Testimonials

Some of the comments received from people who've attended New Venture Training masterclasses are:

"Just to let you know I am very grateful for your Press Release Masterclass. When I sent off my last press release, on the lack of ethics in the restaurant business, The Guardian picked it up and seem to have copied and pasted it. Apart from a couple of sentences, it really was my press release that they had made into an article. You bet I was well surprised as they didn't even contact us for more detailed information." - Hanna Backman, writer/researcher, Ethical Consumer
"The course gave a frank exposé of the failings of many press releases, and Peter's [the presenter] experience helped highlight simple do's and don'ts to avoid the pitfalls - a great help as there is always something new to learn." - Robin Hepburn, managing director, Waughton
"I found this really good in re-capping what I already knew, and in re-iterating important media perspectives and motivations. Was great." - Holly Linnell, account manager, Pielle Consulting Group
"For any PR practitioner there can be no better way to understand what drives the news and creates interest in a story than hearing first-hand from someone who works in the industry day to day. Hearing first-hand from Peter [the presenter] what catches the eye of the press and understanding why some press releases make it and others don't is a must for anyone in the public relations sector." - Richard Merrin, managing director, Spreckley Partners
"We had an in-house Perfect Pitch Master Class in-house at our firm. By the end, all of the six participants were able to state exactly how they were going to implement what they had learned in order to enhance specific client accounts - and I can already see their improved confidence in what they are doing." - Lizz Clarke, managing director, LCM Logical Creative Marketing
"It was helpful to find out that some of what I am already doing is right but that there are ways I could improve. Thanks for a great afternoon!" - Gemma Hardy, BHPR and Design
"Excellent afternoon. Time well spent. Thank you." - Chris Foster, media officer, The Scout Association
"Overall, very solid course, with lots of real-life examples from editors. Very well structured Workbook, which will be valuable for my colleagues. Thank you." Nick Vellacott, director, Highlight PR
"My colleague and I both found that the Writing for Publication Masterclass was an efficient solution to our writing needs. We received a very comprehensive list of ideas with which to improve the articles we write and copy edit for our internal magazine and on our intranet site. We were able to measure our understanding along the way with some quick tests, but no time was wasted and we accumulated knowledge and technique apace. Three hours after arriving we felt empowered and enthusiastic about writing for publication: this was money well spent!" - Bryony Ulyett, Internal Communications Executive, Corporate Communications, Halcrow Group
"Having done a number of press interviews in the past, I thought I knew the do's and don'ts of the interviewing process. Attending the Perfect Interview Masterclass, I quickly realised there was a load of mistakes and pitfalls I don't always avoid. I found the workshop of real value, very interesting and pitched at just the right level. After a few hours, I had a much clearer strategy for preparing for interviews, making what I had to say relevant and interesting, and ensuring I got my point across, ideally through a good sound bite. I found the mock interviews at the end of the session great fun and very insightful." - Matthew Hague, product director, Microlise