Harnessing the power of theatre for your organisation

The Abbey Theatre has been offering Theatre Skills for Business workshops for 10 years. These workshops and individual coaching sessions are based on what the Abbey knows best – performance and communicating a message.

Our clients tell us they want to be more confident speakers; they want to have more presence, to make an impact, command the room, to sound authentic and to influence their teams. We give them the tools to do just that.

The power of theatre

Many of the skills and techniques that are foundational to an actor’s craft can be hugely beneficial to people working outside of theatre. Actors are used to working with discipline, articulacy, and ambition. They train their voices and bodies so that they can speak with greater ease and clarity. They learn how to adjust their style of delivery to fill both large theatres and small studios, to deliver both simple and complex messages with energy and authenticity, to lift the words off the page and breathe life into them.

Our approach

We coach our business clients using the same theatre techniques. We can work with you on how you stand, how you take space, how you breathe and speak as you tell your stories. We will also help you clarify your objectives and to refine your message to become more concise and impactful. We think speaking is active and when you speak you are always playing an action. Actions are what we do to someone else to get what we need or want. You may want to praise, calm, enlighten, challenge, encourage, warn, or galvanise your listeners. The list of possible actions to play is endless. Being ‘in action’ makes you a more engaging speaker because you are speaking to rather than at your audience.

Our specialist teachers

Andrea Ainsworth is the voice director at the Abbey theatre and the core of her work is preparing the actors for performance on the stages. Andrea coaches actors, at all stages of their professional careers, on voice and on text. Using skills from the theatre, Andrea specialises in helping business clients find a more dynamic speaking style, to prepare them for presentations. Phil Kingston, the Community and Education Manager, was an actor for many years and is also a skilled writer and storyteller. He specialises in team building, networking and storytelling workshops. Gillian McCarthy is an actress and theatre facilitator with over 20 years’ experience. As a theatre facilitator and teacher, she was worked with organisations such as Deloitte, Glandore, Smurfit Business School, and the HSE.

Range of options

Theatre Skills for Business offers a variety of different supports, depending on your needs.

Aimed at those who want to improve their professional communication skills, Presenting with Impact explores how to use drama techniques to find a style that suits you and allows you to get your message across to colleagues, clients and groups. Women Take Centre Stage is specifically tailored to work with women on their personal communication style, with the goal of building confidence and developing a stronger personal brand. We can also develop specific activities for larger groups or organisations.

Participant testimonials

“It has been a pleasure to work with The Abbey as part of our Early Careers Leadership Programmes. It was great fun designing the sessions to ensure the participants had the opportunity to learn new skills through the lens of theatre coaching. These skills are the soft skills that they can bring into their careers as the leaders of the future.”

University Engagement and Alumni Lead, Deloitte

Interested?

We have a range of full day workshops designed for smaller groups, which can be booked as an individual or for an organisation. We also offer a range of one to one and bespoke options, depending on your individual needs. Our workshops take place in the National Theatre in the heart of Dublin, in our Abbey and Peacock auditoriums.

To learn more about our Theatre skills for business workshops or have an initial chat about your specific needs:

e: joanne.pollard@abbeytheatre.ie
w: abbeytheatre.ie