Overview and Experience | emily-sidonie

An overview of my experience as a communication and media skills trainer

From Complexity to Clarity...

I am passionate about communicating complex ideas in a clear and engaging way. Through my work as an international communication and media skills trainer, I love helping others to do the same.

I create and facilitate bespoke interactive workshops and training courses in communication skills and working with the media, for individuals and groups, of all ages and all levels of experience. Whether you’re preparing for a talk, interview, presentation, networking event or media appearance, I can help you communicate your ideas simply and engagingly.

Drawing on my experiences as an actress, science broadcaster and public speaker, I will work with you on how to explain who you are and what you do, how to get across and the impact of your work, how to create engaging content for talks and presentations, how to use your voice and body to get your message across most effectively, how to prepare for interviews, and how make the most of any opportunities to work with the media.

I also offer consultancy work for businesses and organisations, to help you hone your messaging and branding.

“Emily has a rare talent which is to make the very complex very simple."

Milly Ayliffe, solicitor

Experience

I’ve facilitated training courses and run workshops for organisations such as The Royal Society, The Francis Crick Institute, The Royal Society of Biology, The British Council, University of Cambridge, Siemens Warwick, Shell's Bright Ideas Challenge, Newcastle Medical School, The Energy Research Accelerator, STEM Women London, Loughborough University, Coventry University, Nottingham University, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Warwick University, Southampton University, Lancaster University, Aberdeen James Hutton Institute, The University of East Anglia, King's Mongkut's University Thailand, Evidera Pharmaceuticals, AQMeN and The National Science Museum Bangkok.

I have also coached many individuals of all ages and levels of experience, and I have worked as a messaging and branding consultant for businesses and organisations such as The New Israel Fund and The Aspergillosis Trust.

I’m also a trainer for the Famelab International Science Communication Competition (in conjunction with The British Council and Cheltenham Science Festival) and have run two-day science communication masterclasses for competition finalists in more than 15 countries across the globe.

Overview of a typical workshop

Details of Previous Experience

“Emily brought warmth and energy and a great mixture of theory and practice to our recent Public Engagement training course for PhD students at the Crick. The students loved her interactive sessions and found her enthusiasm contagious. Emily’s tailored feedback was really beneficial in developing and improving their communication skills and building confidence. I would enthusiastically recommend Emily as a trainer.”
Jenny Jopson, Public Engagement Manager, The Francis Crick Institute

“Emily was a pleasure to work with and was a clear and enthusiastic trainer. She is clearly very passionate about the topic of science communication; something which was reflected in the feedback which we received from her course. Attendees described her as open, warm and approachable and her training as very interesting and engaging, with total involvement of participants.”
Fiona Smith, Training Officer, The Royal Society of Biology

Read more testimonials

A typical workshop:

Many of my workshops are created bespoke. A typical workshop might include a combination of these sessions:

“Probably one of the best communication skills workshops I have attended.”

PhD student, Sheffield University

"Excellent training and trainer. I loved the exercises and everything about the masterclass; very interactive and Emily provided a super supportive, safe and fun environment for learning! I definitely would recommend this training for any scientist, from graduate student to seasoned professor, there is something to gain and you will come out the other end a better science communicator!”
Ken Dutton-Regester, Research Officer

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, FameLab Australia

“The session was super excellent. I learnt a lot of very useful things and it was funny!”

“Emily was excellent, engaging, and very likeable.”

PhD students, The Francis Crick Institute

"I loved Emily’s energy. She was truly supportive and positive."

PhD student, FameLab Thailand

“Best training ever. I hope Dr Emily and I cross paths again”

Qatar schools workshop participant, aged 17

Warm-Up! Preparing the Body and the Voice

Breathing, relaxation and power poses - a variety of practical exercises and techniques to calm nerves, get fully present, wake up the body, warm up the voice, and prepare to connect with the audience.

It's Good to Talk

A group discussion on why it is important that we communicate clearly about our work.

Body Language: Communication Without Words

An interactive session on body language and voice, with the opportunity to receive individual feedback.

Telling Stories

A group discussion on what makes a good story and how we can apply these ideas to telling the stories of our work.

Talking the Talk

How do we get our message clear? An interactive session on creating and preparing new content for talks.

Working with the Media

A presentation and group discussion on how to prepare for an interview and how to make the most of opportunities to work with the media.

Being Interviewed

Individual interview practice and feedback.

Public Speaking Masterclasses

An opportunity to present a short sample of pre-prepared material and to receive individual coaching and feedback.

Top tips for Public Speakers

A discussion, to include issues around confidence and dealing with nerves.

