News & Blogs

Take your time when speaking and thinking. Listen to what our tutor Abi says about keeping a steady pace when under pressure.

This Summer we trialed a new series of evening courses a Foundation Suite designed to teach the basics in presentation skills. Members of the RADA in Business team, Charlie and Emma reflect on the experience of designing and attending the courses respectively.

From a Tutor

Launching a new open course usually involves about a year of discussions, briefings, trials and revisions before we feel comfortable putting it in front of the public. We then usually allow two years before we expect the course to sell itself and become fully embedded in our open course curriculum. Not so the Foundation Suite.

Earlier this year we decided we needed an additional course which offered people the flexibility of training in the evening. This led us towards offering some fundamentals of business communication that no one ever teaches you. Thus the Foundation Suite was born: four courses covering essential physical and vocal technique, how to make a good first impression and networking skills. Fundamental skills we all know we need but rarely put the time into acquiring.

RADA In Business held its quarterly Taster Session on Wednesday 10 June, here at our RADA studios. The session invites people unfamiliar with our approach to learning to come and experience it in an informal and relaxed manner, under the guidance of one of our highly experienced RADA tutors.

Lasting 90 minutes, and followed by an informal networking session over wine and nibbles, 18 senior HR and Learning and Development professionals from multiple industries including media agencies, law firms, management consultancies, and engineering companies, experienced how to project themselves with more gravitas and polish, by optimising their body, breath and voice.

We were delighted that RADA in Business Tutor Sheelagh McNamara was invited to speak at TEDx Whitehall Women in May 2015. Over 200 women heard her talk, 'Heard' Mentality, and you can watch it here now.

Sheelagh McNamara, a voice, speech & presentation skills expert, who has worked with everyone from Oscar nominees to politicians to lawyers, is a RADA in Business tutor – taking the dramatic training skills to the business world. She is the course leader on our Executive Presence for Women course.

This month some of the RADA in Business team, along with RADA staff were treated to a workshop in puppetry – led by the remarkable Finn Caldwell, whose credits include War Horse and recently the unique children’s show Elephantom – in which the central character is a mystical floating elephant spirit. Whilst we weren’t afforded the luxuries of such sophisticated ‘ripstop’ materials and elaborately molded heads, we proved that all you need is a roll of brown paper, masking tape and flexible knees to instantly create a believable puppet.

You can catch us at the CIPD Learning & Development Show at Olympia in London on Wednesday 30 April & Thursday 01 May 2014.

The Learning & Development Show is one of the leading showcases of workplace learning and development. If you are planning to attend come along and see us on stand 440.