The Master the Act one day training took place in the UK on the 15th February 2023 and was delivered by Inova Consultancy. It was facilitated by experienced Community Development tutor, Val Boulding, who has delivered a wide range of community and confidence building courses. She also delivered training for the “Fake It Till You Make It” project which preceded Master the Act and was a forerunner in using drama methodology to enhance the learning experience, improve confidence and job prospects.
Val commented: “It was great to have face to face training, after long periods of delivering many online courses due to the Covid pandemic. It was also such a lovely programme to be involved in”
Feedback and evaluations from the Master the Act training reinforced that the drama aspect of the training is very much relevant in our current climate. Post covid, more and more people are feeling isolated or having issues with confidence and self-esteem. This in turn impacts on their ability to find employment or to progress in their careers. The Master the Act training and the complementary online platform is very unusual in its approach to developing soft skills. On the day, participants engaged in a range of activities which included the following: –
- One truth, one lie
- Skills, Qualities and Achievements
- 2 listening activities
- Walking with instructions, no confidence, confidence, awareness of body language etc.
- Standing in order – hair colour, shoe colour, birthdays, height etc.
- Name Game and Speed Dating Activity
- SMART Goals
- Wheel of Life
- Become a character – guess who?
A PowerPoint presentation supported the training delivery and allowed for a good mix of theory and practical relating to the use of drama to support the role of the Creative Employability Mentor. Time was allocated for participants to network and engage in discussion on the topics before being introduced to the online learning platform and the resources available. Verbal feedback was very interesting in highlighting how participants immediately became aware of their own body language when doing the walking activity and how it made them feel inside when walking as if they had no confidence, compared to walking as someone with confidence. The listening and drawing activities also brought some interesting comments around how it must feel to not be listened to.
Below or a few comments from learner evaluations, that were completed on the day. When asked if they would recommend the programme to others, these were some of the responses: –
“I liked the emphasis on creative learning”.
“… it engaged everyone and was good to meet new people and learn about them”.
“… the group was mixed/inclusive. the trainers were helpful and informative”.
“… the programme is very helpful and engaged me to do activities that I thought I was unable to do”.
“… it helps with your self-confidence”.
The Master the Act training programme is very effective in building confidence and that the activities can soon be learned by others and then cascaded and shared in many different settings.
