Conversations for Impact

When addressing some of the world's pressing sustainability problems, you may be faced with difficult situations where you will need to exercise influence.

Maybe you have to stand in front of a room full of people and convince them to shift their business management. Maybe you have to persuade your team to adopt new practices. Maybe you need to persuade a very powerful person to just do better.

We move through life seeking to bring others around to our way of seeing things, often coming away with the sense that 'that could have gone better' and the perfect riposte or counter argument only occurs sometime after the fact (like, in bed, at 3 in the morning...). If only we could stop these key conversations part way through, crowdsource answers and re-run the whole discussion again. Something that is impossible... until now.

The Conversations for Impact workshop is part of our Organisational Training education deliveries where we work with you to tailor the course to your organisation's needs in terms of content, methods of delivery (in-person and/or online) and more.

Main outcomes of the 3-hour workshop include:

  • Building skills in verbal communication to create impact.
  • Practical preparation to tackle a challenging interaction from a selection of scenarios.
  • Contribution to other participant interactions and exploring other outcomes.
  • Take part in the 'Hot Spot': a facilitated simulation delivered in a supportive and learning oriented context.

Between each simulation, we will pause and reflect, crowdsource insights and different solutions to the problem, choose a way forward, and re-start the simulation.

Is your organisation interested in taking part in this workshop? Get in touch.

Simulation is an innovative teaching and learning technique that relies on sharing knowledge and experience, in a setting where you can nominate the level of risk you wish to take, and try out strategies you would not normally engage in.

Recent groups of participants have included hospital boards identifying dysfunctional behaviours, state and federal politicians from different parties, dealing with cascading crises and outcomes and sustainability employees seeking to address internal challenges. Sessions run in a practical, experiential and fun way, to build your confidence and skills in leading influential conversations.

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Meet your facilitator

A drama graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Geoff began his career playing Dr Clive Gibbons on the iconic TV show, Neighbours.

As an actor, improviser and facilitator, Geoff Paine brings a range of disciplines to this course.  He has run workshops for finance and insurance professionals, State and Federal politicians, senior health clinicians and bureaucrats and across many different sectors, all with the aim of creating capability in dealing with difficult scenarios and people.  He brings creativity and engagement to an important workplace (and life) skill; how to prepare for stressful real-world interactions so that we have some choice in the outcome.

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Got a question about our education programs?

Please check our frequently asked questions. If you can’t see an answer there -
we’re happy to help! Just leave us a message below.

Frequently asked questions

What format of course do you run?

Our training portfolio offers a variety of opportunities to suit a wide range of needs, from half-day or two day short introduction or foundation programs, a 15 hour skills development course (toolbox series/short courses) to an eight week bootcamp, and our 12 week accredited program. We also welcome applications for our doctoral program for the truly behaviour obsessed!

What is a digital badge?

Digital badges are a widely used and reputable method of verifying your learning. By sharing your digital badge (usually a small graphic linked to details about your course or credential), you can demonstrate your skills, build trust with your prospective employers and your professional network, and enhance your personal brand and your career.

Through your badge, you can also create a printable course certificate. Here you can find out more about Digital Credentials at Monash.

What is the difference between assessed and non-assessed?

Our Applying Behavioural Science to Create Change course can be completed with or without assessment. Detailed assessment information can be found here.

There are also opportunities for formative assessment available to all learners in the course, provided by behaviour change experts, through short online learning checkpoints. There is no requirement for students to complete assessments if they are registered to the non-assessed version of the course .

Learners who successfully meet all assessment requirements of the assessed version of the course are eligible to apply for six credit points for the equivalent Masters unit (ENS5520 – Understanding Human Behaviour to Influence Change) on admission to the Master of Environment and Sustainability at Monash University.

Program fees:
Assessed: $3,000 inc. GST
Non-assessed: $2,640 inc. GST

Can you provide training for my organisation?

We have specialist courses for organisations, from a coaching and mentoring team-based bootcamp to bespoke, tailored programing to meet identified needs within your team. Please get in touch to discuss you requirements.

How often do the courses run?

We have a calendar of delivery dates for open to market offerings. If there is something you are interested in that is not in the calendar, let us know!

What makes your course different to a traditional university course?

All BehaviourWorks Australia programs focus on providing our participants with the knowledge and confidence to apply practical behaviour change tools and methods in their workplace/life.

Who runs the course?

All our courses are delivered by the experienced and engaging BehaviourWorks Australia applied research team. The researchers are all engaged with cutting-edge projects with clients, using evidence based behavioural science to address real world problems. This means we draw on live examples and personally developed case studies in the programs.

How much experience do I need to participate?

We offer programs to suit everyone, from those who are just starting to explore behaviour change and what it offers, to those who have already been applying in their work and want to boost their toolkit, to organisations who want to support their own behavioural insights team.

Is behaviour change applicable to my industry?

Understanding WHO needs to DO WHAT differently, and exploring why people do the things they do, is at the heart of many government departments, industries and life itself! All our work is underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals, and we work across sectors including health, societal equity, financial development and environmental protection. If you work with people and problems, a behavioural perspective could be extremely helpful in increasing your program or policy effectiveness.

I am not based in Victoria - do you have any online offerings?

Yes! We have online courses with the same content and same fantastic interactive delivery techniques as our face to face programs. We design our online programs with flexibility in mind, so that working professionals and others can easily access the content at a time that suits their needs.