skill-based trainings
As a trainer, I look back at my experience as a participant in workshops and try to prioritize on how to best use the limited time designed for training to share the most knowledge. My approach is to use skill-based training occasions to set up the first stones of knowledge in the participants. I believe in sharing knowledge that comes from my practical experience and those of the organisations I have worked on. In group discussions, I prioritize sharing best practices as participants of my training often come from different backgrounds and organisations. I emphasize on navigating a topic using storytelling techniques and engaging participants using examples and experiences from the field. I also provide a list of optional readings for participants at the end of each training for them to follow up on their skill learning journey beyond the learning session.
In this course, I revise the concept of populism and the techniques of political parties such as the 5 Star Movement in Italy and FIDESZ in Hungary. Understanding their techniques, we debate which elements of their communication strategy are unethical and what is the role of feelings in political communication campaigns. Upon discussion, we look at some examples of political communication campaigns where personal connection and positive feelings are used to engage with voters and supporters.
Ethical Political Communication - Was it populism or manipulation?
Too often, political campaign workshops are focused on teaching participants the different stages of a campaign. Campaigns require teams to fundraise, craft a central message, create an engagement strategy, organize teams and master communication channels. My approach is to reflect on how the individual improves personally through the campaign. Leaders often overlook campaigns as a need to get re-elected only. Campaigns are an amazing platform to build character and also to reflect on how the public office has changed an individual. In this 3 hour workshop, I revise all stages of the campaign and use some personal examples of young politicians and how they have improved in their leadership styles thanks to campaigning. Participants have the opportunity to later share their experiences during campaign times and speak in a safe space on their leadership journey.
the Leadership Journey of Campaigning
This 2.5-hour workshop is designed to gather participants from an organisation or similar organisations, to reflect on how their structure is enabling the mission and vision of their political movements. The workshop opens on a discussion to map the mission and values of the organisation. Participants then have the opportunity to create three infographics to show:
1) The hierarchy of their organisation and functions of each unit within.
2) The process their organisation has to take decisions on how to communicate with the public.
3) The process of discussion when a problem occurs in the organisation.
After this exercise, we open a discussion on each of the topics studying alternatives of hierarchy, decision making, and conflict resolution using examples of European political organisations.
Civic and Political organisational design
During this workshop, we focus on discussing what keeps volunteers engaged in a cause. We study different social and political movements and try to identify where volunteers and supporters have found the motivation to join and when they have decided to throw in their towel. Upon discussion, we gather the participants’ experiences with volunteers. This workshop provides a set of best practices among political parties in Europe on how to provide a constant motivation scheme for volunteers. The workshop also seeks to provide answers on how to create a reward system for volunteers and how to use gamification when the volunteer community appreciates competition.
Schemes of rewards for civic and political organisations - Motivation beyond compensation
I am open to creating courses upon agreement on topics of:
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Volunteer engagement,
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Talent development programmes,
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Partnership building,
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Political communication strategies for campaigning,
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Social media management for the public good.
For specially-tailored training sessions, I need a minimum of two weeks to understand the background of the participants and prepare material for them to meet their expectations.