GINA BARNETT on Artful Communication: Redesigning Yourself.

Fair warning: This will be a no-bullshit evening.

Sometimes, we all need a little help in the personal-professional department: we all have to have difficult conversations, but we could handle them better. We could collaborate better, present our ideas and our work with more confidence, agree to disagree more productively. Some of us are thinking about the next phase, and how to move into it gracefully, but we have no idea where to start, or how to do that very well. In a nutshell, we don't always know how to do all those little things that could make it all easier. Time and money are too tight, tighter than ever, and we're doing more with less everywhere. When what you need most of all is to redesign yourself, who knows where to start?

On Thursday, March 25th, please join us for an evening that might help us start to figure it all out, courtesy of Gina Barnett. Who's that, you ask? We'll let Gail Anderson share her experience:

Gina Barnett is an executive communication consultant who has a way of cutting through the crap--through all of your personal stuff that gets in the way of how you communicate. And for me, that's meant exploring not only the way I communicate with groups--eye contact, hand gestures, tone, and all that. Over time, it's also meant looking at the way I communicate with the people I work with directly, day to day. My department, my coworkers, other managers; the whole package. It's not always a flattering portrait, believe me, but that's why you enlist the help of the pros--to help you with the baby steps.

I've been fortunate to work for a company that's been open to taking a look at the way we relate to others internally, as well as the way we present ourselves to the outside world. We've been able to maintain good morale in an era of uncertainty, and to really plan ahead for where we see ourselves in the coming years.

Don't get me wrong. There's kooky, petty stuff anywhere you'll ever work. Not everyone's meant to be the great presenter, but you can become a better one. There'll always be politics and colleagues, editors, other designers, or clients who'll push your buttons. But a little outside perspective in this unstable time can be a good thing. And for us, Gina Barnett's style was the right fit. It's about learning how to pause and take a deep breath before anything in the end--any presentation, any answer, any blow up. Or at least that was the big lesson for me.

And so, Gina's going to do an SPD Speakeasy on March 25th at the Helen Mills Theatre. Come hear some frank talk in a nutshell; an evening on how to maintain your sanity in the midst of redesigns, shrinking ad pages, late night closings--and perhaps how to prepare for your second act if that's what's in the back of your mind. It will be a no-bullshit evening.

GINA BARNETT on Artful Communication: Redesigning Yourself.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Helen Mills Theatre

137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves), NYC

Doors open at 6:30 PM

Presenation at 7:00 PM

Tickets:

SPD Members, $15 in advance ($20 at the door, if tickets remain, CASH ONLY)

Non-Members, $25 in advance ($30 at the door, if tickets remain, CASH ONLY)

Students & faculty with valid ID:  $10 in advance, ($5 at the door, if tickets remain, CASH ONLY)

RSVP early!  All tickets, and seating, are first come, first served.