Training & Development

Advancing Professional Excellence - Training and Development Portfolio

1. Creative Business Writing Training Workshops

Tailored and in house course work

Training Objectives:

§  Brief, Clear, Concise

§  Follows Effective Business Writing Conventions

§  Easy to Read, Understand and Act Upon

§  Crystal Clear in Purpose

§  Successful Summaries and Conclusions

§  Building upon Communication Strengths

§  What Could do with Changing

§  Practical Solutions and Choices

§  Writing With Impact

Creative Business Writing Skills

Some people are 'born' writers; they have the ability and flair to get their message across with style, and more importantly, accessibility. Other people aren't. Your company may be one of the lucky ones to have some natural business writers who don't agonize over reports, marketing materials, press releases, proposals, presentations and the like.

For many people, however, having to sit down and write to a deadline is reminiscent - in a horrible way - of school reports and written exams.

And yet you may still need your staff to communicate both internally and externally through the written word. If their business writing doesn't hit the mark, grab the 'buyer's' attention and reflect the ethos of your company, you are losing business.

Creative Business Writing Techniques

Just a few simple creative writing techniques can make all the difference. Writing for Business more effectively and with greater confidence is within everyone's grasp.

We can share all we know about ways to unblock your business writing, make an impact and write in ways that will engage and connect with your readership.

We want you to leave confident that your business writing will never be used to prop up a table leg.

Whatever your ability there are pertinent practical tips and techniques to try. We want  to set you free, singing hallelujah and running with eager pen towards your next business writing assignment.

Whether it's a marketing campaign or an annual report, a crucial internal memo or a diplomatic letter, our Creative Business Writing Training can give your people enough tools of the trade to help them become articulate and confident business writers.

2. Business Relationship Management Training

Tailored and In-House Business Relationship Management

The Business Relationship Management Skills Training can also be run as an in-house tailored program to address specific issues within the organization.

Business Relationship Management Training Objectives

• Understanding relationship dynamics

• It's You They Buy

• Creating empathy

• Using personal disclosure

• Effective questioning, not third degree

• Uncovering unspoken needs

• Dealing with disagreement

• Steering not pushing

• Gaining new confidence

Business Relationship Skills

Your organization may have people who have to do more than present what your company has to offer to prospective clients. They may have to build the kind of long-term business relationships that ensure your company is well-trusted, which in turn ensures steady business. Be it a public or private sector, we are service oriented and have to cater to the needs of our end users.

You may have technical experts who are brilliant within their own field, but lose confidence when having to create better business relationships and fall back on their expertise (thus potentially boring the client and dazzling them with too many facts and figures).

Gaining clients' confidence and trust in you and your company is the key in developing good business relationships. Too often, consultants, sales people or other company representatives go into meetings like 'gangbusters' deluging clients (or potential clients) with too much information and barely drawing a breath.

Business Relationship Building is all about the fact that it's 'you they buy' at gut level. Clearly, they are interested in what your company has to offer or you wouldn't be having meetings with them in the first place, but for the duration of those meetings you are the company, the focal point.

This means that it's less about your product and a whole lot more about how you connect and engage with your client. You need to be a 'safe pair of hands' and at the same time have the skills to engender trust, understand your clients needs and get under the skin of what is going on in their company.

Equally important, is the ability to 'suss out' unspoken agendas and to deliver messages the client may not want to hear. What we mean here is that often a client thinks they know what they want and once you dig around a bit you realize that they need something quite different or in addition to.

On the other hand, sometimes clients can be a bit vague and only have a general idea of what they want, so part of business relationship building is to tease out needed information without giving them the third degree.

Whether it's a 'beauty parade', a tender presentation, an informal meeting or a straightforward pitch for business, the better your Business Relationship Building Skills, the better your chances are of convincing them to 'buy you'.

If you need your people to win more business through creating stronger face-to-face relationships, talk to us about a Tailored Business Relationship Management program.

3. Communication Skills Training

Tailored and In-House Communication Skills Training

The Communication Skills Training (Basic and Advanced) can be tailored as an in-house program to address specific issues within the organization.

