AFP public speaking course to promote women’s voices in fleet

A new training course, launched by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), is aiming to give women working in the fleet industry the confidence to have their voices heard.

Launched on International Women’s Day (Wednesday, March 8), the new course – Accelerate, Women’s Voices in Fleet – aims to give delegates the tools to speak confidently and clearly in public, whether in a meeting, one to one, at a conference or taking part in a webinar.

Lorna McAtear (pictured), board director at AFP and National Grid fleet manager, said: “We have many talented and otherwise confident women within the AFP and the fleet sector in general who, we have found, are not keen on public speaking.

“This came to light last year when we were planning our 2022 conference and invited several women to speak but found that many were reluctant to do so.”

She continued: “Women’s voices are under-represented at fleet events in general and we want to help encourage women to share their knowledge, experience and ideas publicly because we believe strongly that the industry would all benefit from hearing and learning from them.

“We’d like to help change this situation and the course aims to provide women in fleet with the tools to step forward and be confident about expressing their views whether in a team meeting, board meeting or more publicly.

“If possible, we’d like some of the people who take part to become participants in panels for our AFP Conference, which is taking place in May.” 

The course lasts two days and is being held on April 19-20, at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon. Modules cover subjects including confidence, courage, clarity and content.

McAtear concluded: “We appreciate that stepping outside of your comfort zone requires bravery and the course is designed to create a supportive environment.

“We want all women fleet professionals to be able to make their voice and views heard, sharing with them a toolkit that makes public speaking a skill that can be learnt, honed and repeated.”

Accelerate, Women’s Voices in Fleet course details can be found here.