The staff of the National Economic and Development Authority in the region (NEDA 7) attended recently a 2-day seminar workshop on "Communicating Technical Information to the Layman and Handling Media Interviews" held at the NEDA 7 Conference Room, Lahug, Cebu City.

     The workshop was in response to a dialogue that NEDA officials and staff had with USec Manolo Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) that emphasized transparency in government and communicating technical information to the public in a way that "even a Grade VI pupil could understand."

     The training aimed to provide basic background knowledge on the concepts, priniciples and practice of Development Communication, including proper handling of media interviews. The expectation was that the participants would be able to translate highly technical words and phrases often used in NEDA reports into "laymanized" reports, either written or verbal.

     Philippine Information Agency 7 OIC-RD Minerva Newman handled the seminar-workshop as resource person and facilitator. Topics included Popularizing Messages, Principles and Guidelines for Effective Writing, Clear Effective Writing, Tapping Opportunities to Improve Communication of Issues to the Public, Knowing the Media and Media Interview Tips.

     Ms. Newman introduced workshops on how to popularize technical words, sentences and information as well as inputs on clear, effective writing.

     Ms. Newman also engaged the participants into open discussions on how to tap opportunities to improve communication of issues to their various audiences and or clients and tips on how they can answer interview questions from the media.

     The participants also revisited their technical reports, edited them according to the priniciples and guidelines on clear effective writing and saw the difference.

     They also simulated a press conference with NEDA 7 Regional Director Marlene Rodriguez and Assistant Regional Director Efren Carreon as guests while the rest of the participants posed as local media practitioners.

     The overall impressions of the participants bordered on the need to really come up with specific presentations that are understandable to specific audiences.

     More improtantly, technical information and reports can now be translated into active and simple concise information for easier understanding of all audiences (PIA 7/NEDA 7)