MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

Standing in Your Power and Becoming a Confident Speaker – Being an effective speaker can help you take your leadership to new heights. This is often an area where many leaders are uncomfortable. Learn how to overcome any fear you may have around speaking in public. You will learn how to stand in your power as the expert that you are, create your own signature story to build likeability and trust with your audience and how to dynamically deliver your message. You will discover the 4 components to a powerful speech/presentation. Finally, you will get access to powerful techniques to help you effectively sell from stage.

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Objectives

01. Fear of Speaking: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Your Expertise: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Signature Story: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Defining Message: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Signature Talk: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Speaking Skills: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Speaking Tips: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Stage Presence: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Speak with Authority: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Gaining Confidence: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Selling on Stage: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Engage and Inspire: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Fear of Speaking: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. Your Expertise: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Signature Story: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Defining Message: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Signature Talk: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Speaking Skills: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Speaking Tips: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Stage Presence: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Speak with Authority: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Gaining Confidence: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Selling on Stage: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Engage and Inspire: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Fear of Speaking.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Your Expertise.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Signature Story.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Defining Message.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Signature Talk.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Speaking Skills.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Speaking Tips.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Stage Presence.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Speak with Authority.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Gaining Confidence.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Selling on Stage.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Engage and Inspire.

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Introduction

More and more business professionals are learning public speaking, and for good reason: delivering a speech at a professional gathering is a fantastic way to establish yourself as an authority in your field and spread your message to a sizable audience.

But those who are new to public speaking understand that speaking in front of a crowd of strangers can be nerve-wracking. Additionally, your authority immediately evaporates when you start to appear uneasy.

That’s why confidence is crucial in public speaking.

The secret to success is speaking with confidence. One of the most essential ingredients for great success in all facets of your life is communication. The more assured you are in your communication skills, whether in work, relationships, or business, the more successful you will be in those areas. Great communication will help you succeed in your quest, whether you are trying to make a point to a new friend or you are speaking in front of a big audience. The quickest path to long-term self-esteem and confidence enhancement is effective communication. One of the finest methods to boost your confidence is to work on your communication skills if you’ve lost it and are wondering how to get it back or you never had it in the first place.

Here is a great example of what speaking with confidence might look like – this is a TedxBrixton Talk with Caroline Goyder:

You must be able to communicate your ideas and views if you want them to be taken seriously. You also need to be assured enough in your delivery and demeanor to respond to any and all inquiries if you want action to be made on something you’ve planned. Your initiative or idea won’t succeed if you are unable to provide an adequate response.

Last but not least, speaking with confidence is crucial if you want to achieve your professional goals. There won’t be a job fairy godmother coming to magically transfer you to the division you’ve always wanted to work in. That has to be accomplished by YOU. Speaking with confidence can make people take you seriously and remember you.

Benefits of Being a Confident Speaker:

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Believing in what you say is essential for speaking with confidence. Who else is going to believe what you’re saying if you don’t? In truth, you don’t have to be haughty to make your case and convince others of your validity. However, if you begin the phrase with “I guess” or “maybe,” you will lose the opportunity to boldly state your opinion right away. The easiest method to portray someone who exudes confidence is to be cool under pressure. When you speak shakily, you give off the impression that you lack confidence. For this reason, you must thoroughly prepare before speaking in front of an audience. You will have to just put yourself out there. There is no other way to develop confidence but to face your fear and move forward anyway.

In this workshop, we will address the fear that many have around public speaking and how to combat that fear. You will learn tips and strategies to develop your speaking skills. You will hone in on your expertise. You’ll craft our own personal signature story. We will also help you with your stage presence and how to speak with authority. How to sell on stage and finally how to engage and inspire your audience.

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Executive Summary

Being a confident speaker in public is one of the most powerful skills you can possess.

What makes public speaking so important? Everyone runs into situations when public speaking skills are required, thus that’s why. It could happen in your personal life, at work, or in school.

A confident speaker is first and foremost someone who has faith in his or her own head and heart that he or she can make a compelling speech or presentation. Nobody can give you confidence, nor can you purchase it from someone or anywhere. Our previous positive experiences gradually build our confidence, which can then be bolstered and enhanced over time. How do you construct and enhance it? By taking every opportunity to practice. When you first do something, if you goof up or make a mistake, learn from it and keep trying. Keep in mind that even the most well-known speaker once began as a beginner.

Once you develop the skills and with the right amount of practice soon enough, you can hone your skills in front of a select group of trusted professionals. If you don’t have access to a dependable human audience, you can even practice in front of your pet. Anyone who is willing to practice speaking well can achieve this goal.

