Students will benefit from a series of training workshops with experienced practitioners and experts in key areas of professional development such as leadership, negotiation and persuasive communication. There are also practical workshops on interview preparation, networking and CV development.
Each session is hosted by a professional expert, which in past years has included former politicians, speechwriters and contributors to elite business and management programmes. Offered in addition to our academic teaching, each session is designed to bridge the gap between sophisticated theory and effective practice and give students the opportunity to develop the skills required of highly capable public policy professionals.
Previous sessions have included those on professional leadership, decision making, negotiation and persuasive communication and have been hosted by experts such as David McCandless, Information is Beautiful founder, Phillip Collins, author and former speechwriter to a British Prime Minister, and Sir Vince Cable, author and former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats.
Students also have the opportunity to enrol to achieve a Professional Skills Accelerator Certificate. This involves writing a short reflective essay, attendance at four skills sessions and providing in-depth feedback to the Director of the Professional Skills Accelerator.
These workshops are available to current SPP students only and all events are communicated via email.
Professional Skills Accelerator Certificate holders - 2021/22
Sir Vince Cable delivering a session on 'How to be a politician'.