14th Feb 2018 10:00am-4:00pm 

Date and Time: Wednesday 14^th February, 10am – 4pm

Venue: 11 Bedford Square, London

 

Academic conferences can challenge even the most experienced academic, but if you are inexperienced, shy, or not a native speaker of English, conferences can be exhausting, intimidating and frustrating. This practical workshop helps you to understand some of the essential skills involved in developing professional relationships and gives you the opportunity to practise the techniques in a supportive environment.

 

The session starts by confronting the stereotype of the 'good networker' and debunking some of the myths: the most popular colleagues are not usually the ruthless self-promoters, but are the people who are good listeners, generous, curious and interested in others. These same qualities help us make better connections at a conference. The aims of the session are twofold:  firstly, to change people’s mind-set about networking and make them more aware of their personal judgements of ‘appropriate behaviour’ and secondly, to offer down-to-earth, practical tips on how to start - and continue - productive professional conversations.

 

Workshop Leader: Anne Wilson

Anne Wilson combines journalism, fiction and screen media writing for business with teaching and facilitating in academia. She has a PhD in Social Psychology from the LSE and, for three years, was the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brunel University, supporting undergraduate, postgraduate and staff academic writing. As an RLF Consultant Fellow, Anne designs and facilitates workshops for PhD students on different aspects of professional communication. Her workshops are participative, engaging, creative and they focus on 'learning by doing'.