All New Free Spring Free Classes and Writing Workshops at the Nackey S. Loeb School

 

Manchester, NH – One year into the launch of online classes, the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications announces a spring session of topics requested by students, and each is being offered for the first time. Eight free, online classes are offered in a single session each, running from April 6 to May 4, 2021.

Free spring classes include:

Finding Facts in a Sea of Misinformation, with PolitiFact Senior Correspondent Jon Greenberg (April 6); Getting More out of LinkedIn, with content strategist Beth LaMontagne Hall (April 7); Smart Marketing: Using Emotional Intelligence to Reach Your Audience, with consultant and coach Liza Dube (April 14); Introduction to Speechcraft, with Toastmasters leader Lorraine Ratchford (April 16);Virtual Meeting Readiness: Setting Yourself and Your Team Up for Success, with facilitator and mediator Sasha Tracy (April 19); Communicating for Social Change – Telling a Well-Framed Narrative with the Frameworks Institute’s Moira O’Neil, PhD and Kelly Lafamme, MPA (April 21); Listen Up: Starting a Podcast, with National Public Radio producer, Jonathan Smith (May 3) and Business Writing Basics: Financial Storytelling, with Bloomberg Intelligence editorial team leader Rik Stevens (May 4).

In addition, there are two online writing workshops open for registration: Expressing Ourselves—Using Poetry to Tell the Story of our Lives, with writers, poets and publishers Stacy Milbouer and Tom Long (April 24, $50 per person), and Are you Ready to Write Your Book? with published author and writing coach Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett (April 10, $90 per person, includes an individual coaching session with instructor). Both workshops have limited spaces available.

All Loeb School classes and workshops require advance registration. See full class and workshop descriptions for more detailed information. Registration is available atloebschool.org/register

The Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, Inc., promotes and defends the First Amendment and fosters interest, integrity and excellence in journalism and other forms of communication by educating students of various ages and providing them with the tools and knowledge to improve their skill. More information is available at loebschool.org.

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Free Classes

Finding Facts in a Sea of Misinformation

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

6:30pm-8pm

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

Fact-checkers use a number of tools to get to the facts behind some of the country's hottest debates. Whether its election fraud, immigration, COVID-19 or whatever topic drives the national conversation, fact-checkers find ways to give the public some hard evidence to consider. And they aim to make things clear in 900 words or less. This interactive session will cover how fact-checkers do what they do, and how you can navigate the daily feed of claims and news that come your way.

Learning outcomes:

• Students will learn how research is done by professional fact-checkers and how students can do their own research,
• How students can think more critically about the information they see or hear, and
• How to better understand the media ecosystem.

Instructor:

Jon Greenberg is a senior correspondent with PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking news service. Since 2011, he has vetted claims from politicians, pundits, Facebook posts and tweets and rated them on the patented Truth-o-Meter. Before joining PolitiFact, in Washington, D.C., Jon spent two decades in public radio, including half a dozen years as a Washington reporter for NPR, and 14 years at New Hampshire Public Radio. He is a three-time winner of Society of Professional Journalists awards, including two for investigative journalism.

Getting More out of LinkedIn

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

10am-11:30am

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

LinkedIn is the oldest social media platform, and world’s largest professional network, with more than 740 million members today. Individuals use LinkedIn to find jobs and expand their professional network. Companies use LinkedIn to find new customers and build brand recognition.

Learning Outcomes:

• In this class, you will learn how to show off your skills, make connections, find a new job, and the best practices for using LinkedIn for business.
• You will also learn the importance of using keywords, hashtags, profile tags, and other LinkedIn tools.
• By the end of the class, you will have the information you need to improve your profile and begin building your network with confidence.

Instructor: Beth LaMontagne Hall is a writer, content strategist and owner of BLH Writing Solutions. She has seven years of experience working in social media, advised a number of professionals on how to improve their LinkedIn profiles, and written hundreds of LinkedIn posts for companies over the years. Beth is also the host of the podcast and Portsmouth-based live storytelling event Long Story Short, where she gets to hear amazing stories told by regular people.

