Communication skills training

Focus: crafting your elevator pitch

Whether participants want to have a quick response to the dreaded "so, what do you do?" question, or need a short, sharp introductory statement to use in meetings and networking events, our elevator pitch workshop will be of use. Participants will learn how to craft their pitch, how to modify it based on audience, and will have opportunities to practise their pitches on peers. Lots of feedback and interaction.

Focus: slide design

Death-by-Powerpoint (or whatever presentation tool you use) is still very much in evidence in scientific and research presentations. In this practical session, we'll focus on how to design slides that complement your presentation instead of detracting from it. Participants will learn the basics of good design theory, how to visualise data on slides, and how to tell a visual story that holds your audience's interest.

Focus: planning, structure, content, delivery

This hands-on workshop is ideal for early-career researchers who are just getting started, and experienced researchers who want to refine their skills and learn tried-and-tested techniques that will help them craft and deliver an effective and impactful presentation at conferences, team meetings, and funding applications.

Focus: skill building through practice

Our presentation lab is all about helping teams of presenters to get a chance to showcase their talks or presentations, and refine their skills in real-time with feedback from our presentation and speaking experts, and their peers. These workshops can be intense, with rapid learning potential, and are ideal as team builders or as practical workshops before conferences and critical meetings.

Focus: finding and telling science stories

This fun and practical workshop shows participants why stories work and helps them use narrative and story structures to make their research easier to understand and actionable. You'll learn a handful of useful frameworks, and use our story templates to plan, structure and deliver stories without dumbing-down your message.

Focus: networking skills

Sometimes, it's not what you know but who you know... Our networking workshop for scientists and researchers is designed to help participants understand why networking matters, the different routes for networking in science, how to devise strategies to connect and network, and how to show up as the best version of yourself when a networking opportunity presents itself.

Focus: tailor-made communication training

Do you have a particular set of needs that you want to address? We can work with you to create a tailor-made workshop or training series that incorporates some or all of the different interpersonal and practical communication skills training that we offer. Let's set up a time to speak and explore the possibilities.