As you enter the RADA building, you immediately know you are
somewhere special. Whether it’s the posters on the wall celebrating RADA alumni
(a who’s who of modern day theatre and film) or just the general feel of the place, you know you are
lucky to be there.
So, what brought 50 of our industry’s women to join Festive
Road at RADA on a dreary Monday afternoon in January?
In 2018, we started to notice the lack of female
representation on stage at key industry events. We all know there are plenty of
smart women in travel, so why weren’t we hearing their voices, experiences and
learnings?
There are some obvious answers. If you’re putting a panel together,
you’re naturally inclined to pick those at the top of their game, the most
senior people in their organisations. As with many industries, as we look up
the career ladder, those tend to be male-dominated positions. Other reasons
include lack of confidence and simply not having the network to know who decides
who gets on stage!
But that’s really not good enough. Festive Road decided it
was time to do something about it.
We recruited RADA to run a ‘Stepping Into The Spotlight’
masterclass and the results were fantastic. Delivered by Lisa Akesson, we
examined how to increase our personal impact in presentation situations, how to
speak with clarity and importantly how to manage nerves under stressful
conditions. The transformation from the beginning to the end of the session was
incredible.
So, what now? All 50 RADA Leading Ladies committed to
putting these new skills to good use. We are already looking forward to seeing
some of these 50 women onstage at the Business Travel Show in February. We’d also love to
challenge you – if you’re putting a conference session together and looking for
great stories and speakers with a professional edge, look outside of your
immediate network and choose one of our RADA Leading Ladies!
This post was written by Louise Kilgannon, Principal, Festive Road. The Business Travel Show takes place 20-21 February 2019 - to secure your free place, please visit www.businesstravelshow.com/register
Inspirational guest blog post. I want to become part of this event.
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