Last week, FieldFest had the team drumming to the same beat and finding our voice in two high-energy workshops which could loosely be described as self-development or team building without the mud…
Yaron Engler of Upbeat Performance, led our first workshop. Yaron is a professional drummer who uses the medium to give inspirational, interactive talks about communication and self leadership. Wonderfully wild and creatively unhinged, Yaron has performed in front of over half a million people around the world and it’s easy to see why.
After our train journey down to Kent, Yaron soon had us shaking the lethargy from our limbs and enjoying the country air with breathing exercises. His infectious enthusiasm had the entire team on the same wavelength from the off, getting into the spirit of FieldFest, even before we’d approached his vast collection of drums. Dropping pearls of wisdom, as well as leading our drumming chorus, Yaron didn’t miss a beat. He really did set the tone for our team’s away days.
At FieldHouse, we spend our working life sharing our clients’ stories. So on the second day, we were given a presentation workshop from pitching coach to the stars, Amplify’s Stewart Bewley. His coaching techniques have proved successful for an impressively long list of clients from Microsoft and TechStars, to PWC and KPMG. We became the 8,520th people Stewart had coached.
Stewart began by telling us his own story. Formerly an actor, he recognised that techniques from the stage could have a real impact on the business world. His passion for storytelling is evident. Yet Stewart doesn’t just offer tips on communication, he empowers you to believe in your own abilities.
A major problem for most people is that we aren’t always confident enough that our own story is going to be interesting to others. At a certain age, we lose that deep-rooted enthusiasm to take joy in everything that happens to us. Taking inspiration from a well-known trope of storytelling, he encouraged us to see ourselves as ‘The Hero’ in our own journey. Armed with this mindset, your natural demeanour will breathe life into any story you choose to tell.
Two differing performance coaches who gave us new skills, made us laugh and ensured that we appreciated each other even more.
