10 - 11 December 2018, Geneva, Switzerland - The two-day workshop, which was part of the Executive Diploma in Diplomatic Practice, was an opportunity for government officials, diplomats and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of public speaking and presentation skills.

The training was delivered by Mr. Jerome L’Host, who is UNITAR’s international senior consultant, based in Geneva and Moscow, working internationally with both the Private and the Public Sectors and has managed more than 40 large-scale international projects in more than 30 different countries.

Prior to the workshop participants were sent training and reading materials which would give them insights on Public Speaking & Presentations Skills. Participants spend their first day understanding the essentials of public speaking and in doing so they learnt the underlying challenges, how to overcome these challenges and present statements and presentations in a confident and concise manner. Moreover, with the help of simulation exercises, Mr. L’Host further emphasized the importance of tone of voice and position and how to further refine presentations. The second day of the workshop gave a thorough understanding on dealing with difficult audiences and objections while presenting and speaking publicly. Moreover, in groups of four, participants learnt how to implement the modes of persuasion (Ethos, Pathos and Lagos) to convince other participants during the workshop. Furthermore, participants were taught how to manage stress and understand group dynamics and behaviour before speaking and presenting to a larger audience.

Finally, the Q&A session at the end of each briefing made the workshop even more interactive. The participants were satisfied with their experience, as 96% of them felt that they met the course objectives and all of them agreeing that their awareness about the subject has increased. Benefits from the briefing were confirmed by post-training self-evaluations.

Photo: Participants of the workshop