Effective communication: the fundamentals

You use communication skills on a daily basis when working in design. Whether you’re talking to colleagues, team members, your boss or a client, you need to be able to get your point of view across confidently, and get the outcomes you need to work effectively.

Instinctively engaging the appropriate language, tone of voice and body language in each of these different settings, especially in difficult situations, can take some practice.

At this workshop communications expert Wendy Smith will cover the fundamental skills you need to be able to work professionally with anyone and everyone you come in contact with. Wendy will cover a broad range of techniques that will improve your overall portfolio of interpersonal skills.

What you will learn about:

Using and adjusting your body language.

Varying your tone to create impact with your vocal delivery.

Positive reinforcement and how to deliver feedback confidently.

Using personal and public space to your advantage.

The importance of listening and understanding.

The power of paraphrasing.

How to be assertive without being aggressive.

Taking criticism on board in a positive way.

Maximising your verbal impact with powerful words.

Find out how to fine-tune and adapt your style in response to different situations, and leave feeling confident in your abilities.

Delegate feedback:

“An eye opening and refreshing recap on why good communication skills are vitally important and how easy they are to get wrong, but also how simple it is to get them right.” Rick Harrison, Account Manager, Make It Clear

“Very useful and enlightening in many ways, will be applying what I have learnt from tomorrow.” Mark Thatcher, Director, 2LK Design

“It’s a real eye opener to your habits and mistakes.” Katerina Nishan, Senior UX Designer, Make It Clear

“Wendy was very friendly and engaging and delivered a very interesting course.” Darren Pascoe, Design Director, WPA Pinfold

About: Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith specialises in communication for all levels from design entrepreneurs in start-ups to board directors in larger companies. Her company, Coralstone Training, offers consultancy and coaching on all forms of communication and media skills. Wendy has an MA in Media and Communications from Brunel University and is a member of the Coaching Academy.

She is a Visiting Tutor at the Royal College of Art and has written widely on business and design topics for the Guardian, the Financial Times, Director magazine, Design Week and other publications. She is a regular speaker at conferences and recently chaired an international awards event for female innovators.

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