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In the Confident Speaker Workshop, we have all the tools and strategies you need, whether you’re looking for advice on overcoming stage anxiety, trying to hone your public speaking skills, or trying to engage and inspire your audience and gain them as a client.

There are 12 courses (or focus areas) in the Confident Speaker Workshop that will assist in acquiring these skills.

Here’s what we’ll be covering:

1. Fear of Speaking: Speaking with confidence can make people take you seriously and remember you. However, many people are petrified of the thought of speaking in front of a large or even small audience. In this course, we will help you start thinking about what’s holding you back when it comes to speaking and provide you them steps to overcome your fear. Don’t lose your chance to reach your dream career; by letting a foolish limitation that’s based on fear hold you back from getting where you want to go.

2. Your Expertise: Understanding your expertise and the value you have to offer others is an essential part of being a confident speaker. Also, gaining the respect of your coworkers, peers, and clients as well as increased business (consulting engagements, speaking engagements, book deals, etc.) for yourself or your company can all result from being seen as an expert authority in your field. In this lesson you will learn 15 steps to clarify your expertise.

3. Signature Story: A signature story a powerful tool to connect to both current and potential target audiences. During the brief time we have with consumers, brands may win them over with the help of this persuasive and effective format. During this course, you’ll discover what a signature story is, why it’s important and 4 steps to create your own unique signature story.

4. Defining Message: It is impossible to overstate the importance of having a key message that is captivating, succinct, and clear for your presentations. In this lesson, we share explain what a key message is, why it’s significant, and how to how to develop and define your message so that will stick in the minds of your audience and help you succeed.

5. Signature Talk: Developing a powerful presentation that you have skillfully crafted is also known as a Signature Talk. It can be a wonderful way to share your companies vision, educate your audience around a new concept and attract new clients. Within this lesson, we will dive deep on exactly what a signature talk is and all of the components necessary to create your own signature talk.

6. Speaking Skills: The numerous professions that call for the capacity to talk to a group are in high demand for candidates with good public speaking abilities. Employers place a great value on dynamic, well-prepared speakers, and having this skill set may even help you get leadership and critical responsibilities. In this course manual, you will learn more about public speaking, its significance, and specific skills on how to become a better public speaker.

7. Speaking Tips: There are various techniques to overcome nervousness and develop memorable talk. In this lesson, we’ll give you some key tips on public speaking that can help you feel less anxious, bust some myths. You also get access to a few quick exercises will help you develop your abilities, properly prepare, and gain the confidence you need to succeed as a public speaker.

8. Stage Presence: How do you make your “tribe” energetically drawn to you by aligning your message with them? That my friend is Stage Presence! Everyone already has presence, whether it’s positive or negative, so the key is truly to learn how to increase it on stage. During this course you will learn 5 keys to level up your stage presence.

9. Speak with Authority: When you’re in your element, whether it’s in your job or your personal life, you must speak with authority. Your message needs to be delivered with authority and assurance when you speak. In this lesson, we will share the difference between being authoritative vs. aggressive, you’ll learn the 8-step process to speak with authority and discover powerful techniques to improve the sound of your voice.

10. Gaining Confidence: A confident speaker is first and foremost someone who truly believes in his or her own head and heart that he or she can make a compelling speech or presentation. Nobody can give you confidence, nor can you purchase it from someone or anywhere. Our previous positive experiences gradually build our confidence. How do you construct and enhance it? Anyone who is willing to practice speaking well can achieve this goal. Several tips and strategies on how to accomplish this goal are offered in this powerful course manual.

11. Selling on Stage: When it comes to learning sales methods for selling from the stage, there are two things you must comprehend: how to create the ideal offer and how to present it to your audience in a way that motivates them to take action and sign up with you. In this lesson, you will discover the 7 steps to sell from stage like a pro.

12. Engage and Inspire: Each of us present ourselves in one way or another on a regular basis. For example, sharing who you are and what you do, interviewing for a new job or presenting a PowerPoint presentation to a potential client or to your supervisor or board. All of these are great opportunities to shine and catapult your career or business. The key is to make sure that you’re ready to use each opportunity to the fullest and win over your audience. In this course manual, we will uncover how to inspire and engage your audience whether it’s during a talk or while leading your team.

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Curriculum

Women Empowerment – Workshop 11 – Confident Speaker

1. Fear of Speaking
2. Your Expertise
3. Signature Story
4. Defining Message
5. Signature Talk
6. Speaking Skills
7. Speaking Tips
8. Stage Presence
9. Speak with Authority
10. Gaining Confidence
11. Selling on Stage
12. Engage and Inspire

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Women Empowerment corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your famil