Realise Your Potential
The development of individual courage, confidence and human relations skills is often something we hope will 'just happen'. For many of us we realise the need to develop these skills well into our adult life when our careers call or we experience significant change. There are many and varied options for adult personal development and over the years the most common feedback we receive is - "I wish I'd done this earlier in my life".
Rediscover the Lost Art of Interpersonal Communication
In an age where many of us are living electronically, the simple art of Interpersonal Communication can seem ever more daunting. It has become almost unfamiliar to conduct ourselves face-to-face when we have come to depend so much upon our on-line personas. The basic ability to introduce ourselves, hold a conversation and become genuinely interested in other people, in a real social environment, is now harder than ever.
Increasingly, as we approach adult-hood, our comfort level with others is already well established and the option to rectify or better ourselves seems a distant, missed opportunity.
Brighter Start Academy is a public programme, developed and presented by well respected members of the Australian personal and professional development body who have recognised a rapidly growing need to provide focused and accountable relationship & leadership coaching. This is a programme for young adults, aged 12~20 years, to propel them into their life with courage, confidence, enthusiasm, stamina and the ability to succeed both on and off-line.
Unlock Lasting Confidence with Real-World Practice
Becoming more confident is not something that can be accomplished by simply reading a book, a web site, or by acquiring 'likes' on social media posts. It is something that requires a clear framework with which to practise in the real face-to-face world. It is in the 'doing' that our techniques become permanent and develop into lifetime skills. Our focus is on vital human relations skills, applied across any media we wish to participate in.
The Brighter Start Academy has taken cues from over a century of personal and professional development training and distilled them down to key areas where young adults can most benefit as they develop. We employ a high degree of role-play and dramatic exercises within each session to give our young adults an opportunity to experience rapid results in a supportive environment. This programme is not designed to produce extroverts, but rather to foster skills that will develop courage, confidence and success.
The Brighter Start Academy programme runs over 6 sessions, each being 2 hours long. We conduct sessions for two age groups: 12~15 years and 16~20 years to ensure mentorship and role-playing across the 3~4 year age range can be explored freely. The sessions are generally conducted weekly however there is also the opportunity to join an accelerated programme conducted over a fortnight.
Skills Programme
Leadership, Presentation and Communication Skills for Teens
The Brighter Start Academy programme runs over 6 sessions. Select each one below to learn more.
Session 1
Brighter Start Academy
Greater Self-Confidence
A person's name is, to that person, the sweetest sound in any language; it is their badge of individuality. Remembering a person's name is a small but powerful by-product of the desire to remember the person behind the name.
An Opportunity Taken
We all too often drop the ball moments after meeting someone when we have simply forgotten their name. It has disappeared into the background noise as we struggle to maintain a conversation, feeling less and less confident, and quite overwhelmed. The opportunity slips from our fingers as we worry about asking "what was your name again?".
This session presents a simple method to focus our attention onto the individual by stamping their name in our memory - visually. It allows us to apply the same method to groups of any size and gives us unprecedented confidence and an ability to make people feel important by using their name to farewell and greet again in future encounters.
Brighter Start Academy takes our initial greetings through to their natural conclusion with simple yet effective conversation pointers, allowing us to maintain a flowing and engaging conversation. It provides tools which we can use immediately to develop our interest in others into an impressive personal skill.
The Benefit
Provides some real-world techniques to enhance our life experiences when meeting new people and maintaining new relationships.
Session 2
Brighter Start Academy
Setting Goals & Achieving them
How many times have we decided to do something only to never even get started? The best laid plans of the New Year's Resolution seldom come to fruition and yet we marvel at others who seem to always hit well above where they aim.
Start with a Vision - Right Now
Far too often we give up on our goals due to simple mistakes. Mistakes such as setting an unrealistic target, not rewarding ourselves along the way, or being a little too vague about how we see ourselves.
This session focuses on creating a vision of where we want to be in our personal lives. It examines why each of the 5 SMART steps is essential in achieving what we set out to do. It illustrates how attempting to bypass a step will lead us to failure. Most importantly it opens us to our own potential and how to get started right now.
Brighter Start Academy looks at recognising our achievements and the achievements of others. We seldom give ourselves permission to acknowledge our own success and focus on our strengths. We also highlight how we may better assist others in achieving their own goals.
The Benefit
Feel invigorated and determined to map out our new vision and start working on it immediately.
Session 3
Brighter Start Academy
Presenting Ideas with Clarity & Enthusiasm
Ever been suddenly asked to speak in a group without the opportunity to prepare anything in advance? Ever felt compelled to voice your thoughts but didn't know where to even begin? What can make perfect sense to us can sometimes be confusing to others and a valuable opportunity can pass by leaving us with feelings of regret and our confidence in tatters.
Being Impromptu was never so much fun
Over 60% of those listening to us are visual learners so how do we provide more visual stimulation to better engage with our audience, be they 1 or 100 people?
This session presents the formula used in every aspect of communicating ideas, from TV advertisements to simple conversations between friends. We look at thinking on our feet, being mentally ready and equipped to deliver every time with animation and credibility.