Smart Marketing: Using Emotional Intelligence to Reach Your Audience

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

10am-11:30am

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

Stop shouting into the void hoping your message lands with the people you're trying to persuade. Learn how to shift from marketing what you want to say to what your target audience wants to hear. Uncover ways to use emotional intelligence to get into the hearts and minds of your audience by creating a marketing persona.  

Learning outcomes:

• Students will leave this class with a template for a marketing plan, and the start of a detailed description of their ideal customers, clients, or other audiences.
• Your Instructor will share best practice tips on how to turn audience personas into messaging that moves an audience to take action.

Instructor:

Liza Dube is a strategic communications consultant and coach with nearly 20 years of marketing communications leadership experience at organizations like Stonyfield and Housing Partnership Network. She combines no nonsense strategy and nuanced emotional intelligence to create human-centered communications systems for nonprofits and mission-driven small businesses across the U.S. 

Introduction to Speechcraft

Friday, April 16

10:30am – 12pm

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

This class in the best practices for public speaking is led by a dynamic instructor who will help students get ready to deliver presentations, nail a job interview or make a toast a wedding. With so many presentations being done on Zoom and other video platforms, students will also get tips on how to use the camera for making great impressions.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn how to address a crowd, even if it’s just you and your computer.
• Learn techniques and tips to reduce presentation jitters.
• Gain ideas for giving your best presentation, from the introduction to the conclusion.

Instructor:

Lorraine Ratchford has spent her professional career in insurance regulation, tackling complicated compliance issues. Throughout her career, she found herself consistently praised and promoted, but was often too shy to speak up. She decided to change that by learning the tools to better public presentations. Calling herself a “recovering introvert,” Lorraine Is today an accomplished public speaker and leader in Toastmasters International.

Virtual Meeting Readiness: Setting Yourself and Your Team Up for Success

Monday, April 19, 2021

10am-11:30am

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

Online meetings are here to stay and there is a false belief that meeting in a virtual space requires no more than sending out an email with a phone number or link and date and time and a high impact meeting will blossom from there. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. Meeting in a virtual space requires all of the same ingredients as meeting face to face including: thoughtful planning, pre-work, participant support, agreed on operating norms, back up plans, strong facilitation, engaging content, attention to timing, and careful follow up.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will review a set of simple virtual meeting best practices
• Students will develop a checklist for essential preparation methods to plan their own effective virtual meetings, and
• Students are encouraged to bring their upcoming meeting challenges to the conversation.

Instructor:

Sasha Tracy is the founder of Groundswell Consulting, and a creative problem solver, organizer, facilitator, and mediator. She works with leaders, nonprofit organizations, foundations, and communities across New England to create consensus-driven models for change. Her experience includes more than 10 years working on the nonprofit and philanthropic sides of the social sector, engaging in both consultant and senior leadership roles for mid-sized nonprofit organizations, as well as for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

Communicating for Social Change – Telling a Well-Framed Narrative

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

10am-11:30am

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

Creating social change requires the ability to communicate a vision for how we want our world to be and a strategy for getting there. Storytelling is an effective way to engage an audience in that vision and strategy. However, not just any story will do -- the choices we make (intentional or not) in how we tell our story will shape how others receive it. Thoughtful, research-informed choices in communication, also known as framing, can help us create narratives that work to expand public dialogue about important social issues and engage the public in proposed solutions. Join us to learn about framing and how it’s being used to tackle critical social issues. We’ll study examples from the experts at the FrameWorks Institute, a national think tank that helps mission-driven organizations communicate about critical issues in ways that build public will to support social change.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will develop an understanding of the purpose and value of framing communication.
• Participants will develop an understanding of key elements of a well-framed social change narrative.
• Participants will review and discuss examples of communication about social issues to identify framing strategies.

Instructors:

Moira O’Neil, PhD,serves as Vice President of Research Interpretation at the FrameWorks Institute. In this role, she leads FrameWorks’ efforts to interpret and share communications science with the nonprofit sector so it can more effectively drive social change. A senior researcher, Moira also directs the organization’s efforts to analyze framing patterns in the media and nonprofit sector and writes in-depth research reports on a wide range of topics, including immigration, child mental health, aging, and housing and homelessness.

