ESN Roma LUISS

Public Speaking and Effective Communication Skills

How do we appear to others? Are we able to make them feel comfortable? Can we establish a real contact? Can we introduce ourselves or tell a story? Can we discuss a project or a thesis?

Speaking and delivering a presentation in public is an ability increasingly required by most of today’s jobs. From the CEO taking his speech during the annual general meeting, to the diplomat in a UN mission trying to convince his intercultural audience; from the journalist interviewing in a middle – east country to the consultant sent to China for a corporate mission; from the academic presenting his research paper, to the business lawyer supervising an international merger. Today’s successful professionals have as their main asset the ability to speak effectively in public, to direct the conversation and to be able to face the most diverse cultures, exploiting their specific customs.

This is what a public speaker is trained for.

If you feel like you have to brush up your abilities as a public speaker, and you want to strengthen your confidence in dealing with challenging social contexts, sign up to our two-day training course in LUISS!

Where

The course is held by dr. Alberto Castelvecchi, Public Speaking Trainer at LUISS Guido Carli.
It is structured in two days: we will meet in viale Romania, in Aula Polivalente, on Friday, from 11.30 to 18.00, and on Saturday, from 9.00 to 18.00.

When

You can choose to enroll to one of the two available dates:

• March 23-24
• May 11-12

How to participate to the course

The course is intended for English speaking students and will be held entirely in English. There are only 24 spots available for each week end: hurry up to reserve yours! Priority will be given to international students and Italians who have already attended a basic course in public speaking and/or had an experience abroad.

To sign up to our two days intensive training, go to this page and fill in the form.

A confirmation email will be sent to the address you provide.

For further information, feel free to contact us at ips@esnromaluiss.it

Here is the timetable of our training (2 days / 16 hrs.)

1. Speech & Body Awareness (4 hrs.): 
The course starts with a «hands-on» teaching/learning experience. The student will be made aware of physical energy in communication. We always need to establish a contact, to find a «chemistry» with our audience:

• Eye contact
• Fluid gestural sequences
• Voice and breathing techniques
• Hip movement
• Feet: grounding, moving, walking

• Introduce yourself
• Talk about yourself
• Talk in little groups  or in circles
• Frontal, semicircular or circular Audience
• Question Time

2. Public Speaking and Presentation Tools (4 hrs.)
In this section students will be trained to better use the many  technical tools and devices a public speaker has to deal with:

• Microphones of various types
• Podium (platform, lectern)
• Sitting and / or Standing
• Reading a full speech from paper
• Speaking with notes and sketches
• Presenting with a Powerpoint

• Enter the Room (or the Class, the Congress Hall, etc.)
• Take Center Stage
•  Approach the Audience
•  Get on the Rostrum
• Find and Keep the proper position of the microphone
• Alternate eye contact with «nose-dives» while reading

3. Teamwork, Speechwriting & Speech Delivery (4 hrs.)
Principles and techniques inspired by the USA presidential staff:

• Strategic planning
•  Memory exercise
•  Focus on relevant points
•  Vocabulary and word choice
•  Images
• Numbers and figures

The whole «architecture» of the speech is carefully assembled and tested. We will also introduce in-depth research methods, data mining and retrieval, competitive intelligence skills:

• OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)
• Webint (Web Intelligence)

Students will learn how to gather information rapidly about the environment conditions, the context and the audience.

The Audience Intelligence & Analysis gives all the available information for profiling the kind of public we will be facing: each person’s name, every brand and every other available information should processed and cross-checked (when possible).

Every bit of information is screened and contributes to the strategic definition of the speech.

Students will learn to analyse the Context (where and when are you going to speak? Why?) and the Location (how is the place in which you are going to speak? How does it appear? What are the light conditions, and what it sounds like? What’s the general «atmosphere»?).

Exercises: 

• Teamwork assignment: Leader, Writer, Researcher, Speakers
• Strategic Speech Overview
• Speech Writing
• Speech Focusing
• Speech Architecture
• Speech Rehearsal
• Use of Web Sources for research
• Context & Location Intelligence
• How to Introduce the Speakers
• Speech Delivery 

4.Body Language
How is the meeting going? Do people believe what we are saying or are they just «pretending» to pay attention?

We can understand that from their body language.

Since Charles Darwin’s famous book “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” (1872), many scholars  (Desmond Morris, Paul Ekman, Allan Pease) demonstrated that our body sends us thousands of signals:  approval, distrust, attraction, anxiety, comfort, arrogance, hierarchy («I am the boss here»), territorial marking («this is my office»), etc.

Our training  will explore the body language of our colleagues as a real grammar, that we can learn by «gesticulating» together.

For students who move in a international context, great attention will be given to the basic rules of approach, of distance and physical positioning (Proxemics), and to gestural sets that vary from one context to the other (formal/informal/confidential) and from one culture to the other.

Exercises: 

• Body Language Analysis
• Motion Analysis
• Lie detection
• Instinctual Negotiation
• Personality Clues
• Irritation and appeasement
• Face motion analysis
• Proximity Interaction
• Cross-cultural understanding
• Politeness and Diversity
• Sex & Gender Body Signals

To enroll to our two days intensive training, go to this webpage.

For further information, feel free to contact us at ips@esnromaluiss.it