How To posts

In this digital age, it’s smart phones that rule the world; but are you using yours to its full potential? According to our recent Shout! Communications Small Talk speaker, Marc Settle, if you’re only using your phone for calls and texts, then you might as well have an old-school Nokia from the early 2000s! Marc is the BBC’s trainer in mobile journalism and his insights were nothing short of extraordinary. Not only is mobile technology changing the way broadcast journalists work, it will change the way we view and interact with it as an audience too.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

Much like comparing TV to radio, some stories simply aren’t made for everything. If you’ve got a story with a visual aspect then TV will, naturally, be more appropriate than radio. However, if your campaign is based on spreading information to the masses using spokespeople and statistics, then radio will be the way to go.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

So your client has decided they want to create an online video for their next PR campaign. Video offers some fantastic opportunities but competition for viewer, particularly editorially is fierce.

By Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant

Case studies are an excellent way to attract a broadcaster’s attention; whether you’re pitching to TV, radio or online, journalists always appreciate this way of making a story more relevant to their audience.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

Forward planning, the perfect spokesperson, timing, availability… so much more goes into a radio day than you’d think. Read on for some top tips on how to make your radio day a success.

By Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant

You think you’ve got a strong story; the stats and spokespeople are lined up, you call the planning desk and they want you to send over your press release, you get a call back, they’re interested! Then, the producer calls and says, “something else has come up, we can’t do this anymore”. Cue despair.

By Kate Fallis, Broadcast PR Consultant

Securing broadcast coverage can be the cherry on top of a great campaign, bringing all elements together on television and radio to reach millions, so it’s no wonder our clients love it! If you’re reading this, then chances are you’re someone who has either had first-hand experience with, or is interested in broadcast PR.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

There’s some amazing podcast content out there – much of it available for free. Dramas, documentaries, educational, comedy… whatever you’re in the mood for, it’s there.  And do you know what? The amount of competition out there for listeners means it’s all pretty darned good.

By Keren Haynes, Co-Director

The central focus of an hour long, prime time television programme, on the UK’s most watched channel: when BBC One’s “The Apprentice” filmed on P&O Cruises’ flagship Britannia, it resulted in an amazing piece of PR generated coverage.

By Keren Haynes, Co-Director

Is broadcast PR expensive?   It sounds like it should be, given how influential and wide-reaching television and radio can be.

by Rory Green, Videographer

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Video production is exciting and the temptation when you’re involved is to turn the camera on as quickly as possible, and get filming. But, in our view, that doesn’t necessarily give you the best possible end result.

By Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant

Shout! recently hosted ITV Senior News Editor Arti Lukha for another in our series of Small Talks. Arti has experienced it all as a journalist, working her way up to the role of senior news editor at ITV News, where she works in conjunction with the programme editors deciding what stories the broadcaster will cover in their new bulletins.

by Rory Green, Videographer

Using video in PR campaigns is nothing new, but with equipment coming down in price and up in quality, professional looking video is possible on a small budget. I believe that this is one reason that there has been a huge surge in the amount of branded video content that is currently populating many websites and social media channels.

By Keren Haynes, Co-Director

Obviously broadcasters would prefer to shoot their own pictures, but when they don’t have the resources to do that themselves B-roll can become one of the most valuable tools in your PR kit bag.

By Keren Haynes, Co-Director

No matter what the topic, everyone has a view these days. That’s what makes the use of vox pops so valuable as part of a PR campaign.

by Rory Green – Videographer

Editing can make or break a video production. Get it right and the video will be successful, but get it wrong and all that production work could be wasted.

by Arthur Perkins

Rajar, the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK, has just released their Q3 figures for 2017, and there have been some surprising results.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director at Shout! Communications

What would PR practitioners do without research? Some would say research has had its day, but we know that newsrooms short of resources no longer have the budget to fill every bulletin with investigative or breaking news stories. Often they’re grateful for some engaging content.

by Rory Green, videographer at Shout! Communications.

