Today saw the completion of a fantastic CPD opportunity given to our senior management teams: Public Speaking Coaching 🎤 with the brilliant Frederick Afrifa, delivered through his company Believe in Greatness.

Fred, as he is known, provided a totally unique experience that none of us who participated could forget. It was a mix of challenge and hilarious fun. Raucous laughter travelled through the usually sound proof conference room walls!

Here’s a run down of what happened, and why we recommend it to any company as a CPD exercise:

1. Fred, himself humble, non-judgmental and gentle, made everyone feel totally at ease. Even the most fearful managed to settle in and enjoy the process.
2. Public speaking is one of the most feared experiences, but through mutual vulnerability and being totally authentic, Fred built a healthy atmosphere of mutual support. It brought the very best out of everyone.
3. The course was run over 6 weeks and we ran two separate groups of 12 persons. The sessions were insightfully delivered, providing coverage of all the essentials of learning how to speak publicly: from managing nerves, learning good body language, building good presentation structure to final delivery of a speech, the course builds confidence.
4. Eventually, it became clear that this was more than just about public speaking, but it was about overcoming fears, observing self-potential, seeing potential and value in our colleagues, and discovering more about ourselves.
5. There was a final assessment with detailed personal feedback, and a certificate issued to cement the sense of achievement.

Our Managing Director, Ben Milner shares his experience, and explains what motivated him to book Fred as part of a company CPD exercise:

A superb course, with a brilliant coach.
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When we first discussed undertaking public speaking training it was hard for the team to understand why this was relevant to their role – they had no intention of undertaking 'public speaking'. The truth is that many roles within the construction industry require you to undertake public speaking in some form, whether that be in meetings, teams meeting or training events.

In my early days as a project manager I remember being nervous just introducing myself within a meeting, let alone making a meaningful contribution. We have some very talented people within DL M&E who have the ability to contribute significantly to project development, and my hope is that by undertaking this training my team will be able to feel confident in how they deliver their message with clarity, and they will never be held back by nerves when getting their message across.

Thank you to Frederick Afrifa, a truly inspirational coach.

In summary, this was an amazing team building experience, with everyone dramatically improving their confidence in delivering in front of others. It delivered endless laughter and importantly, builds better skills for communication throughout our management.

💡 If you’d like to try this for your team, get in touch with Fred or one of his team over at: bigpublicspeaking.com

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