Tuesday 24th November & 1st December 2026 @ 9:30am-12:00pm
Overview
Already know the basics of PR but struggle to find stories worth telling inside a large or complex organisation? This practical course will help you uncover, shape and sense-check real stories from your organisation, fast.
Designed for communications professionals working in government, infrastructure, corporate and other multi-stakeholder environments, this course focuses on the realities of PR when there are multiple layers of sign-off, reputational considerations and competing stakeholder interests.
You’ll learn a repeatable approach to finding newsworthy stories within your own organisation, even when it feels like there’s “nothing to say”. You’ll also learn how to test and strengthen ideas, navigate internal pressures, and make that crucial first contact with a journalist count.
Assumed knowledge (covered off but not re-taught in depth)
- The difference between owned, earned and paid media
- The difference between marketing and PR
- Basic press release format and structure
Learning outcomes
- How to identify a realistic pipeline of story ideas hiding inside their own organisation
- Apply a repeatable framework to surface stories even when there’s no ‘news’
- Sense-check and strengthen story ideas already sitting within your team/organisation but not yet actioned
- Navigate the specific pressures of PR: sign-off layers, spokespeople and reputational risk
- Importance of talent, assets, and commanding attention with your very first journalist contact
- Q&A with a current working journalist who gets story pitches from organisations like yours daily
- Leave with at least one sense-checked story ready to action
Your presenter is..
Fiona Fraser and her business, Contentment PR & Communications, work with New Zealand brands, non-profits, innovators, organisations and entrepreneurs to help them achieve the airtime and column inches they deserve. With a client list that spans every sector – from tech and tourism to food and farming – Fiona has a nose for a good story and loves to share her knowledge. She has a background in journalism (radio, online and print) and edited NZ Woman’s Weekly before establishing her business in Hawke’s Bay eight years ago.
Currently, Fiona is researching the impacts of AI and other technologies as a Masters student at academyEx. She is a relentless advocate for the rich storytelling opportunities that exist for businesses and organisation New Zealand-wide and tries to live by her values every day: The work brings joy, uplift others, reputation is everything.
