Welcome

Hi. I'm Michael Westland-Rose and I run a training consultancy called Presentation Partners which specialises in presentation skills, public speaking, media interviews and all types of communication & interpersonal skills training.

The blogs I will submit will provide news effecting various industries and advice regarding how businesses can meet the various challenges they might face in the future.

I hope you will find my submissions informative and useful

All the best, Michael Westland-Rose

New UK Government Policies Effecting Health Care & Pharmaceuticals

During 2010 the UK government will be introducing policies that clamp down on ‘gaining advantage’ (in other words - bribes!) of public officials - individuals within the UK or foreign governments).

This will mean that a company, and individuals within that company, could find themselves in court if it is deemed they have used infuencing tactics that create bias political decisions in their favour.

Companies will need to show that they have policies in place that prevent bribary, or influence that could be deemed as bribes. It is a little unclear what type of infuencing tactics would fall foul of this law, but clearly the giving of free products, goods or services, presents, holidays etc…. are likely to be considered a breaking of the law. The consequences of any company falling foul of this are numerous. CEO’s, M.D.’s and all other individuals responsible could find themselves facing fines or prison sentences.

The challenge is for all businesses, but perhaps particularly health care & pharmaaceutical companies (who could easily and unwittingly fall foul of this new law) to communicate the complexities of the law throughout their business. This is likely to involve managers of all levels needing to brief and present the laws and pitfalls to all key members of staff.

Some of my training assignments include supply of presentation skills and team briefing training programmes to various health care & pharmaceutical companies including Warner Lambert, Elly Lilly, Lonza and Glaxo SmithKline, so I can help companies face this challenge by training key staff to enable the effective presentation of such topics.

UK Government Policies Effecting Building & Construction

During 2010 the UK government will introduce new policies that will create much greater public involvement in the approval of building and construction projects. In theory, if just one member of the public objects to a local building project, this could hold up the entire process.

Building and construction companies will need to focus much more attention to public consultation and influencing, either ‘on the doorstep’ or within public meetings. The challenge the industry faces is to train and equip key their staff to be able to present plans to the public in a positive and influential manner.

Some of my own training assignments have been to supply presentation skills, public speaking & media interviews training programmes to various building & construction companies including Sulzer UK Building Services, Axima and Tailor Wimpey, so my company can help with this challenge by training key staff to help make effective influential public presentations, to communicate effectively with the public, and to handle media interest.