Communication Skills Training Objectives

• Raising Awareness

• Understanding Communication Dynamics

• Working with Body Language

• Dealing with Assumptions

• Working with Differing Points of View

• Understanding Patterns, Habits and Beliefs

• Developing Great Listening and Responding Skills

• Developing Individual Strengths and Qualities

• Understanding Active vs. Passive Choosing

• Using Positive Reinforcement

• Managing Conflict

• Being More In Charge

• Gaining Confidence

Communication Skills

Companies talk about needing better communication skills, but often don't know exactly what that means or they don't know how to go about making it happen.

And without doubt, unless you are a company of one, at some point or another, communication will go awry through no one's fault or intention - it's just the way it happens.

You might have pockets of 'them and us': marketing vs. finance, IT vs. admin, HR vs. operations, consultants vs. full time staff. You might have cross-functional or virtual teams whose ability to communicate efficiently is vital.

If you have groups of people who simply have to communicate more effectively then giving them communication training may be just what you need.

Effective Communication takes real skill

These communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. They are at the heart of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be.

Most people in business think they communicate pretty well, and in our experience that's generally true.

However, even the best communicators can have their communication skills undermined when they get wrong-footed, face potential humiliation, feel misunderstood or get really surprised by someone else's behavior.

That's when it all seems to fall apart and people regress to all kinds of inappropriate and unhelpful behavior.

We deal with communication skills training by unpicking what happens - if you know how the dynamics work, you can be in charge of them.

Then you can choose from a whole range of tools and techniques that fits your personal style. We're big on personal style because when it comes to communication under pressure you can't be anyone other than yourself.

Therefore, we like to develop the communication skills people already have and the things they already do well, rather than focusing on what's wrong or what needs to be fixed.

Being a good communicator is often about feeling confident in those situations where you don't always feel comfortable, so we make life easier for you by enhancing what's already there. In other words, you don't have to learn a whole bunch of radically new things.

Being an effective communicator means that other people take you seriously, listen to what you have to say and engage in dialogue.

Our work on Communication Skills Training includes influencing, negotiation, making an impact, dealing with conflict and difficult people - really, anything that has to do with people dealing with other people with far more confidence, assurance and authenticity.

4. Presentation Skills Training

Tailored and In-House Presentation Skills Training

Our Presentation Skills Training can be tailored as an in-house program to address specific issues within your Institution.

 

Presentation Skills Training Objectives

§  How Nervous Energy can be Harnessed

§   Making the Best Use of Existing Strengths

§   Freeing up Body Language

§   Myths and Rules about Presenting

§   What you Are and Are Not Allowed To Do

§   Developing an Individual Presentation Style

§   How to Stimulate Easy Interaction with an Audience

§   Preparing for a Non-Linear Presentation

§   Ways of Getting Ideas Across

§   How to be Entertaining and Stimulating

§   How to Create Effective Support Materials

Effective Presentation Skills

What might the most common Presentation Skills issues be?

The fact that for most people even experienced presenters, getting up and presenting in front of an audience can be a terrifying and even phobic experience.

Yes! The number one phobia that most people share is making a presentation; speaking in front of a group of other people: colleagues, strangers, it doesn't seem to matter - it's scary.

You may have people who are new to the presentation 'game' and who need to understand just what happens to them when they have to stand and deliver and how they can become confident and effective presenters.

You may have people who have been around the presentation block and are in a rut, giving acceptable, but not brilliant presentations.

You may have people who have to present detailed and technical information without putting their audience to sleep. Presenting detailed information may be important but if the presenter's audiences aren’t engaged then they've made their job of putting across information even harder.

All of these people could benefit from this confidence-building Presentation Skills programs.

In addition, you may have individuals who have to give key note speeches, important presentations at conferences or crucial presentations with clients. We also offer one-to-one presentation coaching to key members of staff.

Good Presentation Skills Training

Presentation Skills Training that concentrates on 'how to get it right' is available in all shapes and forms.

However there is very little presentation skills training that really addresses the key issue of Working Your Audience.

The power and opportunity we are given every time we make a presentation before an audience or even sit around a table with a captive group of people is huge.

Many presenters have no idea of what can be achieved.

Most of us know the power of an audience.

It is often the rather unnerving experience of being on the receiving end of twenty pairs of eyes looking at us in polite silence as if to say "Yes? So?"

