Presenting

Presenters

Becoming one of the presenters of Treehouse Sessions provides the audience with a stable, identifiable figure they can relate to. He or she typically interviews our amazing performers and will have distinct personalities. They tend to be artistic individuals, which means they’re creative, intuitive, sensitive, articulate, and expressive. They are unstructured, original, nonconforming, and innovative. Some of them are also enterprising, meaning they’re adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic.

Where does the volunteering take place?

The volunteering currently takes place at Treehouse Sessions’ current and original venue, at a secret location in a leafy suburb of Birmingham.

How many hours would I be expected to work?

There are volunteering positions with more sociable hours, but sound is a calling and the people you get to socialise with are probably those you want to be with anyway! There are long hours and often extremely hectic schedules, but that’s nothing to worry about if you’re making your favourite band tick, right? And, it’s only once a month for 10 months of the year.

How long would the volunteering last for?

We would expect you to be with us for 3 to 6 months. Most of our volunteers enjoy the vibe so much, they just want to stay… But that’s ok, that’s what family is for.

What sort of work would I be doing if I volunteered?

No showday is the same, and although we have schedules in place, our work is varied.

Your daily tasks would depend on the type of show you present, but may include:

meeting with the production team to go through the running order
being briefed by researchers, or preparing your own scripts, links and interview questions
rehearsing
presenting, which may include reading from an autocue, interviewing guests and working with studio audiences
reacting to instructions given to you through an earpiece by the director or floor manager
going through several ‘takes’ if necessary
knowledge of media production and communication
knowledge of English language
excellent verbal communication skills
the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
to be thorough and pay attention to detail
active listening skills
the ability to use your initiative
to be flexible and open to change
to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently.

Is the volunteering paid in any way, or are expenses covered? Is there a job for me at the end of it?

For clarity, no payment is made to volunteers. Although on show day setup we do provide a meal and refreshments. It is hugely unlikely that we would create a permanent job for you at the end of your time volunteering, however, it may help in further employment including us on your C.V.

Can I list “Volunteer for Treehouse Sessions” on my CV during or afterwards?

You can indeed. Although we are a fully inclusive and welcome members from the whole community, our expectations are high and our long term selection will depend on a professional and mindful people who join us. Where appropriate we may possibly become one of your CV referees – which is a crucial part of advancing in Sound, film and TV – although this is in no way promised or guaranteed.

Can I volunteer part-time for Treehouse, around my existing commitments/education?

Absolutely. You might need to be available for a longer period of time overall (it takes a while to train volunteers up in certain areas and as a result it’s not efficient for us to have people volunteer for short periods of time), but if selected you can certainly fit in volunteering for us around other commitments.

Would I need to sign anything to volunteer for Treehouse?

If selected you would have access to, and be handling, sensitive data and as a result you would need to sign a legally-binding confidentiality agreement before beginning to volunteer with us.

Please note due to demand we are unable to respond to unsuccessful applications.

Treehouse Sessions are bought to you by a dedicated crew of professionals from Murmuration Films, Rainbow Records & Creation Cafe. Have a listen to our other fabulous guest performers here.