Surviving and thriving in the outside world after school, after Sixth Form, isn’t just about qualifications. It isn’t just about getting a university place, an apprenticeship or a job. It’s about who you know, how you meet them and how you get on with them: it’s about how you can build and sustain relationships with people. These are really important skills and we believe it’s vital that our young people develop them. This week I used my experience as a former life coach and motivational speaker to explain the concepts of ‘how to win friends and influence people’ in an hour-long session for our sixth form.

The ability to build good relationships is often called ‘networking skills’. We know that a successful career in any field is directly proportional to how well you can get along with people. We looked at how to enter a room of strangers, how to introduce yourself and how to know who to talk to and when to make a great first impression. We were supported by a guest speaker in the form of network expert Will Kintish who I interviewed in a specially pre-recorded video. See Will’s website for more details and some great free support materials as downloads and videos. 

There is a lot more to the psychology of success than first meets the eye. We’ll be following up this session with more training in this area around how to present yourself well, how to read and use body language and leadership skills to help equip our leavers to be the best influencers they can be. 

Ayd Instone, Head of Curriculum Enrichment and Communications