A Series of Public Speaking Trainings at the Ministry of Finance

With the support of the EU-funded project PAR Visibility & Communication in Serbia, four trainings were held in June and July at which high representatives of the Ministry of Finance were introduced to theoretical and practical advice which guarantee good public appearance.

The project training, in cooperation with the Press Office of the Ministry of Finance, successfully organized trainings for state secretaries, special advisors and assistant ministers of the MoF. The main focus of the training was the advanced level of public speaking training, which - in addition to working to strengthen verbal and non-verbal communication skills - involves learning techniques for making statements that cannot be taken out of their original context, as well as techniques for "bridging" answers to journalist questions.

Training participants especially expressed interest in practical work during which, in cooperation with the training team, they improved verbal communication with special emphasis on communicating the results of PAR and PFM (public financial management) in a way that brings the message closer to citizens in the simplest way, in the language of "ordinary" citizens.

This time, the training team also provided the participants with practical work, which included recording with a camera and analyzing the recorded material, because it is always important for the participants that, together with the coaches, they can say what they think about their public performance and try to improve it together as a team, with practical advice for the future.

According to the participants, they specially enjoyed the atmosphere in which the training was held, which was contributed by the professional conversation and consultations with a professional make-up artist and a professional photographer, in addition to the cameraman.

Along with the highest marks for the training, the participants expressed interest in continuing with such trainings in the future.

In its extension phase, PAR Visibility & Communication Project continued active work on the implementation of training programmes aimed at developing and improving skills which will make it easier for participants to communicate with the public and the media. The project training team implements its programme in cooperation with the project beneficiaries - the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government (main coordinator of PAR), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of European Integration, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, the Republic Secretariat for Public Policies, the National Academy of Public Administration and the Office for IT and E-government.