While we love filming video in London, Manchester, Liverpool or Ipswich there is nothing more exciting than being asked to jump on a plane for a shoot in another country. We recently had the privilege to film Founders Forum’s first ever event in Rome.

by Arthur Perkins, Broadcast PR Consultant.

Some of the biggest names in tech, a stunning location and a spectacular event…this is what we found when Shout! went international to film video content for Founders Forum’s inaugural event in Italy.

Podcasts are all the rage at the moment, particularly among younger listeners, but how can you use them to your advantage in PR and beyond?

We narrow down the multitude of ways in which you can produce, host and publicise your podcast as part of a full PR campaign.

Journalists are the gateway to your success and your clients’ happiness, so it’s important to know when you might be doing more harm than good.

In our years of media training, we thought we’d encountered every possible type of broadcast spokesperson. That was until Anthony Scaramucci appeared on the BBC, interviewed by Emily Maitlis on Newsnight.

Clients will always want national coverage, and while national radio is clearly a great get, there are also other ways to reach your target audience.

Rory Green looks at how pre-production and optimisation are key for producing the perfect PR podcast.

Kate Fallis looks at how your brand can land PR coverage on national broadcasters without generating a stand-alone news story yourselves.

Kate Fallis highlights some of the things to keep in mind for choosing the perfect spokesperson for your next broadcast PR campaign.

Rory Green, videographer at Shout! Communications explains why remote media training could be a perfect solution for your spokesperson.

Director Keren Haynes looks at effective media training can help PRs and brands get the most out of interviews on TV, radio and online.

Kate Fallis reports on our second speaker from the latest Big Talk: Ronan Hughes, Output Editor at Sky News.

When we place people on screen we need to know that they are prepared properly and on message, as well as making sure any footage we shoot ourselves needing to be of broadcast standard.

If you want to reach millions of people across the UK, why not consider a radio day? A radio day is a great way to get your key messages across and make your brand stand out.

With politicians being skewered left, right and centre (pun intended), we took a look at how a few basic Media Training tips could have prevented the catalogue of broadcast interview errors during this year’s General Election.

Thinking of delaying your PR story until after the General Election? You might want to consider a few things before you pull the plug…

Let’s face it, when it come to television and radio coverage having the right spokesperson can make, or break, a story.

Our videographer Rory with some tips on how to get the most out of filming a big event, featuring examples from our recent video for Founders Forum.

By Rory Green

As Videographer for Shout! Communications, I am lucky enough to get to edit some great video content. In the world of PR, videos need to be visually interesting, but often they need to be edited quickly and in some cases only a few hours after an event! In this blog I will share a few of my favourite post-production techniques that I use to add some visual flair to a video package – but don’t take up too much edit time.

Many of us in PR wonder what goes on at TV editorial meetings. Who attends, what is discussed, what angles there are and the million dollar question; how do editors decide on the stories they want to broadcast.

By Catherine Bayfield

Believe it or not, podcasts first came about in the 1980’s when they were known as audio-blogging. But it wasn’t until 2004 – when playback devices like the I-pod were introduced, that ‘podcasts’ became popular.

Shout! gives its recommendations for the top ten filming locations in London.

Shout!’s latest blog explains how to use the Report-it app for instances when your spokesperson cannot make it to the radio studio.

Shout!’s latest blog explains the best way to enhance your chances of gaining broadcast PR coverage when pitching  your January health stories.

Essential advice from broadcast experts – read to make sure your next radio day goes without a hitch

Our top tips on how to boost coverage for your media relations campaign.

Any successful integrated PR campaign needs to include broadcast. Find out how to use each medium to relay a consistent message and get maximum brand exposure.

A great way to secure coverage for your story or brand on broadcast media can be to use a third-party spokesperson or celebrity to promote it.

Competing for air-time in increasingly crowded radio space is an ongoing challenge for PR agencies seeking editorial coverage.

You might not feel inspired by the word corporate, but video is an increasingly popular way of communicating corporate messaging.

Shout! was given these tips by a BBC regional radio presenter – and they’re very much along the lines of what we would tell our clients.

Shout! have produced hundreds of B-rolls and every client that has followed our two golden rules has seen their B-roll used on UK television.