Science Communication Careers Advice

Find out more

For more info about the content covered in the sessions above please take a look at this blog that I wrote for The British Council on How To Present Complex Ideas Clearly or at this detailed review of a presentation skills workshop I delivered recently at the ENCODS 2019 Neuroscience Conference at The Crick Institute. For a breakdown of the above sessions, or to discuss your training requirements, please get in touch.

I usually work with groups of around 10-12, as I find this allows optimum time for individual work and personal feedback, however I also work with individuals and smaller or larger groups. Previous participants include undergraduates, postgraduates, senior academics, lecturers, professors, scientists, pharmaceutical companies, social scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, and business/corporate clients. I have also worked with children and teenagers.

I can facilitate sessions for 1-2 hours, a half day, or a full day, but for the complete training experience incorporating all of the above sessions I would recommend two days.

overview

Organisations for which i have facilitated training courses and workshops:

Cardiff University Doctoral Academy: One-day training courses on Successfully Communicating The Impact of Your Work - June 2018, Nov 2018, May 2019, Jan 2020
Cantab Capital Institute for the Mathematics of Information, University of Cambridge: Two-day communication and media skills training course for postgraduate mathematicians - Sept 2019
The Francis Crick Institute: Half-day public engagement workshops for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and senior researchers - Oct 2016, July 2016, Oct 2017, July 2018, Oct 2018, Nov 2018, April 2019
ENCODS 2019 Neuroscience Conference at The Crick Institute: 2-hour workshop on Presentation Skills for PhD Students - June 2019
Siemens Warwick: Half-day Communication Skills Training Workshop for Project Managers - May 2019
Warwick Manufacturing Group, Warwick University: Two half-day communication skills workshops for Master’s Students - May 2019
Loughborough University School of Science: Two-day communication skills training course - April 2019
STEM Women London Community Event: Short interactive talk and workshop on Interview Skills and Confident Networking - Feb 2019
The Francis Crick Institute Postdoc Symposium: Workshop on science communication - Oct 2018
Nottingham University: One-day workshop on How to be a Resilient Researcher, for Energy Research Accelerator researchers - November 2018
Shell's Cross-Curricular Schools' Competition The Bright Ideas Challenge: Half-day science communication workshop for competition winners aged 11-14 - July 2018
Newcastle Medical School: One day training course on From Complexity to Clarity: Communicating Effectively About Your Work, for staff and lecturers at the Newcastle University Medical School - June 2018
FameLab International science communication competition - in conjunction with Cheltenham Science Festival and The British Council: 15 two-day masterclasses in science communication for competition finalists across the globe. Countries in which I have run masterclasses include: Hong Kong, South Africa, Spain, Northern Ireland, Malaysia, Thailand x 2, Greece, Vietnam x 2, South Korea, Australia, Romania, Estonia, Qatar, Cyprus, Brazil, Czech Republic. April 2015 - May 2018
Coventry University: One-day Personal Resilience Training workshop for Energy Research Accelerator researchers - May 2018
Loughborough University: One-day Personal Resilience Training workshop for Energy Research Accelerator researchers - May 2018
Aspergillosis Trust Patient Advocacy Group: Consultancy for honing their message for a charity partnership application - May 2018
Aberdeen James Hutton Institute: Lecture and workshop in communication skills - March 2018
University of Cambridge : 2-day workshop in communication and media skills for postgraduate mathematicians - Feb 2018
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand: A series of 2-day workshops in communication and media skills for senior researchers, lecturers and faculty deans from 15 universities across Thailand - Jan 2018
The National Science Museum Bangkok: A 2-hour talk on science communication followed by a half-day workshop on body language and interview skills - April 2017
Sheffield University and Glasgow University: Two 2-day courses in communication and media skills for researchers and social scientists, through the Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN) - Feb 2017 and April 2017
University of East Anglia: Half-day communication skills workshop for undergraduates, post-graduates and lecturers - June 2017

The Royal Society of Biology: Two one-day science communication workshops - Nov 2015 and April 2016
The Royal Society: A one-day public speaking workshop for royal society research fellows; co-facilitation with Screenhouse - Jan 2016

Lancaster University: A 2-hour science communication lecture and workshop for postgraduate maths students - March 2016
Southampton University: A half-day science communication course for undergraduates and post-graduates - October 2015
Plymouth University: A four-day public engagement training course for university academics; co-facilitation with Malcolm Love. Course culminated in a live event and radio broadcast - Jan 2015
Evidera Pharmaceutical Research Company: Verbal communication skills online training course for a small group of international scientists working in industry, via Skype. Three 2-hour group Skype sessions over a one-month period, followed by a half-hour individual feedback session for each participant - July 2016
The New Israel Fund: A half-day group workshop and brainstorming session to help the organisation gain clarity regarding their online branding and messaging - Feb 2017
Qatar Schools Workshop: 2-day communication skills workshop for teenagers - Feb 2016
Numerous 1:1 coaching sessions for individuals