Over 20 members of Women in Transport recently attended a workshop, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineers, designed to improve the communication skills of young engineers. Although there were quite a few engineers present, it was evident that the desire to learn more about this skill spans a wide range of disciplines and levels of seniority in the transport sector.
The evening kicked off with a great networking session over refreshments very generously provided by our hosts WSP.
Stacy Dowding, Associate Director of WSP, warmly welcomed us and outlined some of the initiatives being implemented at WSP to support its gender balance strategy.Stacy is chair of PLEDGE, one of several active diversity networks in WSP. PLEDGE stands for Promoting Leadership, Encouraging Diversity and Gender Equality. WSP certainly has been, and continues to be, a great supporter and sponsor of Women in Transport.
The workshop was led by Rosie Kendrick, who has a wealth of experience as a radio presenter and producer. She is currently working with Fun Kids, the UK's only radio station for children.
Rosie covered a huge amount of ground, distilling a course that often takes a day to deliver, into just a couple of hours, covering communicating with clients, stakeholders and the media as well as handling interviews and presentations.
The workshop is part of the Royal Academy's Ingenious programme that is designed to help engineers:
engage creatively with stakeholders;
share their experience, passion and expertise in innovative ways with a wider audience;
develop their communications skills
and to create debate to raise awareness of the diversity, nature and impact of engineering
Rosie showed us some research on popular concepts of engineering by the public that included comments such as 'people who fix things and wear overalls', 'people who are good at maths and writing algorithms', 'something that boys do rather than girls' and 'not a team career'.
She asked what we would like the public to think is involved in being an engineer and explored how those perceptions could be changed by improving communication skills.
It was a very interactive session and, encouraged by Rosie's infectious energy and great humour, our members soon cast aside any reservations and enthusiastically participated in some very empowering exercises designed to help them with personal storytelling and impromptu speaking.
It is said that public speaking is the number one fear of most people – feared more than death – and this was evident when nearly everyone in the room raised their hand to the question 'Are you scared of speaking in public?' Although it is largely an irrational fear, everyone had a good reason for feeling that way – whether it's fear of being judged, fear of failing or fear of falling flat on your face! In a session called 'Life's a Pitch', Rosie took us through the 4 Ps which are the essential components of successful presenting:
Practice: give yourself time to build your skills, don't expect immediate brilliance, learn from mistakes and feedback
Preparation: Rehearse, mentally prepare yourself and anticipate what can go wrong.
Product: Know your topic, give your audience a reason to care, don't be afraid to admit what you don't know and use personal stories.
Practical: Structure your speech or presentation. Deliver just three key messages. Know your audience, interact with them and encourage participation. Plan ahead for questions and allow time for laughter and response.
There was also a very useful session on how to handle media interviews. We learned about preparing our key messages in advance, knowing the interviewer and your audience and remembering that you are addressing the audience not the interviewer. Advice also included controlling an interview and how to steer away from questions you would prefer not to answer. It was all illustrated with a video on how to get it completely wrong, that made us all cringe.
There was so much to take on board, but the key takeaway was not to think in terms of giving a presentation or addressing an audience. Instead focus on developing a relaxed style, as if you were sharing information with your audience in a conversation.
Here is what some of our members said about the session:
I really enjoyed Rosie's style of presenting and the interactive nature of the session
Rosie has a unique style to giving presentations and her enthusiasm is infectious.
Enjoyed the event and the workshop topic in particular.
So much valuable advice on interviewing and media engagement
Exercises made me feel I can handle speaking with much more confidence in future
Very friendly event, great hospitality and networking
A huge thank you to the WSP for being such generous hosts and to the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious programme.
As part of the Royal Academy's Ingenious Programme, Rosie is offering to give a limited number of free workshops to organisations who would like to assist engineers in improving their communication skills. These workshops usually run for a whole day but can be condensed if required. If you are interested in finding out more about this offer, please contact us at info@womenintransport.com
Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to monthly events. Find out more and join today here.
Follow us @transportwm on Twitter, on Linkedin at Women in Transport and at @transportwmn on Instagram.for events, news and updates.