On December 9th (Belfast) and 10th (Dublin) I spoke at the Christmas Event of the Institute of Internal Auditors (Irish District Society). It was an exciting and challenging experience, since I’ve never done anything quite like it before. But the feedback from both events was excellent, with participants sending me emails of appreciation and request for more information.
Like the title of this blog, the presentation was called Star Wars Goes to Work. My subtitle sheds a bit more light on the content: How to Use Jedi Mind-Tricks in Your Job to Get Your Way, Become Indispensable, and Stay Sane. In it I offered tasters on topic like assertiveness and empathy at work (“how to get your way”), creativity and concentration (“how to become indispensable”), and emotional self-care and control (“how to stay sane”).
Here’s how the talks were described in the promotional material.
The presenter, Dr Allen Baird, a well-known communications guru, runs Sensei Learning and Performance, a Training, Coaching and Consulting company based in Belfast. He also delivers the short course Feel the Force: How to Train in the Jedi Way, at Queen’s University in Belfast, which aims to teach the real-life psychological techniques behind Jedi mind tricks. Dr. Baird’s presentation will cover empathy and non-verbal communication, influencing and persuasion skills, and aims to deliver a serious message behind a fun image.
And here’s what they said about me.
Allen Baird PhD is a partner of Sensei Learning and Performance, a Belfast based training and coaching consultancy. Allen specializes the design and delivery of management training and personal development workshops. He also consults on Emotional Intelligence, as well as issues related to business ethics issues and gender awareness. Allen is a qualified tutor at the Queen’s University Belfast, an award-winning public speaker, and a business advisor for Young Enterprise. He enjoys writing business blogs and making learning fun.
I thanked them for this flattering – if slightly unbelievable – introduction… I would like to thank those who organized these events, as well as the audiences, for their invitation, welcome and enthusiastic attention. An auditor is literally one who listens, a hearer. What better sort of audience could any speaker ask for?
Filed under: assertiveness, body language, emotional intelligence, news and events | Tagged: anger, assertiveness, body language, emotional intelligence, empathy, Flow, influence, Institute of Internal Auditors, jedi, jedi mind tricks, star wars, Star Wars Goes To Work, stress
