MRS Training – live and in-person!
12 January 2022

By Ann Hunt, Business Development Manager, MRS

Hugging family members, brunches in the city and meetings with colleagues in the office are all activities that were ordinary, even mundane, before Covid. For me, life has slowly been getting back to ‘ordinary.’ However, after months of living though the pandemic, every now and then I still add an item to my personal list of ‘things not to take for granted.’ On 10 December 2021, I added attending an in-person training course to that list.

The Presentation Delivery Skills session did feel like a milestone for MRS after nearly two years of delivering all training courses virtually. Online events and training have opened a vast range of opportunities for all our Company Partners. These are far more inclusive for people unable to attend our courses at MRS headquarters in London.

MRS has had great success in delivering training virtually, but in-person sessions offer opportunities that cannot be replicated online. For example, a small group working together to build rapport with the trainer and each other.

Each delegate had the chance to ‘stand and deliver’ a prepared presentation as well as  an additional impromptu presentation to the group. This was as nerve wracking as it sounds but after working from home (admittedly sometimes in pajamas) for months, this session was extremely beneficial for brushing up on my face-to-face skills.

The best and worst part of the course was the video analysis of my presentation. My first instinct when faced with a recording of myself is to quickly hit delete or watch it back through my fingers while covering my face and cringing. However, during this session we reviewed our recorded presentations privately with the support of one-to-one coaching and feedback from the course tutor, Daniel Wain. Danny’s voice helped to drown out my inner monologue and he helpfully pointed out all the things I actually did well, he also provided a list of valuable and tangible tips to improve. This boosted my confidence immensely and it was great to have pointers I can practice in my day-to-day life.

One of our goals in the Company Partner team is to actively engage with all of our clients. We have launched tailored online induction sessions to introduce all the benefits, helping us to ensure that everyone on your team is taking full advantage of what MRS offers. It would be great to practice my new skills on you and your team, so please email me on company.partner@mrs.org.uk to arrange an induction.

Further face-to-face training has been temporarily suspended due to the Omicron variant, but we’re looking forward to welcoming more delegates through the MRS doors as soon as it’s safe to do so. In the meantime, check out the full 2022 MRS training programme here.

Daniel Wain will be speaking on the first day of Impact 2022. FInd out more here.