Leadership Communication Skills Training

Creating great teams that get things done

Leadership isn’t something that comes naturally. Like everything in life, we need to learn how to lead, and a bit part of being an effective leader is being an effective communicator.

If there are leaders in your organisation who need a helping hand to get up to speed on their communication skills, this is the course. It’s designed for new leaders, aspiring leaders, or leaders who want to improve their skills.

At the end of this workshop, your leaders will:

  • know about their team members’ different communication styles and how leaders need to adapt to meet their needs

  • understand when to ‘tell’ and when to ‘coach’

  • know how to set up a communication rhythm that ensures everyone feels well informed and valued

  • know how to help their team members navigate change and uncertainty using communication techniques

  • have the confidence to provide feedback and have challenging conversations.

What to expect from your Leadership Communication Skills training session

  • Understand how our brains work, especially when there is change and uncertainty

  • Discover when and how to use different communication techniques

  • Learn about everyone’s different communication styles and preferences

  • Learn how to have challenging conversations that leave everyone feeling happier

  • Learn how to use storytelling to enhance your communication skills.


Who should attend

This workshop is for leaders who…

  • are brand-new to leadership or in their first manager role for some time

  • want to build up their skills and knowledge to get ready for their first leadership role

  • are experienced but have been in the same role for some time and need a refresher

  • are facing into a lot of change and need to build the confidence to help their teams navigate an uncertain world

  • find challenging conversations uncomfortable, especially when providing feedback to team members.


How the course is run

To get the most out of your Leadership Communication Skills training, this workshop is facilitated in person for four hours. Please note that hybrid workshops (some people online / some in person) are not ideal for this type of training.

If required, we can run the workshop as two 90-minute sessions with everyone joining online. To make sure everyone gets the most out of this training, numbers are capped at 15 people.

Course Outline

Module 1: Understanding our brains

  • What happens in our brains when we are faced with uncertainty and a lot of change

  • How people respond to change, and what that means for your team’s communication

Module 2: Mindset shifts

  • The mindset shifts we need to make to work at our best in an uncertain world

  • Tools to help you to help your team members make these shifts.

Module 3: Communication styles

  • Understand the components of our communication preferences

  • Discover each team member’s communication style and what that means for how you work with your team

  • Create a communication rhythm that keeps your team well informed and feeling valued.

Module 4: Challenging conversations

  • Understand how people respond to feedback and why

  • The process for preparing for and facilitating a challenging conversation

  • Frameworks and tools to help manage these conversations

Module 5: Strategic storytelling

  • Understand why storytelling is such a powerful communication tool, and when to use it

  • Learn frameworks and tools to help you craft a strategic story to drive change with your team.

What you’ll get as part of this training

  • Each participant will receive printed tools during the training to help make the learning stick

  • Your leaders will receive a copy of the slides presented

  • If required, we can supply a Certificate of Completion for each participant.

Your questions answered

About your facilitator

Mel Loy SCMP

Founder and Director, Cuttlefish; IABC Asia-Pacific Region Board Member; IABC Asia Pacific Academy Partner

Mel Loy is a self-confessed serial ideator, obsessed with how humans behave and what that means for effective communication. After studying journalism she discovered a love not for reporting but for the power of communication — and went on to spend more than 20 years in increasingly senior corporate communication roles across emergency services, construction and mining, early learning, retail and more.

In late 2020, after leading her team through the COVID-19 pandemic, Mel started her own agency. Today her small-but-mighty team at Cuttlefish provides consulting and training to clients across Australia and overseas, specialising in internal, change, crisis and strategic communication.

Mel is the author of two books — Change Isn't Hard and Less Chatter, More Matter — and host of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast. An international award winner for her training programs and strategies, a sought-after facilitator and keynote speaker, and a certified Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP), and a volunteer Board member for IABC Asia-Pacific. When she’s not obsessing over words and human behaviour, Mel is teaching group fitness classes and yoga at her local gym.