Participants of Campuskini’s What’s Your Story workshop has rated it highly as insightful, interactive and engaging, according to their feedback.

Professionals in banking, social work, NGOs and lecturers commended lecturers M Krishnamoorthy and Indhran Marnickavsagar, and some wanted the workshop to last longer.

An NGO leader who works closely with the Selangor Menteri Besar’s office Sangetha Jayakumar said she wished she had attended such a class 10 years ago.

“I learned so much in a day, and now I am confident I can write better news stories now. Krishna was very interactive and engaging.

“Indhran was absolutely current and relevant. I wish there was more time, and it would be good if this workshop can be extended to two days,” Sangetha said in her evaluation after the workshop held yesterday.

Former CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera freelance journalist Krishnamoorthy focused on how to tell one's story and get it publicised. They were taught practically how to news angle a story and rewrite it on the screen.

Indhran, formerly from the HSBC Group, where he rolled out global brand driven initiatives for 33,000 HSBC employees impacting 80 million customers worldwide, taught the workshop participants how to digitally generate leads, and grow their business exponentially.

Currently, he is the CEO of the Sunshine Group, a digital media and communications group to help corporations do better in communicating their messages in this digital age.

Syed Mohammed Idid, a senior PR practitioner and media relations specialist praised Krishnamoorthy for reinforcing his knowledge with clear, fresh and easy ways to write a news story.

“Krishna is the guru of crisis and media; he made learning fun and easy to understand, while Indhran was insightful with new inputs on digital media and how best to navigate the social media landscape,” he said.

An American doctor and international social worker who wanted to remain anonymous said: “I found Krishna’s hands-on coaching style of writing a news story enlightening, as he was able to demonstrate how to write and edit in simple language for the audience's understanding.

“Indhran gave us ideas on how to be effective in reaching out to the consumer by relating his personal experience and giving case studies.”

Another American social worker said both lecturers related stories through their experiences in the media world. “Krishna has enormous hands-on experience and encouraged group work in drafting articles following his demonstration on how to write an article.

“While Indhran showed us how to tell good stories through a great power point presentation. He illustrated how one should re-invent oneself and find a suitable social media channel to publicise products and services.”

'Easy to understand'

Mohd Shukri Abdul, head of the training department at Safety Driving Centre said: “Krishna and Indhran’s unique and interactive style of teaching was awesome and easy to understand.

“Through Krishna’s writing exercises on the screen, editing and correcting, he made us think like reporters through the process of writing news.

“His topics were interesting and he kept us engaged and entertained in a light-hearted and comical way. His introduction and his own invention of the acronym 'LUAR', which stands 'listening understanding action results', is applicable in any situation.

“For students who do not listen in class, they will not understand and as a result take the wrong action (during examinations), and will not do well. Similarly, if a wife or husband does not listen to each other, they will not understand and thus their actions will result in conflict.”

Shukri added, “Malaysiakini’s editior-in-chief Steven Gan’s talk was inspiring for anyone who wants to start and succeed in a business, despite the media controls and obstacles they faced.”

Eric de Lame, a trade official with the Belgium embassy also appreciated the group exercises and the clear slides explaining how to deliver new messages to the social media.

Social worker Suganthan Sumelingam said the two speakers’ knowledge, experience and structured presentation helped the participants easily understand the art of writing and the social media landscape.

“Now, I have a better knowledge of social media marketing and how I can reach out to the greater community,” he said.