The power of speech

Whatever one may think of USA President Barak Obama’s policies and performance few doubt his ability to deliver a stirring speech. In fact many would argue that his oratorical skills were an obvious driving force in his rise to power. Of course it would not be the fist time that the ability to orate has helped achieve such high station.

Leadership is much more than a good speech but a good speech certainly helps underpin leadership.

A few months ago a crazy white guy walked into a black church in South Carolina and killed nine people including the pastor. This against a background of racial tension at its highest in the USA for decades.

President Obama chose not only to attend the funeral of Reverend Climenta Pickney but also to deliver the eulogy. Obviously it presented an opportunity to try to heal but, rather more delicately, it also offered a chance to shine a light on the unfinished work of USA race relations.

It’s 37 minutes long, so most won’t get to the end. However, for students of oratory, it is well worth it. The pacing the structure, the emotion, the pathos the empathy, it’s all there. It’s not cynical to call it text-book oratory. It is obviously heartfelt. Such oratory has the power to move, emotionally, just like other art forms.

People look to their leaders to express what they are feeling, to inspire and to reassure. That is just as true in business as in politics or religion. Yet in the digitally interconnected world we increasingly lament the lack personal connection that an engaging and arousing speech can deliver.

Few, thankfully very few, circumstances will require the oratory skills of Churchill, Roosevelt or Obama but the ability to deliver a good speech can help drive business objectives or calm a situation in manner that even the most artfully constructed communiqué cannot. For any leader it is a skill worth developing.

That skill can be trained and can be supported by seasoned speech-writers. ICG has decades of experience in presentation training and speech writing for CEOs, senior managers and public figures. We can help develop and support the ability to use the spoken word as a powerful business tool.

Pioneering Education Services Company To Boost Queensland Vet Sector

Queensland is lagging behind the rest of Australia in vocational education and training (VET). Despite a population boom, in the past decade there has been zero growth in VET student numbers to 2012[1], with enrolments falling by a further 12 per cent in 2013[2].

Global Learning Support (GLS), is exhibiting at the ACPET[3] Forum in Brisbane today (29 April) to demonstrate to private vocational education and training providers its unique suite of tools that dramatically improve student completion rates.

GLS co-founder, Jarrod Nation, said the Australian economy is evolving rapidly and without skilling, up-skilling, or cross skilling Australians nationwide there will be chronic skills shortages that will halt productivity growth and lead to declines in Australian living standards.

“GLS is all about the student. Not only do we conduct due-diligence to ensure that students are suited to courses and ready for their rigours, we also provide them with coaching and mentoring services across the journey of their education,” Mr Nation said.

“Queensland lags behind the national VET participation rate in Australia with only 9.7 per cent studying compared with 12 per cent nationally[4]. Therefore it’s even more important that those Queenslanders who are making the effort to improve their skill set are given the support that they need to complete their endeavours.”

GLS is principally targeted at those studying online where the symptoms of disengagement are much harder to identify than in the classroom. Through the delivery of education, years of R&D, and a genuine commitment to student outcomes, the founders of GLS developed the tools to recognise students at risk of non-completion and implement interventions that mitigate this risk.

The ACPET State Forum has the theme: “Quality Governance – Quality Education – Quality Membership” and is being held at the Stamford Plaza, Corner Edward and Margaret Streets, Brisbane, Wednesday 29 April, 8:30AM to 5:30PM.

 

For media enquiries and interviews please contact:

RMKA: (03) 9036 6390 / Angus Nicholls 0407 495 644 / Maria Vampatella 0421 112 216 

             

 

About Global Learning Support (GLS) www.globallearningsupport.com

GLS is a leading education services provider. The company partners with education providers and uses its proprietary student support, engagement, and management tools to increase course completion rates.

Currently supporting in excess of 25,000 students, GLS tools have seen online course retention rates as high as 98%.

One of the keys to the success of GLS is maintaining the human touch even while students are completing their courses online.

