The Master showed his class
There could not have been a better way to enjoy the Valentine’s Day. It was The Hobday Masterclass – very aptly titled. Cranfield MBA’s enjoyed their day with the Master.
As part of the Presentation and Communication Skills (PCS), it was the day with Peter Hobday – one of Britain’s best known broadcasters. He has been the top presenter on early morning radio programme “Today” for many years. This programme has been a required listening for politicians, businessmen and other opinion formers.
Every year, Peter spends a day with Cranfield MBA students, talking about the media. And instead of a monologue, the students face the anchor of Today in a live, recorded 3 minute interview. Only the students who face Peter can vouch for how long these 3 minutes can turn out to be.
Our batch had been shown a few video recordings of previous years where Peter was seeing displaying his skills are literally “cornering” students. The idea, though, is quite meaningful and objective. Just like the press conference, where a team met the journalists on television, here you meet the journalist alone.
Quite a few of us had volunteered to be in the hot seat. And some of us did a great job surviving his skills of laying down traps and catching your own words. Ammar Waqqaf (Syria) gave the audience something to cheer with his passionate views on how US invasion of Iraq was wrong. Ian McDougall (Britain) talked about Manchester United, Hillary Fitzgerald (Britain) talked in favour of ban on fox hunting and Richard Caseley (Britain) established that the Australian cricket team is the best. I too had volunteered and got interviewed on benefits of joint (extended) families.
Oh! How can I forget to mention that some lecturer’s were also roped in to get drilled on various issues. This was, obviously, the best part for us students – to see our professors being grilled by Peter. It was a great exercise.
We then had four volunteers being asked to face the media as the ones who are announcing the sacking of 500 workers in a factory. They too, were interviewed “live”. The key learning of this exercise was “managing the message”.
The highlight of the day was Steve Carver being asked to take the hot seat and a topic was given by Neale Johnson (Britain) who also donated a good amount to the Cranfield Charity for the upcoming London Marathon. Steve was asked to defend the views of legalising marriage of homosexuals in UK. Being a natural as he is, Steve sailed through the grilling interview by Peter.
While these sessions are simulations rather than reality, I am absolutely sure that the lessons have been ingrained in our minds on how to manage the media. Of course, practice makes one even better.
As part of the Presentation and Communication Skills (PCS), it was the day with Peter Hobday – one of Britain’s best known broadcasters. He has been the top presenter on early morning radio programme “Today” for many years. This programme has been a required listening for politicians, businessmen and other opinion formers.
Every year, Peter spends a day with Cranfield MBA students, talking about the media. And instead of a monologue, the students face the anchor of Today in a live, recorded 3 minute interview. Only the students who face Peter can vouch for how long these 3 minutes can turn out to be.
Our batch had been shown a few video recordings of previous years where Peter was seeing displaying his skills are literally “cornering” students. The idea, though, is quite meaningful and objective. Just like the press conference, where a team met the journalists on television, here you meet the journalist alone.
Quite a few of us had volunteered to be in the hot seat. And some of us did a great job surviving his skills of laying down traps and catching your own words. Ammar Waqqaf (Syria) gave the audience something to cheer with his passionate views on how US invasion of Iraq was wrong. Ian McDougall (Britain) talked about Manchester United, Hillary Fitzgerald (Britain) talked in favour of ban on fox hunting and Richard Caseley (Britain) established that the Australian cricket team is the best. I too had volunteered and got interviewed on benefits of joint (extended) families.
Oh! How can I forget to mention that some lecturer’s were also roped in to get drilled on various issues. This was, obviously, the best part for us students – to see our professors being grilled by Peter. It was a great exercise.
We then had four volunteers being asked to face the media as the ones who are announcing the sacking of 500 workers in a factory. They too, were interviewed “live”. The key learning of this exercise was “managing the message”.
The highlight of the day was Steve Carver being asked to take the hot seat and a topic was given by Neale Johnson (Britain) who also donated a good amount to the Cranfield Charity for the upcoming London Marathon. Steve was asked to defend the views of legalising marriage of homosexuals in UK. Being a natural as he is, Steve sailed through the grilling interview by Peter.
While these sessions are simulations rather than reality, I am absolutely sure that the lessons have been ingrained in our minds on how to manage the media. Of course, practice makes one even better.
posted by Sandeep Gupta at
8:26 pm
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