Presentation & Networking Skills for Women in Green & Social Enterprise

This workshop is aimed at women starting or managing a green, cleantech or social enterprise business to help develop their presentation, pitching and networking skills.

Are you a female entrepreneur or executive starting or managing a green or social enterprise? What are the challenges you are facing when preparing a sales pitch, business or investor presentation, or whilst networking at industry events?

Women often feel more inhibited than their male peers when it comes to pitching their products or services and presenting themselves in a professional context.

The cleantech sector, like many other technology-driven industries, represents a predominantly male environment, which makes developing your personal profile and presentation style as a female executive even more important.

As a social enterprise or charity you will have to sell in the cause and the business idea and present in a succinct and credible way.

Three women with solid sector and training experience have teamed up to deliver this highly interactive workshop: Irene Bejenke-Walsh, MD of MessageLab, presentation & pitching skills expert; Catherine Bowers, Chair of Women in Cleantech; and Penny Daly, director at Red Ochre, a management consultancy specialising in social enterprise.

In this workshop, you will learn how to present yourself and your business in a succinct and compelling way in front of different business audiences. Participants are invited to perform and observe presentations hands-on, receiving valuable feedback from both trainers and peers. This is an opportunity for us to learn together, trial new techniques in a safe environment and build a supportive network.

The following topics will be covered:

      -     How to package & position your green/social credentials in a presentation or pitch

      -     What innovative ways can we use to tell our business "story"?

-          How are social and green enterprises viewed by the business community?

-          What are the essentials of communicating effectively with these audiences?

-          Networking – what works and doesn’t work

-     Key strengths of female executives

-          Personal delivery style

-          Targeting different business audiences and making the presentation specific to them

-          The perfect pitch

-          Creating rapport and trust with audiences

-          Live presentation, role play and review

About the trainers:

Irene Bejenke Walsh, MD, MessageLab

Irene has been coaching entrepreneurs and management teams for presentations and pitches for more than a decade. She works as a trainer and mentor for Astia, the world’s largest non-profit support organisation for female entrepreneurs. Amongst her clients are also London Business Angels, one of the UK’s most prolific Business Angel networks, where she has trained more than 300 entrepreneurs pitching in a real life “Dragon’s Den”. She also coaches early-stage companies entering the London Technology Fund competition and works with public funding organisations such as NESTA. Her background as a business journalist for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC has honed her ability to get straight to the point and extract the essence of a business pitch. Teaching these skills and creating rapport and trust with diverse audiences are her passion and area of expertise.

Penelope Daly, Director, Red Ochre

Penny is a Director of Red Ochre, a management consultancy that specialises in providing innovative business support to organisations that deliver social change. These include social enterprises, charities, community and faith organisations, statutory agencies, government departments and ethical businesses. Penny has global experience of business management and training. She is skilled in supporting individuals and organisations become more successful by capacity building through enterprise training, mentoring and coaching. An accredited coach and award-winning mentor trainer, Penny is able to encourage effective personal impact and team communication skills. Born and raised in Zambia, Penny has worked for a variety of international businesses, academic and government agencies, and charities. She has also set up her own businesses in Venezuela and the UAE, so has hands-on experience of both the excitement and the stress that comes with being an entrepreneur.

Catherine Bowers, Chair, Women in Cleantech & Director, ecoConnect

Catherine Bowers is a Director of ecoConnect, the UK's cleantech and green industry association. As the Chair for Women in Cleantech, her mission is to bring together female executives who work within this sector and to promote innovation and growth within the industry. An educational specialist, she was previously employed by Glenys Kinnock as researcher/ writer on a book on education issues. Catherine’s background includes new business development and project management with Post Office Counters Division and Top Shop. She has recently published a paper on gender and inequality in the environmental space in ‘The Journal of Environmental Science’ (December 2010).