Professional Training Workshops
Consilience offers a wide range of training workshops for research and other communications professionals. These are not focused on technical methodological or statistical skills, but rather on developing the critical mental abilities required to become a more valuable member of the marketing team.
Typical topics include finding and using insights; writing more compelling reports; delivering more compelling presentations using story-telling techniques; and how to write an RFP or a proposal.
These workshops are generally offered to individual companies, both research suppliers and clients, to enhance the skills of their research staff. They can also be customized to non-research professionals, such as marketing or public relations staff, to assist in their understanding of the research process and how to gain the most "bang for their buck."
In addition, workshops are periodically offered in a central location for at a discounted rate for any interested parties.
Descriptions of a number of workshops follow. If any of these topics are of interest to you, or if you have additional training needs, please let us know. Some testemonials from past workshop participants can be found on the Know Us Better tab.
Interactive Workshops On Becoming More Insightful:
Finding and Applying Insights For Research and Other Business Professionals
Researchers and other types of business professionals are expected to produce "insights," but the contemporary business culture is anything but conducive to this process. To be truly "insightful" requires a mental attitude that needs time to think, dive deeply into data or other content, compare new to old information, and try to explain discrepancies. It means continuously asking yourself questions, seeking explanations as well considering implications.
This workshop is designed to foster the intellectual attitudes and skills essential to become more insightful. Participants are initially asked to step outside their current business roles to appreciate the fundamental processes that drive insightfulness in all situations, which require the application of rigorous logic and creative leaps of intuition. They then concentrate on applying these approaches to specific marketing and other types of business challenges, and finally will work on an individual project to extract greater meaning from material they bring in to for this purpose. The workshop is highly interactive, with constructive criticism provided by both the leader and other participants.
Interactive Workshops on Creating More Compelling Presentations
Using Storytelling Techniques for Research and Other Business Professionals
Many research and other types of business presentations fail to engage the audience because they follow a rigid, linear format, provide too many numbers and too few insights, and are delivered in a serious, neutral tone. Without engagement, the findings are soon forgotten and their impact on decision-making severely curtailed.
Impact can be significantly enhanced by adapting techniques from story-telling and other arts, including film, literature, and music. These provide models of structure and specific tools designed to capture and hold your audience's attention from beginning to end.
This workshop explores many ways of building more compelling presentations, from identifying the key messages to be imparted, the best means of organizing the findings, and creative methods to communicate information. The workshop is highly interactive, and participants are expected to bring in their own materials to be shaped into an engaging presentation.