Key stats:

  • Across Australia 1 in 8 people (12 per cent) were studying VET courses in 2013 compared with only 1 in 10 (9.7 per cent) in Queensland.
  • Queensland spends much less on education than the national average and the gap is widening.
  • Queensland is the most expensive place to educate a student in Australia behind Tasmania. It cost approximately $17.50 per hour to educate a student in 2010, compared to a national cost of approximately $16 per hour.
  • Source: Report of the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce
  • The national average was 325 per person, in QLD it was 305 per person in 2010 Source: Productivity Commission 2012 Report on Government Services

 

[1] Report of the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce
[2] http://the-scan.com/2014/10/31/snapshot-of-vocational-education-and-training-in-australia-infographics/
[3] Australian Council for Private Education and Training
[4] Report of the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce

Country of Origin Labelling

A year ago we explored the question of what was the most valuable role that governments could play in capitalising on supplying Australian food and fibre products to the booming export markets to our north (read article here).

During the intervening 12-months our opinion that there needs to be increased promotion of Australian product through a dedicated branding initiative has not diminished. In fact, as the economy goes through the transition that we hear so much about, the need for such action is heightened.

Over recent weeks there has been some commentary on virtually the inverse of an export brand in the form of Country of Origin Labeling.

Stimulated by the Hepatitis A berry outbreak of February this year, the Department of Industry and Science has conducted two-months worth of industry consultation, and now has a community survey open (CoOL Community Survey) until 3 July.

Commendable as it is to consult broadly, it is difficult to shake the notion that this exercise is being guided down a certain path. Admittedly, we did not participate in the industry consultations, however a healthy dose of skepticism is always warranted when community views are gathered in a closed format as this one is.

It’s the considered opinion of this business that what is truly required is to burn the Rome of food labeling to the ground and rebuild it in its entirety based on what it is that the consumer wants. Nay, demands.

We are living in a Monty Pythonesque food labeling dystopia when food can be ‘Made in Australia’ without using any Australian ingredients.

It has been made abundantly clear by the Australian public (who coincidentally consume these products, feed them to their children, and actually pay for them) that they simply want to know where their food comes from.

One would think that by starting with such a simple premise it would be near impossible to obfuscate the matter to such an extent that the Department finds that current laws are ‘of little relevance to consumers’ whilst simultaneously being ‘burdensome to business.’

It is our sincere hope the current consultative process yields a clear and concise representation of where the product has come from to permit Australian consumers the ability to make informed purchasing decisions.

Now that is starting to sound a bit like a brand.

Global Learning Support commits $10,000 to support Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision

The poorly understood condition of Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome, one form of which is known as Aplastic Anemia, has received a major boost.

On Wednesday 10 June, St Kilda Football Club Captain, Nick Riewoldt, and his family launched Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision (MRV). The Riewoldt family established MRV after Aplastic Anemia tragically claimed the life of their sister and daughter Maddie, 26, in February this year.

MRV has been launched in memory of Maddie, and embodies the spirit that she showed over the course of her 5-year battle with the illness. Maddie never gave up as illustrated by the extraordinary 227 days she spent in the ICU of the Royal Melbourne Hospital; the longest stay of any patient in the ICU in the Hospital’s history.

Global Learning Support (GLS) has given MRV a kick-start by making a donation of $10,000.

Speaking about why GLS made the donation company co-founder, Jarrod Nation, said.

“Maddie’s serene exterior did not belie the fighter that she was, and we as a company wanted to contribute to MRV in its fight to ultimately find a cure for this condition about which little is known.”

 

“It generally affects young people in their teens and twenties, those who represent the future of this country. We simply felt that we needed to do something about the fact that it is grossly underserviced and researched.”

Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision aims to raise awareness of Aplastic Anemia, how it affects young people, improving knowledge of the illness, providing support into treatment and ultimately finding a cure for it so that others do not suffer what Maddie did.

“I urge every mum and dad who have been blessed with healthy children to get behind MRV to assist those who are not so fortunate” Mr Nation said.

To donate to Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision please visit www.mrv.org.au or SMS ‘Maddie’ to 0437 371 371.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jarrod Nation, GLS Co-Founder

M: 0418 128 300

 

About Global Learning Support (GLS)

www.globallearningsupport.com

GLS is a leading education services provider. The company partners with education providers and uses its proprietary student support, engagement, and management tools to increase course completion rates.

Currently supporting in excess of 25,000 students, GLS tools have seen online course retention rates as high as 98%.

One of the keys to the success of GLS is maintaining the human touch even while students are completing their courses online.