Workshop Magic!

"This Changed My Life" workshops were so well received that there are calls to hold similar events across the North East.

The day started with Georgette Ratcliffe of Carousel Theatre taking participants through techniques to make public speaking easier. Using acting techniques, participants said it was quite unlike any "presentation skills" training they had previously experienced. A trained actress and dramatist, Georgette taught delegates how to annotate speeches, ways to read them out loud and the use of rhythm to assist successful delivery. This was not a presentation about presentations - participants were actively learning to put words and movement together - and at one point there was a group "singing" lesson - putting sounds and rhythm together to increase confidence in delivering your words in public.

Liz Finch of 4-word gave a workshop introducing how NLP can be used to increase rapport in coaching and other relationships. Using a VAK (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic) test, participants explored their own sensory thinking and were given an insight into eye movement that matches sensory behaviour. By matching our language to the sensory preference of our clients we can help make that connection that makes working together more productive.

Anne Pink of New Horizons Coaching and Consultancy gave a lively talk on marketing. Giving some of her top tips, she talked about the importance of understanding what you want to achieve from your business and then creating a marketing strategy to show how you get there. With so many people entering the coaching world, Anne said that we each need to identify what it is we have to offer - what makes us unique!

After lunch, Linda Lowery of the Venus Sequence took participants through this very intreging way of defining personality. Within the Venus Sequence there are six personality types - although we each have a little of every one of these types, we have a dominant type as well as a trigger that we use when interacting in different situations. Linda said that by understanding the different patterns, we begin to be able to become more accepting of how and why we behave the way we do. She also suggested that an awareness of these patterns helps us to recognise the impact they have on our daily lives.

The day concluded with an insight into Mindfulness Mediation with Gary Heads of True Potential. Participants were introduced to a walking mediation. In this, it is necessary to concentrate on the mechanisms of how if feels to walk - something that you normally do automatically. Gary said that for most people it would be the first time that they had considered what their legs were doing since they first learned to walk as infants. Participants were then asked to look at a raisin as if they had never seen it before - what it looked like, felt like, sounded like (yes - it does make a sound) and what it felt like to eat it very slowly.

The day finished with a sitting mediation with Gary.

Through out the day delegates got the chance to meet other coaches and people involved in the personal development field - and many left with new contacts and ideas for the future. Also during the day people shared with each other things that have had an impact on their personal and professional lives in a session called "This changed my life." This included books and training courses that had an impact as well as personal experiences of feelings of belonging and the desire to do something that changes the life chances of children in the Third World.

Pauline Fraser of PRF Solutions thanked all the workshop leaders who had given their time to present these brilliant workshops. Without intending to do so, a theme had run through the day. The theme that stood out was that all of the workshops gave us different techniques and insights into how we can respond to the world and people around us, rather than react to them. Think about it - it is such an important way to make interaction with each other more meaningful and tolerant on so many levels.
Plans are already underway to organise another day of workshops later in the year. The next event is likely to take place in the south of the region. Personnel and training officers in public services are encouraged to join with coaches, trainers and consultants from the private sector to discover new and sustainable methods of personal and professional development.