Think on Your Feet® for the Civil Service
The unexpected is the norm in the Civil Service. One moment you’re in a routine meeting; the next, a senior leader or minister asks a tough question. The Government Campus approved Think on Your Feet® workshop gives you practical tools to stay composed, communicate clearly and make your message land – every time.
Key outcomes
Think on Your Feet® gives civil servants a practical, easy-to-use framework to handle the communication challenges they face every day:
- Staying composed under pressure – answer questions in any meetings, briefings or ministerial sessions.
- Turning complex policy into clarity – explain data, strategy or technical detail in a way everyone can understand.
- Influencing and engaging – ensure your ideas are heard, understood and remembered.
Why strong verbal communication skills make a difference
High pressure is the norm:
- Complex ideas can get lost in translation.
- Pressure can cause even the most prepared professionals to stumble and waver.
- Strong ideas fail to persuade without clear, confident delivery.
Strong verbal communication enhances collaboration, accelerates decision-making, and fosters trust across teams and with the public. Think on Your Feet® gives you the practical framework to handle these challenges with ease, so you can:
- Organise your thoughts fast and present ideas clearly.
- Tailor your message for any audience.
- Stay calm under pressure using techniques to pause, think and refocus.
- Make every word count.
Who is it for?
- Policy and project professionals explaining complex ideas to non-specialists.
- Leaders and managers who regularly brief ministers, senior colleagues or external partners.
Anyone who wants to get better at thinking quickly, structuring answers and speaking with confidence. Whether contributing to meetings, handling tough questions or representing your department, you’ll leave ready to communicate with clarity and impact.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to:
- Think and speak confidently in any unplanned situation.
- Explain complex policy or technical issues simply and clearly.
- Handle tough questions and interruptions with ease.
- Engage and influence diverse audiences, from colleagues and ministers to the public.
- Show behaviours that align with the Civil Service ‘Communicating & Influencing’ competency.
Duration and delivery
This is a specific Civil Service workshop. If you work outside of the Civil Service? Think on Your Feet® is also available worldwide for private and other public sector organisations. Find out more here.
Indigo is proud to be the exclusive distributor of Think on Your Feet® in the UK. It is a practical two-day workshop available online, face-to-face or in-house. Flexible scheduling and one-to-one coaching options are available.
Book a place on a public workshop or arrange an in-house session for your team today.
Think on Your Feet® can also be combined with your existing programmes to ensure you provide the best training, resulting in the most efficient verbal communication from your people.
Public workshops
Our open workshops are ideal for individuals, small groups or anyone reviewing a programme before wider rollout. They’re delivered in small groups, either face-to-face or online.
You can reserve a place on this workshop at up to £875pp + VAT.
In-House workshops
We send our consultant to your offices to train your entire team through an in-company workshop. This allows us to focus on the team's training needs and enables us to deliver it at a time and date that suits them, significantly reducing the per-delegate cost. Prices are based on 12 delegates; we can train up to 20 for an additional fee.
Delegate places are available at up to £575pp + VAT.
