearsing, recording and captioning a short video pitch (1.00-1.20”) outlining your research and why it matters. For speed, please pre-write 150-200 words outlining what is unique and important about your research. We will rehearse this before recording it.
You will need: your Smartphone to record your pitch. An account set up with Adobe Express for the captioning (but NOT a paid-for account. Choose the free options).
Outcome: a 1.00”-1.20” captioned video pitch of you outlining your research that can be used on Tik-Tok, Linked In or other social media, sent to conference organisers and employers or used to apply for BBC projects and grants.
SESSION B: SEQUENCING YOUR RESEARCH OUTREACH AND IMPACT
De-constructing your research into themes or possible conclusions.
First: the relevance and importance of your research: the ‘what is your story and why does it matter’ question.
Second: Which aspects of your research illustrate and support your conclusions. They can be themes of ‘connected storytelling’. How does that ‘big picture’ story travel in easily digestible chapters? Are there examples to illustrate that story and help persuade listeners/readers that your argument is good?
Third: Structure. What is your opening move? How does your argument travel across the duration of your ‘product’ – for example a four-part or six-part podcast series.
Four: Construction of a sequence: we’ll use the six-stage storyboard, which works both for individual episode structure and for the over-arching narrative construction.
Your sequence of podcast episodes or articles follows this structure, as does each individual episode, signposting throughout and closing by revisiting your key messages and casting forward - the 'golden threads'. We will work on writing and recording 'killer paragraphs' both for the overarching series and for each individual episode so you take away a definite idea of the direction of travel of your concept.