As part of the Strengthening transparency in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through improving strategic communications with Serbian citizens training programme, DiploFoundation will deliver a media simulation workshop for the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 20-21 December.
The first day of the workshop focuses on improving participants’ public and one-to-one speaking skills, through a combination of hands-on exercises designed to help participants identify their strengths and weaknesses, and through analysing positive and negative speaking examples from public personalities. Special emphasis is placed on how to avoid stress and increase persuasion when talking to people. Based on analysis of video-recordings from the first day, the exercises for the second day will include writing press releases, basics of diplomatic protocol, and written and verbal communication aimed at intergovernmental institutions (UN, EU, and Council of Europe).
The training is built on experience gathered during a decade of work at the highest level within civil society, governmental, and intergovernmental organisations, delivering hundreds of speeches in front of large audiences (including interviews on CNN, BBC, and DW) and writing hundreds of articles, official speeches, and press releases.
Workshop facilitator
Mr Valeriu Nicolae is a human rights activist and communications trainer with extensive experience in Europe and worldwide. From 2015, he worked for the Romanian government as State Counsellor at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, and as State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly. From autumn 2016 to mid-2017 he worked at the Council of Europe as Special Representative of the Secretary General. His work includes social policy and social services, national programmes for children rights, social inclusion, and poverty policies.
