Complementary Skills: Communicate Strategically and Effectively

On a personal level (networking) and in public (presenting)

Recommended for any year of your PHD time with MAINZ, but best in the 2nd year of your doctorate!

Intensive 3 day workshop
Exercise based learning
12 participants maximum

2nd, 3rd and 4th of November 2016
09:30 am until 05:30pm
MAINZ seminar room

What you will learn

  • how to present in public effectively, using your whole self
  • how to evaluate a performance positively and critically
  • how to deal with questions and relate to the conference public
  • how to face anxiety when networking or presenting

What you will be able to do after the workshop

  • prepare appropriately for presentations and networking
  • present effectively and with confidence
  • network in a strategic fashion
  • evaluate your own performance and deal with anxiety


What deos it mean to communicate effectively?

Effective communication provides the basis for productive relations. If you cannot communicate well, you will struggle to build a network, present your work, or carve out a path for yourself. You can learn to communicate more effectively, identify and adopt appropriate strategies, and face the anxiety often associated with communicating professionally.

In this workshop, participants will make a presentation and be filmed. The recordings will be used for reflection and training purposes. Presentation skills are essential for researchers to present their work clearly and professionally to a broad range of audiences. A well-delivered presentation can open up new career pathways or enable new connections. Presentation skills are to be mastered and enjoyed!


The major topics during the Workshop will be

  • Everything except words: body language, use of the voice, the visual element
  • Anxiety and speaking in public
  • Delivering an effective presentation
  • Successful Interaction: networking and/or in a question/answer session


How you will be working during the Workshop

This workshop runs over 3 days taking participants through a series of topics linked to effective professional and scientific communication in a supportive and friendly environment.

It starts on Wednesday morning with a collaborative session focusing on two major themes. Firstly, ‘Not only words’, In this session, we will discuss how communication is not only words, but body language, use of the voice and images. The second topic is anxiety: we live in a society obsessed with selfies, but profoundly anxious about self-image. Speaking in public or at a networking event is rarely easy, but strategies that simplify and enable speakers can be adopted.

On Wednesday afternoon, participants are required to make a 10-minute presentation of a topic linked to their PhD. This will be filmed, and will provide the basis of the trainer’s individual feedback over the workshop.
On Thursday morning, the interactive session will draw on the presentations of the previous day to focus on the strategies of delivering effective presentations. In the afternoon half the participants will be able to meet personally with the trainer for feedback on their presentations.

Friday morning focuses on interaction: while networking and asking and facing questions after presentations. In the afternoon, the remaining participants will receive feedback on their presentations.


Who should attend

This workshop is designed for postgraduate research students from all disciplines who wish to improve their networking and presentation skills in order to participate effectively in conferences and in academic life. It will help build confidence for what has been described as daunting experiences by those who are required to perform them. Participants should come having prepared a presentation lasting 10 minutes that represents their work.


Your Trainer

Dr. Amanda Murphy is a professor of English language and linguistics at the Faculty of Language Sciences and Literatures at Università Cattolica, Milan, Italy. She is the Director of the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation (CHEI) at the same university, and Coordinator of a professional Master’s in International Human Resources Managament. She teaches on the PhD programme both in CHEI and in the Faculty of Languages, where her focus is on communicative strategies.
She is an experienced teacher, teacher trainer and researcher, and regularly presents at international conferences. Active conference participation has enabled her to build up a sizeable international network from which she has gained both personally and professionally.