Communication Skills Program for Engineer Development

The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) announced the first of a portfolio of soft skills courses tailored to the needs of engineers called Effective Presentations and Networking which will take place on July 29 2015 at RINA headquarters in London. 

This one day course introduces engineers from all disciplines to the fundamentals of how to effectively communicate in business with a specific focus on customer and colleague engagement through enhanced presentation and networking skills.
 
The course was developed following a survey of RINA members asking them if such training would be useful to them and their teams and what learning outcomes they would look for.  The course has been shaped by both the survey feedback and the subsequent pilot run at RINA headquarters.
 
Trevor Blakely, Chief Executive of RINA, said,  “Soft skills training, specific to the needs of engineers, is an area which does not receive the attention it deserves and we, at RINA, are seeking to change this with a systematic introduction of a tailored development offering.”
 
The Effective Presentations and Networking course is designed to be relevant to engineers of all levels who want to improve the effect and impact of their business presentations and networking with colleagues and customers. 
 
RINA ran a pilot earlier in the year amongst engineers whose feedback was positive. Loren Roberts, Leading Consultant at BMT Isis Ltd said: “I found the course really useful especially the communication cycle, objective setting and mind mapping.  It made me think of communication and the way we communicate in a completely different way – it’s so much more than just presentations.”
 
Simon Mockler, Senior Consultant at DNV GL, added, “This was an extremely successful and effective pilot course which I would thoroughly recommend.  I intend to introduce a formal feedback mechanism with colleagues so that I can monitor the effectiveness of my communication.  I will also focus more on having effective aims and using the communication cycle in my day to day interactions. ”
 
The course has been developed by Lorraine Emmett & Juliet Love. Lorraine Emmett, Managing Director of Emmett & Smith Ltd is a media & communications professional with 20 years’ experience of working with engineers, interpreting their words, enabling them to manage journalists, observing them at events, translating their presentations into thought leadership and turning their projects into headline news stories.  Juliet Love is a learning & development consultant with more than 20 years of working cross functionally within organisations to improve capability and add value to the organisation through designing and delivering impactful learning interventions.