Live course

This interactive training session will take you through the seven steps of planning a communications strategy.

Led by the Heads of Communications from NIHR ARC West and the West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), this course will take you through the basics, from outlining your objectives to monitoring and evaluation.

As well as telling you why you should bother with comms planning, the course will cover:

1. Why – Objectives
2. Who – Stakeholders and audiences
3. What – Key messages
4. Where – Channels
5. When – Timetable of activity
6. Monitoring and evaluation
7. How – Tools and documentation

Along with the slides, afterwards you’ll be sent easy to use templates to help you get started with your own communications plan.

About the trainers

Zoe Trinder-Widdess is Head of Communications at NIHR ARC West and the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Zoe is a communications professional with a strong track record of working in several sectors, including charity, public sector and business-to-business. She has been working at the intersection of health and research for the last 10 years.

Vanesther Hamer has led communications for the West of England AHSN since 2015, including a two-year secondment as communications manager for the national AHSN Network. Vanesther has worked in communications for over 20 years both in in-house and agency roles, across a range of sectors, including local authority and the public sector, charity and consumer.