IAF Malaysia

Sharing Experience by IAF Course Attendee

In July 2017, I was given the privilege to attend a course held at the International Academy of Freedom in Gummersbach, Germany. I was representing Parti Keadilan Rakyat (“Keadilan”) and I was very excited to be going on this trip. Not only because it was my first time visiting Germany, but because the course I was attending promised new knowledge and skills, and insights that I knew I very much needed. The title of the course was, "Communication: Strategy and Skills". 

The 8-day course began on Sunday, 2 July with a warm welcome from the Academy’s Director, Bettina Solinger. The facilitators for the course were also present; Wulf Pabst and Nick Clelland. Wulf is a political educator with many clients including German and international associations, foundations and political parties. Nick was the youngest South African elected into Parliament, but now has a strategic communications and public affairs consultancy firm. Throughout the duration of the course, Wulf and Nick shared their experiences and taught us to understand various aspects of media, branding and effective communication.
 

Mid-week, we went on an excursion to Cologne to visit a long-established German newspaper (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). We had a special session with the main political editor; Peter Seidel. He shared with us his experiences, from deciding interesting content for readers to strategizing on distribution and digitalization. We were especially fortunate because later in the day, the Free Democratic Party held an event at the very beautiful and classy “Flora & Botanical Garden”. It was held to commemorate Guido Westerwelle, a former German foreign minister who recently died from leukemia. There was also a forum on German politics and Europe’s economic policies from a panel of speakers, which included the party’s leader; Christian Lindner.
 

During the week, we were pushed to overcome stressful conditions related to media engagements under mock settings. I was only given 15 minutes to prepare a 200-word Press Statement. And I was given very little time and information to prepare for a 2-minute, Live television interview - conducted by a difficult host! In the interview, I was expected to address the issue of fake news, whilst ensuring I projected Keadilan's value proposition as a political party. More importantly, I was given useful feedback from the facilitators and other participants in regards to my interview performance.

Overall, the course was very beneficial. We were taught important theory related to concepts such as news, branding and value proposition. We obtained insights into the world of journalism and tips for establishing relationships with journalists. We also covered social media, its significance and the best way to maximize its impact. 

Now that I have returned to Malaysia, I am able to reflect on what I have learnt, the additional skills I have acquired, and the many new friends that I made from various countries around the globe. My aim now is to develop a training module to be conducted under ARK (Akademi Keadilan), to enable Keadilan's party members to be able to better understand and appreciate communication strategies, particularly in relation to the media. I am keen to share the useful knowledge that I gained, and I believe Keadilan will benefit from it. 

Many thanks to Bettina, Wulf, Nick, Lena and Julius for running such an excellent course. And special thanks to FNF for the amazing experience.