COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING

COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Debate Mate offers communication training to professionals at all stages of their career. We have worked with apprentices and trainees up to Board level executives and CEOs across legal, finance, media, sport, hospitality and retail sectors. Our training ranges from a half-day ‘Fundamentals‘ workshop in-house at a firm, to a bespoke Executive Coaching series with individuals. We also offer a unique pitching course that goes beyond the traditional focus on narrative-building and storytelling by adding the rigour of evidence-based argumentation and the ability to respond on the spot to challenges.

Outside of the office environment, Debate Mate also runs quarterly communication workshops in partnership with Intelligence Squared for individuals from all backgrounds to attend.

Debate Mate also offers brand engagement and messaging consultancy, and have increasingly been asked to curate firms’ ‘Away Days’ and conferences.

Finally, we are currently designing a robust programme to address the needs of companies, large and small, following the implementation of the Apprenticeship Levy.

Find out what we do below!


Fundamentals of Communication

Debate Mate has worked extensively with firms across all major industry sectors to deliver intensive corporate communication and leadership training for the business world. We use highly trained experts to deliver a dynamic and innovative curriculum, using a hands-on, immersive and PowerPoint-free teaching methodology. Our workshops – most of which are in-house – focus on using communication skills to influence others, increase impact and create and deliver authentic personal and brand messages. But unlike traditional communication training, Debate Mate also focuses on critical and creative thinking, problem-solving and responding to challenge – all unique attributes required for success in competitive debating. In turn, this skill-development improve resilience, empathy, self-efficacy and, most importantly, confidence. Taken together, our workshops build a skill-set and ‘emotional capacity’ in participants that will enable them to perform better in their role, and ultimately, add to the bottom line.


Executive Coaching

Communication never stops. Responding to significant demand from senior executives, Debate Mate has designed an executive coaching package for participants looking for advance their communication skills and hone their personal brand. We understand that communication isn’t simply confined to interviews, meetings, pitches and performance reviews, but is an ever-present feature of professional life. It’s also not just about speaking confidently, but about listening attentively. You need to speak to convince and listen to understand. Using an innovative combination of debating activities and scenario setting, the Debate Mate training provides a comprehensive approach to communication style, messaging and impact. How do you not only ‘read’ your audience but give them what they want? How do you get what you want without asking for it? How do you leave a lasting impression without sledgehammering the person you’re trying to impress? How do you convince your team to want to do what you’ve asked them to do? All of our programmes are bespoke and designed to suit individual needs. We use video-camera and real-time playback as part of the training, giving participants the opportunity to self-identify mistakes and correct them instantly. So, whether you have the meeting of a lifetime coming up, or are looking for promotion, thinking of switching profession or simply want to improve your overall communication, our Executive Coaching package will help up your game.


Pitching

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. But mostly, it’s what you say! Debate Mate has a unique approach to pitching training that integrates the rigorous use of evidence-based argumentation into the more traditional focus on storytelling and narrative building. Debating is the selling of ideas and you constantly have to persuade others to believe your story, even if they wouldn’t naturally. To do this, you need to deploy solid analysis, relevant evidence, logical argumentation and closely match your solution to the problem identified – all wrapped up in an appealing and stylistic delivery. Our pitching training starts with getting the message right, before building a solid case to support it, and ending with finding the best way to present the case – in terms of argumentation, narration and presentation. If you can prove something rather than assert it, and deliver it with poise and conviction, the audience will have a difficult time disagreeing with you and will likely go with your idea.


Apprenticeships

Prior to the implementation of the UK Government’s Apprenticeship Levy, Debate Mate was already working with firms on skilling-up their apprentices and trainees. Building on this experience, we have worked closely with business over the past year to design a robust offering that satisfies a number of recognised industry standards across a range of sectors. Communication is key in any business, especially when you are starting out. Please contact us directly for more information about how we can help design, deliver and moderate part of your firm’s apprenticeship scheme.