For Immediate Release
June 1, 2000
Contact: Ed Barks
(540) 955-0600
ebarks@barkscomm.com

New Media Bring New Training Needs;
Barks Initiates Webcast Training

Webcasts are here to stay. And with them comes Barks Communications' new Webcast Training program. "Today's new media demands a new approach to communications training," declared the company's President, Edward J. Barks.

"Visionary leaders in the business, association, and non-profit worlds have discovered that webcasts are a valuable way to communicate," Barks said. "It is our job to help them sharpen their communications edge and allow them to take full advantage of this powerful new technology.

"Our Webcast Training workshops teach people how to behave during webcasts, and help them avoid the many pitfalls that lurk," he added. "I've seen too many webcasts where the principals demonstrate poor eye contact or use charts or logos that are so small as to be meaningless. Or, worse yet, they fail to deliver their message with a punch."

But it's not just the tech-savvy crowd that stands to benefit, according to Barks. "Our Webcast Training is designed to bring leaders from both the new and old economies who have not yet latched on to the power of webcasts up to Internet speed. Quite simply, they cannot afford to fall further behind the competition."

A webcast is essentially sound and pictures broadcast over the Internet. Some webcast technology also allows the sponsoring organization to include interactive features such as charts and graphics, links to relevant web sites, real-time chat capability, e-commerce, polling, and more.

"A webcast represents an entirely new channel that reaches a wide range of target audiences - analysts, employees, reporters, and those unable to attend a national convention, to name just a few," Barks noted. "What's more, the webcast lives on when your live event is over, since you can post it on your organization's web site for all to view from their desktop at their convenience."

As with all Barks workshops, every Webcast Training is custom tailored to the client's individual needs.

"If you speak in public - whether it's to the media, making a presentation, or testifying before Congress - we need to talk," Barks emphasized. "That's truer than ever now with this powerful new communication tool called the webcast."

More information about Barks' new Webcast Training is available from Barks Communications at (540) 955-0600. Details can also be found on the Products page of the company's Barkscomm.com web site.

Barks Communications specializes in media, presentation skills, and legislative and regulatory testimony training for business, association, government, and non-profit leaders. The firm also operates Barkscomm.com, the Internet's Communications Training Resource, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.barkscomm.com.