Communications Masterclass with Gavin Duffy and Orlaith Carmody

WEEK 1 Working the Room – The secrets to successful networking

Some people turn up at a function and effortlessly work the room - chatting, waving, smiling; meeting everyone they need to within the space of an hour.  How do they do it?  Those people are lucky, and for them mingling comes as naturally as breathing. But for most of us it is a bit of a chore, and something we have to work at.  This workshop practically demonstrates the art of making new business contacts with ease.  You will learn how to move through a crowd with ease, relinquishing the safety of the corner (and the company of Johnny from Accounts!) for an effective and positive networking experience.

You will learn:

• How to engage a stranger.
• Why you shouldn’t introduce yourself.
• The art of avoiding “Where did you park the car?” conversations.
• How to remember names.
• How to ask for a business card, with style
• How to get away from someone, without giving offence
• The Name, Fame, Game, Same approach to conversation.

This session gives you the skills to promote your business or your service, when appropriate, in a friendly and interesting way.

WEEK 2.   Getting Your Way at Meetings

How often have you said “that meeting was a complete waste of time” and made a mental note never to attend a non-productive meeting again? This workshop demonstrates the things that usually go wrong at a meeting, and gives you the skills to make every meeting positive, bringing the result you want.

You will learn the ‘Shut Up, Sit Up, Tot Up, Put Up and Mop Up approach to influencing the outcomes at meetings, so that you become more effective and your valuable time is always well spent. For meetings that make sense, you need to know:

• The do’s and don’ts of chairing a meeting
• Converting challenges into positive communication
• Controlling the order of speakers
• The art of clarifying
• Understanding the importance of timing within the framework of a meeting
• The secrets of summarising and concluding

At the end of this module, you will approach meetings in a new way, confident that your game plan will get a result, every time.

Week 3.  Presentation Skills.

In this module, you will learn how to make the very best of presentations; connecting with your audience and getting your message across in a way that you have never done before.  You will acquire the skills to move your presentations from the mediocre to the memorable and from the pedestrian to the powerful.

The session is a highly practical, intensive and challenging workshop, where you will be taken through the practical steps required to design and deliver an effective presentation. The content includes:

• Coping with nerves
• What to leave in and what to leave out of your presentation
• How to make notes that help you recall your thoughts
• Using visuals that work for your audience
• Taking questions
• Motivating audiences

At the end of the session, you will be confident that your presentation style in future will be different – more focused, more sophisticated, more appealing to the audience and more memorable.

WEEK 4.   Life’s a Pitch – The art of pitching to win business

In an environment where we all have to work harder to attract new customers, and to hold on to existing ones, we can’t afford to take chances when it comes to winning that contract.   Life’s a Pitch is a tried and tested workshop where you will  discover the psychology  of good pitching, tuning up your personal business pitching skills so that you can sell your ideas or your services to the best of your ability.

In this module you will learn:

• First impressions count – you only get one chance
• Subliminal communication – what you are saying without saying it
• The essentials of a positive pitch
• Self belief
• Passion and confidence
• Building rapport
• The things good pitchers do
• Finishing the pitch on a high note

After participating in Life’s a Pitch you will be confident that you can put across your plans and projects in a highly effective way, influencing those around you and winning business.

WEEK 5 – Writing for Business

Do you stare at the screen wondering where to start?  Do you ‘chew the pencil’ as you try to work out what is the correct tone and style in an increasingly informal business environment?   Does it take you far too long to write a report, or do you sometimes feel people misunderstand what you are saying?

Writing for Business is a fast paced Masterclass on the effective use of the written word in business today, and gives invaluable tips on making your written communication clear, concise and consistently effective.   Covering email etiquette, the paper pitch, report writing, hiring and firing and much more, you will learn how to get started quickly, how to hook your reader, how to deliver your message, and how to get the response you want.

