Effective Communication and Presentation Skills for Engineers

In-company

Overview

This interactive course provides communication and presentation skills training tailored for the engineering workplace. It reviews the fundamental principles behind effective face-to-face, and written communication, helping you to get the best out of emails, meetings and discussions, written documents and presentations.

Technical competence is at the core of your success in engineering, but equally important is your ability to communicate those technical concepts to others. The Engineering Council recognises this by including effective communication and presentation skills as core competency standards in its  UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC), the document that lays out what is expected of chartered engineers.

This course is structured into five sessions. The first four sessions establish the foundations of effective communication, effective face-to-face interactions, technical writing and effective presentations. The fifth session is a one-to-one coaching meeting for each delegate with the trainer to discuss application of the course concepts.

The course is delivered by Dr Jamie Cleaver, a Chartered Engineer whose unique background allows him to relate this training specifically to the process industries. The course delivery involves a series of short sessions of input followed by activities to help develop skills and understanding.

Learning outcomes

The course will help you to:

• understand the benefits of effective communication
• appreciate the importance of empathy and self-empathy
• listen effectively
• understand the impact of body language in communication
• apply the Shannon and Weaver model to identify potential reasons for communication failure
• understand the importance of different social styles when interacting directly with others
• craft assertive statements and be aware of when to do so
• give constructive feedback
• appreciate how to run effective meetings and deal with conflicts
• understand how to plan a written document or a presentation
• demonstrate good writing style for technical documents
• apply the steps for document review
• develop your on-line communication skills through practice and feedback

Who will benefit

• Engineers of all levels who want to improve their communication and presentation skills

Course outline

Session 1: Fundamentals of communication

• The importance of communication
• Empathy, listening and body language
• Modelling communication

Session 2: Face-to-face communication

• Different communication styles
• Assertiveness
• Effective meetings
• Effective feedback
• Dealing with conflict

Session 3: Effective technical writing

• Writing quality and efficiency
• Planning your writing
• Writing with impact
• Reviewing documents

Session 4: Effective presentations

• Delegate presentations and feedback​

Post-course one-to-one coaching

• Following the modules, each delegate will have a one-to-one meeting with the trainer to discuss their writing and presentation skills, and to review their action plan for the ongoing development of their communication skills.

Previous delegates said

"The course doesn't just cover A–Z steps on how to improve but also lets us deal with the 'why we struggle to improve' and how to overcome that."
Johnson Matthey

"It encouraged me that I realised it's not a natural process that we can automatically communicate effectively."
Johnson Matthey

"The course equipped me with many tools to tackle difficult situations." 
Murco Petroleum.

"The course improved my self-confidence in presenting." 
BIS Industrial Services.

Trainer

Jamie Cleaver, PhD, CEng, FIChemE, Consultant

Jamie's background as a lecturer and his extensive experience of chemical engineering employers and the workplace give him a unique perspective as a trainer and facilitator of soft skills for chemical engineers.

In-company delivery

This course is available for in-company delivery, either on-site or online. Content can be tailored to your specific requirements. Request a quotation. 

Contact us

+44 (0)1788 534496 / courses@icheme.org