Brighter Start Academy examines how to think in time-critical terms, making effective use of language and illustrations, organising our thoughts, getting to the point, and summarising with a powerful call to action.
The Benefit
A transition from "I wish I had" to "I'm glad I did!"
Session 4
Brighter Start Academy
Motivating & Inspiring Others
Emotion can be a powerful motivator. Learning how to employ emotion effectively creates a strong platform on which we can start to lead others. How do we bring about sustainable change in our environment and positively impact those around us?
Experience the Power of Connection
This session expands upon being impromptu, asking us to move our audience. Bring real emotion into our communication fires great authenticity and enables us to truly inspire action.
We ask our younger presenters to consider something they have learned in life. These life experiences can come in many forms, such as a sporting success, a struggle to train harder, or putting in extra study to pass an exam. Any event where we had to push our own boundary, be brave, or take an unfamiliar path in order to come out successful. These events shape who we are and can be very effective motivators for others.
Brighter Start Academy takes what we've put into practise already to experience a very powerful session is a warm, supportive environment.
The Benefit
Experience empowerment as an individual.
Session 5
Brighter Start Academy
Getting on Top of Stress & Worry
Psychologists have known for decades the ramifications of not dealing with stress effectively. Stress comes from the demands and pressures we experience each day. When worries and anxiety become excessive, chances are it will trigger a physiological response, and eventually a host of health problems.
Gain a real perspective on what Stress does to us
The key driver in starting to overcome stress and worry is understanding the impact it is having on us. Studies have found many health problems related to stress that continue to worsen as we age.
Stress isn't just a feeling. Stress isn't just in your head. It's a built-in physiologic response to a threat. When you're stressed, your body responds and all too often we fight or fly without ever getting the chance to manage.
Sounding familiar? Stress comes in many forms and in this session we take a look at some of the sources applicable to our younger family members. School, sports, friends, and even the daily routine of life. Brighter Start Academy introduces basic principles for tackling stress and getting on with our goals with a smile.
The Benefit
Direct application of stress management principles.
Session 6
Brighter Start Academy
Developing Personal Leadership
Many of us, in our adult life, never really learn how to become a coach to others until it becomes necessary. A promotion to Manager, a Sporting Coach, or just an Adult Mentor require us to become a Leader in assisting others realise their own potential.
Understanding Growth & Change
We are never too young to learn the most valuable of skills: Leadership. Some develop a talent naturally, whist most succumb to the ideas and ambitions of their peers by default. Leadership is a skill prized above all others in the community and workplace. When asked to identify the most significant personal characteristic needed by management, most senior executives say, "the ability to work with people".
This final session in Brighter Start Academy takes a simple framework for identifying opportunities, focusing on outcomes and rewarding success. We role-play our ideas and begin our journey towards becoming a coach and leader in the Community. This first step will light the fire to truly envisioning the potential in others, the necessity to work at our relationships, and to communicate with clarity and enthusiasm.
The Benefit
Problem solving & recognising potential in others.
Success Philosophy
The Brighter Start Academy's success rides on challenging young adults to better themselves. The centrepiece of our coaching method is the Responsibility Assumption philosophy, tethered to the S.M.A.R.T. system of personal goal attainment with active follow-up and assessment through the programme.
The Responsibility Assumption
The Responsibility Assumption goes beyond generally taking responsibility for something. It is a firm view that each individual affects their perceived world by the decisions they make each day and by the choices they made in the past. Right from our first Brighter Start Academy session we emphasise that each individual is responsible for their own success and should not default to the enthusiasm or leadership of others for that success.
The Responsibility Assumption appears in nearly all motivational and self-empowering programmes around the world. In this Programme we treat all participants as young adults. Material has been developed to deliver a strong sense of responsibility both with individuals and their supportive family and friends.
SMART Goal Setting
Goals are a part of every aspect of life: how you conduct your relationships, what you want to achieve at school, the way you use your spare time... Everything comes down to priorities, and what you would like to accomplish in every aspect. Brighter Start Academy employs SMART goal setting to encourage the active application of programme principles.
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic, and Timely. We do not seek unrealistic goals or ambitions that may not be important to our real lives. Instead we look at how our personal efforts can be rewarded quickly with success. The SMART formula is one that can be applied across a lifetime of accomplishments.
Common Questions
- Will I graduate when the Programme is completed? Yes, so long as you have attended all 6 sessions you will be presented with a Brighter Start Academy graduation certificate.
- Is there an opportunity to join Brighter Start Academy as a Coach? Yes. We invite our outstanding graduates to return as an assistant Coach to further develop their leadership skills.
- Is the Brighter Start Academy Programme available in my school? We conduct shorter, single session workshops as well as the full Programme in-house for participating schools. Ask your school for more details.
- What is the cost of the Programme? Our fee structure places Brighter Start Academy on a par with many other extracurricular tuition such as private music or sports lessons. Contact us for more details.
- Are 1-on-1 sessions available? Yes. You may book a weekly, half hour session. Contact us for availability details.