Posts from the ‘Skills’ Category

Feb 18

BLOG – ‘Cutting through the fog: Crafting and presenting a clear magnetic story’ – Dr Ghina Halabi

Everybody has a story to tell. What is your personal story? How can you use it in your work and everyday life to get your message across? These are the questions we discussed during a thought provoking evening with Dr Ghina Halabi, astrophysicist, gender advocate and storyteller.

The power of stories is demonstrated by the 1001 tales that Scheherazade tells the Sultan, ending each session with a cliff hanger in order to be spared another day. Fascinated by Scheherazade’s stories the Sultan eventually gives up his plan to behead her. Inspired by this Middle Eastern tale Ghina founded the social enterprise “Scheherazade Speaks Science” , a platform to make science accessible and promote female scientist.

On Tuesday (12 February 2019), Ghina introduced the essential ingredients that capture the attention of an audience and make sure they will remember you and whatever it is you have to say. In a lively discussion we explored the phenomenon of “storyphobia” in science, which on one hand relies on cold hard facts and on the other hand needs to appeal to the deeper needs of society in order to obtain its support. Revealing the ups and downs that inevitably mark the path to any project worth noting makes it so much more interesting to listen and renders the narrator more human and relatable. Ghina stressed that, like any other skill, storytelling needs to be exercised. Several brave attendees shared anecdotes of events that contributed to shaping the person they are today. Nurturing this skill can be helpful during presentations, outreach work and even job interviews. For the latter a compelling example of a challenging situation well mastered can be invaluable. The team at Scheherazade Speaks Science gives regular workshops including narration, body language and dealing with stage fright.

So, what is your story?

We would like to thank Ghina for sharing her evening and inspiring us all for our own stories.

Oct 26

Get noticed with your CV – Claire Button

Date: 20 November 2018
Location: Lucy Cavendish College

In the second of our 4-part career series, Claire Button, founder of Fusion Biomed, will be showing us how to create a compelling CV to market our skills for the next career step. Whether you are looking for an academic position or industry position, returning from a career break or looking to be promoted, this workshop is for you.

Bring along your CV. Everyone is welcome!

Book now!

Workshops	Members	Non-Members
One workshop: Get noticed with your CV	£12	£18
Two workshops	£20	£30
Three workshops	£30	£45

Workshops

Members

Non-Members

One workshop: Get noticed with your CV

£12

£18

Two workshops

£20

£30

Three workshops

£30

£45

The WiSE-UP series is open to all! STEMM and non-STEMM, Women and Men are welcome. The workshops will all take place at Lucy Cavendish College.

Book three or more workshops to be in with a chance to win an autographed copy of Radio Four Jenni Murray’s “A history of the World in 21 Women”, in collaboration with One World Publications.

Oct 2

Driving your career forward with Naily Makangu

What’s your strategy for securing your dream job? Are you job-ready? How will you engage key skills that no employer will be able to turn down?

The first step of this 4-step process is deciding what do you want do you want to do and how to do it. In fact, how to “Drive your career forward”

And that’s exactly what Naily Makangu is going to teach you in the first workshop of the WiSE-UP series 2018-2019.

Naily Makangu (2017 JCI UK “Most Outstanding Leader” winner) will open the series on driving your career forward, pinpoint your motivation and set your career goals.

The WiSE-UP series will bring a bold freshness to map your journey, unlocking the four steps for career success. It will prepare you to cross each milestone, moving closer and into the job you want. Then create that first initial impact in the job, making you unforgettable for all the right reasons!

The WiSE-UP series is open to all! STEMM and non-STEMM, Women and Men are welcome. The workshops will all take place at Lucy Cavendish College.

If you are not a member, take advantage and book the series, which will include free annual membership. As well as the chance to win an autographed copy of Radio Four Jenni Murray’s “A history of the World in 21 Women”, in collaboration with One World Publications.

Book now!

Workshops	Members	Non-Members
One workshop: Get noticed with your CV	£12	£18
Two workshops	£20	£30
Three workshops	£30	£45

Workshops

Members

Non-Members

One workshop: Get noticed with your CV

£12

£18

Two workshops

£20

£30

Three workshops

£30

£45

Sep 4

WiSE-UP Series. Booking now open

The booking for the WiSE-UP series 2018-2019 is now open. You can book for any of the talks independently or take advantage of the reduced price when you book for two, three, or four. In fact, if you are not a member and decided to book for all the workshops you will include a free […]

Mar 13

Natacha Wilson and how to run successful projects

by Aldara B. Dios

At the International Women’s Day, we were fortunate enough to have Natacha Wilson as the host of the workshop “10 tips on how to run successful projects”.

We started the evening sharing our story with a friendly face: What do you do? and What kind of project have you managed? The list was broad and diverse, which included annual reports, file Athena Swan applications, clinical trials, family holidays and house expansions.

And before starting with her tips, Natacha asked us again, what makes a project successful for us? That was a pivotal question as we needed to know what to achieve before starting. Some of the answers were recurring, but some of them not. The meaning of success it was found, is different in each case and depends on the environment of the project.

Once success was defined, we explored how we would do we achieve:

Gain consensus on the goals. One way is setting SMART goals, that is, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Realistic and Time-based. On every project, if you know your specific and measurable goals it is easier to know when it’s a success.
Build and BE the best team you can. Although nowadays the lens is a lot on processes and performance, without the right people the project doesn’t happen. It was related to “No one person can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra”.
Design, update and share a project plan. Many project managers make the mistake of not sharing the project plan with the team. Again, the team is essential!
Determine what you need in advance. Plan, schedule, and Identify the tasks, sequence them, estimate time and budget, add key milestones and with that create a draft schedule.
Be realistic with your schedule. People don’t work 24/7. Be MOSCOW to prioritise. Define the Must do and Should do goals and prioritise those from the Could do and Would do. On most of the projects the Must do and Should do are the least interesting but, should be prioritised and the team should understand this.
People matter. Take care of your team and understand it. Not only do you need the people with the right skills, you also need people who work well together and have the experience needed.
Teammates should know the needs of the others and yours. For that, you have to communicate with them.

Create and innovate. Solve the problems trying new ways to do things.
Praise and empower your team. And remember that if you have to criticize someone it has to be balanced, objective, observed, specific and timed. And never focus on the person but on the problem.
Have fun!

To end the evening Natacha asked us to reflect on and explore at least three of the questions we talked about during the workshop.