Last night I attended NIDA’s Art of storytelling workshop as part of Sydney’s new Spectrum Now festival in The Domain.

I can’t recommend it enough.

I was looking for a fresh perspective on the public speaking arena and found this was an excellent place to start.

NIDA host these sorts of workshops all year round, for individuals and groups.

If nothing else it’s a great team building experience.

What is NIDA

The National Institute of Dramatic Art.

They take the tools of the theatrical, physical, scientific, fictional and natural world, and bring them to the corporate story telling workspace.

Why is storytelling so important in my daily working life?

Because I believe it is at the heart of confidence and influence.

No matter what my job is. Team leadership, writing unit tests, generating acceptance criteria, negotiating, listening…

The more consice I am the more successful I will be.

The course really narrows down on what it means to be true to yourself and clear with others.

“When you own your breathe, nobody can steal your peace.”

It’s these sorts of concepts we worked through, on stage, under pressure, in real time.

What does the introductory workshop involve?

It’s a 2hr team process that involves a number of physical, emotional and challenging exercises.

Whether it be experimenting with movement, balance, breathing, heartbeat, skin, eyes, touch or expression, there is a number of interesting games the group is encouraged to work through that literally opened my eyes to what is really going on in the background when I get up and present to others.

I laughed. I nearly cried. It’s powerful stuff.

I may be writing an email, talking to colleagues at lunch, holding a meeting, giving instructions to a group or just working away at my desk. Being in control of my heart and mind is a powerful place to start. This is where the workshop took me.

Who’s up for taking the next course?