PR professionals of all levels gathered at the Speed Communications offices on the evening of 29th June for the PRCA Summer event, entitled Breaking down the Barriers.
The purpose of the event was to explore all the different ways in which we can break down barriers of business, communication and politics, to engage with stakeholders as human beings.
Headlining the event was award winning journalist, presenter and PRCA trainer Jayne Constantinis, whose 45-minute presentation and spokesperson workshop went down a storm. Included within the session was a workshop on body language and training on how to frame your subject matter so that it becomes about the content of what you’re saying, not about the speaker. Discussion following the workshop led to lively discussion.
Kate O’Sullivan MPRCA, Associate Director, ADPR, said: “I thought the talk was really interesting and something I’m going to take away is to try and be a lot more conscious of my body language when I’m speaking.”
Julia Gibbs MPRCA, PR freelancer, said: “The one thing that stood out for me… is that powerful people speak slowly."
After a half hour refreshment and networking break, a series of ‘snapshot’ talks covered Jimmy Hay, ‘Breaking down the barriers with film,’ Penny Hay, ‘Breaking down the barriers with creativity’, and Katrina Krishnan Doyle, ‘Breaking down the Barriers of Entrepreneurship and Politics’.
Kerry Pick MPRCA, Senior Account Director, Speed Communications, said: “I really enjoyed the talks. If anything I would have liked to hear more on each. The video talk was really useful and I particularly liked the talk on presenting/being engaging."