Kelly Laflamme, MPAhas more than 25 years of nonprofit experience as a grant writer, grantmaker, network builder and communicator. She works as a communication consultant with the National Reframing Aging Initiative and the FrameWorks Institute and is a grant writer and consultant with Pear Associates.

Listen Up: Starting a Podcast

Monday, May 3, 2021

5:30pm-7pm

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

This back to basics class will introduce you to what you need to know to launch your first podcast. Taught by a long-time National Public Radio producer, you’ll gain information and confidence to try podcasting, or learn how to brush up your skills to take your podcast public.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will get advice on choosing a podcast topic and name, and deciding on series and episode format.
• Learn about free and inexpensive recording equipment editing tools, how to make a podcast sound professional on a small budget.
• Learn how to package a podcast with intro and outro music, graphics for posting links, how to promote a podcast to listeners, and how to submit podcasts to listening platforms, like iTunes and Spotify.

Instructor:

Jonathan Smithis a veteran public radio producer with a career of daily production talk radio including 10 years with The Diane Rehm Show. He moved to New Hampshire to be the Executive Producer of New Hampshire Public Radio's Word of Mouth. In the Fall of 2010, he joined the Maine Public Broadcasting Network to help launch its new, interactive, call-in radio program Maine Calling.

Business Writing Basics: Financial Storytelling

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

10:30am-12pm

Free, online, one-time class, 1.5 hours

Whether you’re starting a new business or working to promote an existing one, knowing how to communicate economic fundamentals clearly to a wide audience is essential.

Learning outcomes:

• Students will learn the keys to successful business communication,
• Hear from a national business editor about what catches reader interest, and
• Learn how business writers can best communicate the metrics, indicators and trends most important to customers or investors. 

Instructor: Rik Stevens is an editorial team leader for Bloomberg Intelligence, which produces comprehensive financial analysis for corporate leaders, portfolio managers, investors and others in the business sphere. He was a news editor for The Associated Press in Northern New England and upstate New York for 15 years, and before that a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in Saratoga Springs and Schenectady, NY. 

Paid WORKSHOPS

Are you Ready to Write Your Book?

Saturday, April 10

9am-2pm (with a midday break)

Workshop cost: $90 per person, workshop includes a 30-minute one-on-one session follow-up via Zoom with instructor, to be scheduled within a month of workshop.

You've got a good idea that you just can't shake. It could be memoir, biography, an historical look at a fascinating time or place; a collection of essays on food, travel, or other adventures. 

Whether you've written several chapters, a few pages, or have yet to put thoughts on paper, now is the time to bring your creative nonfiction work to life.

Learning Outcomes:

Join us for a one-day workshop, and learn to:

• Create a roadmap for your nonfiction book.
• Discover strategies that will keep you focused and productive as a writer.
• Sharpen your style and the story that only you can tell.

Instructor:

Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett is a New Hampshire-based writer and manuscript evaluator. She worked as a journalist for more than 30 years for newspapers in the Pacific Northwest and New Hampshire, including the Union Leader. She is the author of Carolina Israelite: How Harry Golden Made Us Care about Jews, the South, and Civil Rights (The University of North Carolina Press, hardcover and Audible book, 2015; and paperback, 2018). 

Expressing Ourselves—Using Poetry to Tell the Story of our Lives

Saturday, April 24

9am-2pm (with a midday break)

Workshop cost: $50 per person

The poet at both this year’s Presidential Inauguration and Super Bowl, Amanda Gorman, inspired interest in the use of poetry to express history, current events, political movements and daily life in our times. Whether you’ve written poems or would like to try, this intensive workshop will help you to develop your existing work or inspire new poems, and you will learn how to turn your story into poetry.

Learning outcomes:

• Through prompts, exercises and constructive critique, you will develop tools for poetry writing and appreciation.
• You will finish the workshop with a work in progress, even if you start with a blank page.
• Your instructors will share how and where to submit your poetry for publication or public presentation.

Workshop Instructors:

Stacy Milbouer and Tom Long are Loeb School favorites. are published poets as well as accomplished journalists and writing instructors. They are the co-contributing editors of Fiddlehead Magazine. They have worked for the Boston Globe, Nashua Telegraph, Union Leader, Boomand New Hampshiremagazines.