Students’ union officer communication skills training

A programme of training sessions to help officers find and develop their authentic voice to confidently communicate with students and other key figures.

Our sessions will walk your officers through theories, examples and practical applications they’ll draw upon throughout their year in office.

Sessions can be delivered online or in-person and scheduled to suit your induction programme.

If you’re going for the online option, we suggest sessions are scheduled in the order they’re listed below with a gap of a few days between them but we can be flexible. If we’re delivering sessions in-person we can group them into full/half day bundles.

The programme will be delivered by Jo Walters, a former students’ union officer and communications manager who freelances with students’ unions on communications and marketing projects. We’ve also invited some special guest hosts to share their expertise.

Attendees and staff at their union will have access to a summary of the key points and useful resources to recap the essentials throughout the year.

To find out more or book the course for your officers email jo@25dots.co.uk.

We’re also happy to chat about putting together a bespoke programme based on your needs.

The programme

1 – Introduction – 1 hour

  • Why it’s important for officers to communicate – accountability, closing the feedback loop, listening to students, influencing campaign targets such as university staff or local councillors
  • Reflecting on our individual strengths and weaknesses, skills, ideas and challenges

2 – Communicating effectively – 1 hour

  • Avoiding jargon and finding a clear message
  • Accessibility and inclusion
  • Thinking about your audience
  • How often and when to do it

3 – Being yourself with former sabbatical officers – 1.5 hours

  • Finding your voice and being authentic
  • Setting boundaries
  • Dealing with negative comments
  • I’ll invite former sabbatical officers along to share their candid viewpoints and advice.

4 – Media skills with journalist and former sabbatical officer Adam Lindsay – 3 hours

  • A brief look at media law essentials – defamation, contempt of court (for legal cases/arrests and sexual violence), copyright
  • How to prepare for and ace media interviews
  • Media interview role play exercises

5 – Practical skills – 1 hour

  • How to use photography and video
  • How to use social media
  • Working with your comms/marketing team
  • Other platforms to consider including student media, podcasts, blogging

Optional – 30 minute 1-1 sessions to talk about officers’ individual needs, questions and examples @ £20pp

The cost

The programme costs £1500 per union (travel/accommodation expenses will be added to your invoice for in-person sessions).

The small print

In-person bookings are subject to location, timings and the ability of our guest hosts to travel. Guest hosts may not be able to attend their sessions but we’ll do our best to schedule dates around their availability.