UNITAR Delivered a Workshop on Public Speaking for the Diplomatic Community in Vienna
8 - 9 October 2015, Vienna, Austria - As part of its long-standing collaboration with Austria’s Federal Ministry of European Integration and Foreign Affairs, UNITAR delivered its Public Speaking workshop in Vienna in October for the second year in a row, following the success of the past event and subsequent great demand. The two-day skills programme was addressed to members of the diplomatic community who are usually required to prepare and present strategic plans, ideas and reports to high-level colleagues and partners. The training was offered entirely free of charge thanks to the generous support from the government of Austria.
The workshop included theoretical knowledge and practical exercises in body language, as well as interactive sessions, movies, group analyses and presentations; some key features of the activity were the discussion of the basic principles of a spoken presentation. This knowledge was supplemented with a variety of exercises, allowing participants to immediately put into practice the concepts they were introduced to. Participants received individualised concrete advice and guidance along with personal tips and considerations for future development. According to the evaluation results all participants improved their presentation skills considerably.
The two-day workshop received extremely positive feedback, with some participants even recommending its duration be increased so as to better internalise the various techniques and skills acquired, whilst also requesting that similar workshops be held in Vienna. All participants queried found the course to be very useful, stating that the training definitely helped them to better structure their arguments and that their level was highly improved after the training. It also enabled them to succinctly identify and formulate the core message they needed to deliver, maximising their persuasiveness and helping them to become compelling speakers.
UNITAR looks forward to continuing its fruitful collaboration with Austria’s Federal Ministry of European Integration and Foreign Affairs in 2016 and plans on delivering two training workshops in Vienna on Negotiation Skills & Techniques and on Chairing International Conferences.