During the session you will learn how to:

• Take less time to write
• Order your thoughts in a logical and interesting way
• Use uncomplicated language
• Punctuate effectively
• Avoid grammar disasters
• Avoid overused words and expressions
• Proof read properly (and not rely on spell-check!)
• Self assess and edit effectively
• Build in customer service to all written communication

This session arms you with the skills to make all your business writing efficient, interesting and understandable.

WEEK 6 – Media Skills – Successful interviews for broadcast or print media

You have talked all your life; you answer questions everyday; you have attended hundreds of meetings; and you’ve been appointed or volunteered to be a spokesperson on many occasions.  So why do you need training to do the same thing live on air?

Because the game goes very fast, the goalposts keep moving,  and nerves, or unfamiliarity, or pressure make it very hard to score! Media Training helps you to become familiar with the pace and unpredictability of a media interview. It shows you how to plan your strategy and deliver your message in a calm, confident and memorable way.  It gives you the journalist’s game plan, and allows you to respond with an effective one of your own.

In this module you will learn

• Why you will improve 100% with this training
• Is the media out to trip you up?
• Coping with nerves
• Making a positive start
• Taking control
• Handling interruptions
• Getting your message across
• Being memorable
• Dealing with crossfire
• Giving quotable quotes
• Having the last word

WEEK 7 –Negotiation Skills

Effective communicators count negotiating as a key element of their skill sets – negotiating with customers and  suppliers to achieve the best possible deal, but also negotiating with managers for the openings to career progression.  On this module you will learn to plan for and manage the give and take required in any negotiating process, remembering that the best deals are always those that leave plenty for the other guy!

Negotiating skills covers:

• Understanding the strategy – good negotiating is not accidental, it is planned for
• The stages of the negotiating process
• Finding common ground and the resolution of differences
• Losing battles and winning wars, or when to hold and when to fold
• Identifying what are interests and what are positions
• Underlying signals
• Breaking negotiating deadlock
• When to move to a conclusion
• Signing off on the deal

WEEK 8 – Advanced Presentation Skills

Now well on the way to communicating at ‘expert’ level, you will be challenged to take your core presentation skills to the next level, and demonstrate that you can really engage your audience and deliver your message in an exciting and interesting way. This seminar is the essential preparation session for your personal or group presentation, and your assessment for your Communications Masterclass Certificate from Independent Colleges.

This session covers:

• Effective preparation for advanced presentations
• Mastering Context, Content and Continuity
• Messages, block and links
• Making presentations interactive
• Handling questions
• Correct use of analogue, anecdote, analytical and abstract communication
• The impromptu speech
• What makes presentations memorable

Week 9 – Presentation Preparation

Participants work individually or in groups to prepare a presentation for delivery to the rest of the group.  Time permitting; some presentations may be made on this evening.

Week 10 – Presentation Delivery

The remainder of the group make their presentations.  All participants submit their presentation notes for assessment and certification.

The course offers expert tuition in a practical and lively context.  The course lecturers have been involved in media consultancy training since 1992 and are both well known and successful participants in the Irish media environment.

Course Lecturers

Gavin Duffy is the acknowledged expert in media coaching.  A regular chairperson and speaker at major conferences and seminars, he puts all of his practical experience into good effect when delivering the Communications Masterclass, sharing with participants his secrets for good delivery, presence and style. Best known as one of the investors on RTÉs Dragons’ Den, his ‘day job’ and real vocation is training - inspiring business people to be the best they can be in the communications sphere.

Orlaith Carmody is a journalist, producer and media consultant.  A former RTÉ television reporter and presenter, and a radio presenter and producer, she has developed and delivered communications training programmes to Irish business for almost twenty years, and brings to the Communications Masterclass a real passion to share her experience and knowledge.  Orlaith holds an MA in Film and Television from DCU and sits on the Board of RTÉ.

This course is open to all interested applicants.  It will appeal to those in current employment wanting to improve their  performance and career prospects and also to those currently out of work or involved in running a business.