28 Aug (Wed), 2pm – 3.30pm
Be All Ears: Listening with Your Whole Self

Most speakers focus on what they are going to say and forget to think about the interests and needs of their audience (Maxwell, 2010).  Successful communicators, however, speak less and listen more by shifting the focus from themselves to their audience.

How can you make your audience feel seen and heard?  How can you understand your audience enough to engage them in what you have to say?

In this interactive workshop, you will learn three key principles of listening to connect with your audience and apply strategies to read and engage your audiences in presentations, pitches and collaborative settings.

Learn how to:

1. Determine audience interests and needs before you communicate 
2. Use your senses to listen to your audience 
3. Engage your audience with empathy 

11 Sep (Wed), 2pm – 3.30pm
Ditch the Script: Energising Your Presentations 

Have you ever sat through a dull, almost mechanical presentation? Most if not all of us would respond with a resounding “YES”!

While several factors go into an effective speech, pitch, or presentation, one of the most important is delivery. Many speakers default to an artificial, “newscaster” style, but audiences respond far better to a more organic, natural delivery.

In this interactive workshop, you will learn to engage audiences through natural verbal and visual delivery techniques, and ensure your presentations move from self-conscious to self-confident.

Learn how to:

1. Connect with your audience through conversation
2. Seem spontaneous in your speech
3. Harness body language to move with meaning

3 Oct (Thu), 2pm – 3.30pm
Say less?! Negotiating Authenticity & Meaning in a Diverse World

Have you ever received a message that left you confused? Maybe it was an "OK" or “Say less! Thank you for your time” in response to your idea. Is the speaker expressing appreciation, disagreement, or offering constructive feedback? Is workplace communication limited to ‘standard’ language?

It seems that even though we are all speaking the same language, our intended meaning may be misunderstood. How can people authentically express themselves without being misunderstood? Can we say what we want to say in our own words without being thought offensive? 

Learn how to:

1. Recognise the speaker’s intention
2. Reduce misunderstandings, and
3. Value diverse forms of communication

16 Oct (Wed), 2pm – 3.30pm
Make Your Voice Heard! Speaking with Your Whole Self

It is no surprise that the human voice is considered more engaging and more easily understood than an artificially generated one (Abdulrahman & Richards, 2022). Perhaps its greatest appeal is that it is embodied (Barker, 2015). Building on this idea, this highly practical workshop will kick off with an optional physical warmup designed to help you overcome one of the greatest challenges of the human voice: muscular tension.  

This workshop will introduce a suite of vocal exercises used by actors and public speakers to make you sound clearer and more confident. With your body and voice ready, we will then prepare you for activities such as interviews and presentations. Drawing from acting theory pioneered by acclaimed director Constantin Stanislavski, you will learn techniques to achieve you goals in various workplace scenarios.

Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing that allows for movement, and a link to a warmup video will be provided prior to the workshop. 

Learn how to:

1. Overcome vocal challenges and feel confident 
2. Project your voice and develop resonance, find your optimum pitch and articulate clearly 
3. Get what you want from your audience