The Rules of Engagement Seminar Series

A series of informal seminars aimed at assisting academic researchers communicate their research in a range of public situations and media.  Topics covered include expressing complex ideas in an accessible way, making the most of networking, top tips on public speaking, blogging, tweeting, and presenting yourself and your ideas to the media.

Join us for these early evening sessions at Somerset House, wine and nibbles provided!

Communicating with non-academic groups: 1 March 2012

Geoff Colman, Head of Acting at Central School of Speech and Drama will share some of the actor’s trade secrets to public speaking in a practical and informal session.

Geoff Coleman is regularly invited to give masterclasses and workshops both in the UK (Old Vic Theatre, Young Vic Theatre, Soho Theatre, Globe Theatre) and abroad (Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Prague, Spain).  As a director and professional acting coach he has worked with playwrights and actors from various performance contexts ranging from dramaturgs/writers at the National Theatre of Finland and Institut del Teatre Barcelona, to Miramax, Lenny Henry, and international fusion collective Transglobal Underground award-winning singer Natasha Atlas.

Ayla Lepine of The Courtauld Institute will discuss her experience of blogging and tweeting about her research, the pros, cons and issues to be aware of.  Work with Ayla to practise the art of the perfect “tweet”!

Ayla Lepine is the 2012 Mellon Research Forum Postdoctoral Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her academic research focuses on the phenomenon of revivalism in modern art and architecture, and her writing has appeared in The Burlington Magazine, Art and Christianity, Arts Professional and the Architects’ Journal. She’s presently working on a book about the Gothic Revival’s hidden history in the twentieth century. A lecturer, curator, blogger and tweeter, Ayla’s work is underpinned by robust and flexible interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and propelled by impressive quantities of caffeine.