Harness the power of influence to drive meaningful change.

Course description:

This one-day strategic communication management (SCM) course dives deep into the principles of influence, providing you with actionable techniques to drive change, foster engagement, and elevate your strategic communication role. Whether you’re leading teams or guiding leadership decisions, this program will help you translate insights into tangible impact, making your influence felt across the organisation. Develop the skills to become a trusted advisor and influential leader within your organisation.

What to expect:

Fine-tune your strategies to effectively navigate complex stakeholder landscapes and drive meaningful outcomes.
Discover and leverage your leadership strengths to cultivate strong, influential connections across your organisation.
Advance your emotional intelligence and coaching techniques, empowering you to manage difficult conversations with poise.
Develop advanced listening and questioning skills to deliver high-impact, strategic guidance.
Learn and apply diverse influencing strategies, appreciating varied perspectives to solidify your role as a trusted advisor and key business partner.

Who should attend:

This course is ideal for communication professionals working in strategic, corporate, internal, external, or public relations roles. It’s particularly suited for those who lead teams, manage complex initiatives, or play a crucial role in shaping decisions and driving influence within their organisations.

Career Level: Generalist/Specialist, Strategic Advisor, Business Leader

Course outline:

Stepping up your strategic approach in a changing stakeholder environment

Advising the business using the client relationship model
A new approach to strategic communication
State of trust and the context of relationships
Using audience insight to inform your strategy

Understanding and developing your leadership capability

Exploring your leadership profile and the profile of others you work with
How to continue building strong relationships and influencing others

Building great relationships and getting the best out of people

Emotional intelligence and the emotional competence framework
Coaching skills, giving and receiving feedback
Having tricky conversations

Develop your consulting skills

Three levels of listening
The power of questions
Taking the brief and understanding how to use this insight to inform your approach

Influencing others and building your strategic advisory skills

Understanding others, the various viewpoints
Power of influence using Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
Understand why people come to you for advice and how you build your value
Be seen as the strategic advisor or trusted business partner in your organisation
Keep people coming back and understand where you can make the biggest impact on driving the business

About the trainer

Adrian Cropley OAM, FRSA, IABC Fellow, SCMP, GCSCE

Co-Founder, Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence

A certified strategic communication management professional and past global chair of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Adrian Cropley is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost experts and consultants in strategic communication. With a career spanning over 35 years, Adrian has worked with clients worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies, on major change communication initiatives, internal communication reviews and strategies, professional development programs, executive leadership, and coaching. At the IABC he implemented the IABC Career Road Map, kick-started a global ISO certification for the profession and developed the IABC Academy. Adrian pioneered the Melcrum Internal Communication Black Belt program in Asia Pacific and ran that program for over 10 years. He is a sought-after facilitator, speaker, author and thought leader. He has been a keynote speaker and workshop leader on strategic and change communication at international conferences in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. He has received several awards, including the International Gold Quill Awards for communication excellence and is a two-time recipient of the Rae Hamlin. Adrian is chair of the Industry Advisory Committee for the RMIT School of Media and Communication as well as a non-executive board member with several organisations. In 2017, he was awarded a Medal to the Order of Australia, one of the highest national honours, for his work in professional communication and youth development.

Sia Papageorgiou FRSA, FCSCE, SCMP

Co-Founder, Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence

Armed with an impressive collection of more than 50 awards for strategic communication excellence and leadership, Sia Papageorgiou is dedicated to elevating the value and visibility of communication professionals, empowering them to become trusted, strategic, and in-demand advisors. She is a certified strategic communication management professional (SCMP), a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and past president of the Victorian chapter of the IABC. She’s also a former board director at IABC Asia-Pacific and past chair of the Global Communication Certification Council. In 2021, IABC Asia-Pacific named Sia Communicator of the Year and in 2022 she was awarded the prestigious IABC Rae Hamlin Award in recognition of her exemplary service in advocating the Global Standard of the Communication Profession and evangelising the power and possibility of communication. The GovComms Institute, a global platform for government communication professionals, named Sia, “one of the superstars of the communication profession.” With every initiative she leads, every team she trains, and every professional she coaches, Sia continues to set the gold standard for strategic communication excellence, inspiring others to reach their highest potential.