It is this energy that can be harnessed to make dynamic, lively, memorable and effective presentations.

It takes a little courage, but the rewards are enormous.

Our 'Working Your Audience' Presentation Skills Program gives person clear insight into how the dynamic of a presenter and their audience works, enabling them to make really effective presentations.

Tailored specifically to each group Working Your Audience is a Presentation Skills Training Course designed to develop member of the group into powerful, persuasive presenters.

5. Team Building Event – Training Workshops

Tailored and In-House Team Building

Our Team Building work can be tailored as an in-house program to address specific issues within your Institution.

Team Building Objectives

§  Learn to work as a team

§  Reassess your team's goals and direction

§  Communicate better as a team

§  Give your team a boost of energy

Team Building

Working as a team is a great idea, but what sort should it be? A relay team, a football team, a cricket team, a tug-of war team? The appropriate type of team and the way in which functions are divided vary enormously, depending on the task in hand and the skills of the members. Teams are complex machines and it's not surprising that they malfunction occasionally or need re-alignment or teambuilding.

To work effectively you need agreement on exactly what sort of team you are: what are the goals, what is each member's role, who needs to work closely with whom, what should the game plan be? Sometimes it's as simple as learning more about the people you work with, and sometimes it's complicated, such as working through entrenched difficulties or defining how a long-distance team communicates.

A tailor-made Team building Event allows you to do this by taking some time away from the workplace to slow things right down. Through discussion, brain storming, game play, role play and goal setting, we sort out problems, put forward new ideas, plan the future, look at the team's 'purpose', 'vision' and 'mission' and learn more about each other as people. Team members will enjoy a fresh perspective, achieve a sense of focus, build confidence and prepare for the real "game" ahead.

A Team event has a positive effect on the morale, motivation, confidence and effectiveness of the team and its individual members that immediately transfers to the workplace.

Each team building event is created from a specific brief and is tailor-made by working closely with your company to ensure the most appropriate program.

Tailored specifically to each group our Team Building Programs are designed to help create and nurture successful, professional, productive and happy teams.

6. Seminar Sensation – Short Training Modules

(up to 30 participants)

There are times when you simply may not have the time for a full training session. You want your staff to learn some new skills and learn them quickly, but you may not be able to release them for a whole day, or you may want them to get some polish on skills they already have, or you want them to get a focused look at one very specific area of interpersonal skills.

This is the gourmet deal; enough of a taste to get your people thinking and seeing things in new ways and trying out some new techniques.

This is the Seminar Sensation: one or two-hour sessions for up to 30 people. Here we present any area of our work in an entertaining, informative and very useful format. These seminars focus on very specific issues such as :

• difficult meetings

• effective e-mail communication

• beyond assertiveness

• presenting to clinch the deal

From these seminars you can expect your people to come away with far greater insight, one or two very useful new tools and ideas of how to put them into practice.

7. One-on-One (F2F) – Individualized Training

Change something you do instead of wishing the other person would change.

For a completely personal, in-depth and confidential look at your specific issues,  we offer high level coaching in any area of our extensive repertoire.

From preparing you to be able to face the media or handle a crucial presentation, to developing your management skills or helping you with confidence and self-esteem issues, our individual work is powerful, comprehensive and quick.

Our training is dynamic, empathetic and with highly experienced trainers, so they get to the heart of your issues with speed and effectiveness.

Sessions are one to two hours in length.

Career Action

One-to-one, intensive and straight-talking career guidance that will make a significant difference to your working life.

Executive Presentation Skills

From time to time, it is necessary to make vital presentations, often to large audiences, upon which the future of the company may depend. Standard presentation skills’ training is not enough in these circumstances.

Executive Coaching

If you're looking for Leadership Development and Executive Coaching services, Executive Presentation Skills Coaching, Executive Life Coaching or Personal Executive Coaching, then you are at the right place.

Interview Skills Coaching

Interviews can be scary things! How often do you have to present yourself as the answer to someone's prayers?

Key Person Coaching

Intensive support for key individuals whose performance is vital to the company. If you are the Key Opinion Leader of your organization, then a lot is expected out of you and you have to meet the expectations that your team has of you.