• Do you communicate as effectively as you would like?
• Do your interpersonal skills help motivate and drive your team?
• Could your written reports have more impact?
• Could you create greater rapport with management?
• Could your efficiency be enhanced?

Attending these two highly practical 2-day seminars will provide the opportunity to improve your interpersonal communication and presentational skills in order to make a substantial difference to the way you interact with colleagues and senior management

Energised by the need to provide broader assurance and to respond to new Corporate Governance requirements, many Internal Audit, Compliance, Health and Safety and Risk Management functions find they need to perform a much more comprehensive spectrum of audits than ever before – whilst still providing comfort and reassurance that the basics are being managed well.

Practitioners have now to expand their role as facilitators and advisors at the same time demonstrating that they are adding measurable added value. The addition of internal consultancy into the Internal Audit role has introduced an entirely different dimension to this profession.

These responsibilities and challenges require a new set of skills, competencies and abilities. Strong communication and presentation skills are essential in this highly challenging environment, whether this is facilitating control self- assessment workshops or negotiating with management or communicating your ideas in the form of reports. 

These two seminars, 6 months apart feature a series of case studies and practical exercises covering verbal, listening, written and other communication skills. Using video and peer review, you will have the opportunity to learn from fellow professionals as well as benefiting from the wide experience of your seminar leader Phil Griffiths.

Phil is a renowned expert in the assurance field, having worked with hundreds of such functions across the world. He will ensure that you take back practical and proven techniques to help you increase your personal impact and career prospects 

Who Should Attend?

Internal Audit Management, Risk managers, Health and Safety Executives, Compliance Officers, Insurance managers and management responsible for establishing or controlling these functions

The programme

These 2 comprehensive hands-on 2-day programmes have been designed specifically to use new techniques and tools, all of which are designed to enhance impact and reputation. What is more you will be able to implement them immediately after the course.

Course 1 Outline

Day 1  The Art Of Effective Communication

The need for effective communication

Exercise 1 ‘The Bamboo Cane’ - a thought provoking ‘ice breaker 

• Assurance providers primary roles, objectives and challenges
• What are the keys to success?
• Expressing yourself effectively
• Do you have clients, auditees or customers?
• The need to have a customer relationship
• Creating rapport with your customers – tips and techniques
• The 4 management styles – Activists, Reflectors, Theorists and Pragmatists - and the implications for assurance professionals
• Personal drivers and success

Exercise 2 – management styles - working in small groups delegates are asked to determine and compare individual management styles and personal drivers

• Language and impact
• Simple and Complex language
• Use of English – keep it simple
• The use of ‘powerwords’ in your communications
• How to get on the same wavelength as your customer
• Phone conversations – how to make the right impression
• The use of humour
• Business Communication techniques
• Facilitation – the key skills

Exercise 3 – Getting your message over – dealing with colleagues

• What management expects 
• Active listening
• Meetings and how to manage them – the 5 P’s
• Body language and how to interpret it
• How to tell if you are not getting the true picture
• The secret of effective presentations

Exercise 4 – making a short presentation (with video)

Automating the Assurance process

• Planning tools available
• Computer assisted audit techniques
• Covering the whole population of data rather than a sample
• Benfords Law and its importance
• Options available

Demonstration of ACL – the market leading audit software solution 

Day 2  Communication with your customers 

The Skills required

• Results of recent surveys
• Outlining the broader range of skills needed 
• How to carry out a skills inventory
• Facilitation skills – tips and techniques 
• How to recruit personnel with the skills you need
• Achieving a blend of experience, competencies and innovation

Exercise 5 The skills inventory

Corporate Governance and the Assurance Role 

• The Corporate Governance challenges
• The tensions created for management
• The opportunities for Assurance professionals
• The converging role of the assurance providers
• How to coordinate activities across assurance providers
• Audit Committee relationships
• Relationships with external bodies
  
• A copy of Phil’s acclaimed report ‘ Coordinating Assurance’ will be provided to all delegates 

Exercise 6 – meeting with an Executive – role play

Preparing for an assignment

• Preparing for an assignment
• Objectives and risk
• Areas to cover
• Getting management input

Exercise 7 Pre-meeting with management – role play

Completing an assignment

• Explaining the approach to staff of the function being audited
• Treating your customers with respect
• Building a picture of the system and processes
• Deciding who to interview
• Interviews

Exercise 8 Assurance interview – role play

• Testing – how to determine how much is necessary
• Walk through tests
• Fieldwork Techniques (compliance, transactional, analytical review, sampling etc)
• How to decide the depth of testing required
• Working papers
• The clearance meeting

Exercise 9 – the clearance meeting – role play

Copyright Business Risk Management Ltd 2004 

Course 2 Outline (6 months later) 

Day 1  Communicating together and with Senior Management

• Communicating as part of a team - the do’s and don’ts
• 4 Practical and fun exercises with analysis and feedback – series of linked tasks requiring clear communication and understanding
• 5 minute presentations on the experience after each exercise (video and feedback)

Exercise 15 Moonshot
Exercise 16 The Final Straw
Exercise 17 Building Rapport
Exercise 18 The Puzzle

• The skills inventory – issues to concentrate on 

All the following skills will be incorporated today:

• Diplomacy
• Open -mindedness 
• Communication Skills – written, verbal, auditory, facilitation and presentation
• Persuasiveness
• Negotiation ability
• Self motivation and self confidence
• Decision making ability
• Flexibility and ability to co-operate
• Time management
• Flexibility and ability to co-operate
• Time management
• Judgement
• Analytical skills
• Self control 
• Practicality
• Results orientation 

Interviewing skills

• What to look for in an investigative interview
• How to spot when someone is lying 

Exercise 19 A highly practical role play where delegates can experience an interview with someone suspected of malpractice 

Day 2  Presentation skills

Preparing a Presentation

Exercise 20 – Delegates prepare and deliver a 2 minute presentation on a subject of their choosing

• Discussion of presentations and impact
• Determining the audience and preparing an appropriate approach
• The need for impact
• Deciding the form of presentation
• Use of visual aids
• How many notes should you use
• Use of humour – is this a good idea?
• Education or decision seeking – the different techniques 

Delivering a presentation

• How to combat nerves
• Keeping in control
• How to deal with questions
• Keeping the flow
• The need not to over prepare
• Use of simple language
• How to keep the audience’s interest
• Use of props
• Anticipating the questions
• Considering what the audience will expect
• Assessing the results 
• Getting feedback

Senior management presentations 

Exercise 21 - Delegates work in pairs and prepare a 5 minute presentation on a current business issue then present while being video-taped

• Evaluation and feedback from the group
• Learning points discussed
• Development of personal action plans
• Course Summary

Copyright Business Risk Management Ltd 2004