From Knowledge to Confidence: A LookBack at Our First Speaker TrainingWorkshop
- Alberto Barea
- May 22
- 5 min read
30 April 2026 | Willan House, London | By the Bright Med Team
On 30 April 2026, Bright Med hosted its very first in-person workshop — and what a day it was. Held at Willan House in Fitzroy Square, the London headquarters of the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), the Speaker Training Programme brought together a carefully selected group of ten healthcare professionals for a full day of practical, hands-on learning. This event was always going to be small by design. The nature of the training — immersive, interactive, and involving individual presentations with live feedback — meant that a single-figure cohort was not just ideal, it was essential. We are proud to say that the majority of attendees were nurses whose participation was generously supported by the British Dermatological Nursing Group (BDNG), who backed this initiative and enabled their members to take part. The result was a room full of motivated, curious, and genuinely engaged clinicians who were ready to invest in their own development.
Setting the Scene — A Day Designed with Care
We wanted the day to feel different from the outset. Before a single slide was shown, participants arrived to find a freshly prepared hot drink from the local café waiting for them — pre-ordered on their behalf. It was a small gesture, but it set the tone immediately: this was a day curated with attention and warmth.
Attendees had been asked to bring their laptops, a detail that would prove essential during the afternoon. The venue itself — a beautifully appointed Georgian townhouse in the heart of London — provided an atmosphere that felt both professional and welcoming. For many, it was their first time inside the BAD headquarters, and the setting added a real sense of occasion to the experience.
The Programme — Three Core Pillars of Speaker Excellence
The day was structured around three interlocking disciplines, each delivered by a faculty member who brought their own unique expertise and energy to the room.
Session 1 — The Performance of Presenting
Dr. Natalia Fox opened the day with what can only be described as a masterclass in the art and science of speaking. Her session was deliberately interactive: participants were invited to stand up and speak spontaneously, to practise breathing and vocal exercises, and to watch and critique examples of both outstanding and less-than-ideal presentations from the world of public speaking.
Dr. Fox covered the full spectrum of the performative side of speaking — preparation and mindset, verbal and non-verbal communication, posture, voice modulation, and crucially, how to manage nerves before and during a presentation. The ice-breaker exercise in which attendees had to speak briefly on an assigned scenario drew laughter, a few nerves, and — within minutes — genuine confidence.
Session 2 — Reading and Presenting Clinical Evidence
Dr. Roshni Mols took participants into the world of clinical data — an area that many healthcare professionals find daunting when it comes to communicating it clearly to others. Her session offered a practical framework for appraising and evaluating scientific papers, covering foundational principles such as p-values, standard deviation, confidence intervals, and the interpretation of clinical trial results.
The goal was not to turn clinicians into statisticians, but to give them the tools to extract the key messages from complex data and translate them into presentations that are clear, accurate, and accessible to any audience — whether specialist peers or broader healthcare teams.
Session 3 — Building Slides that Work for the Brain
Alberto Barea closed the formal teaching with a session that drew on neuropsychology to answer a question every presenter secretly wonders: why do some slide decks engage an audience whilst others send them to sleep?
Working through the principles of narrative framing, working memory, and cognitive load, the session gave participants highly specific and immediately actionable guidance: how to build a story arc and narrative, how to choose fonts and colours, how many words belong on a slide, and how to sequence content so that it lands rather than overwhelms.
But what truly stole the show was the live demonstration of AI-powered slide creation. Using tools such as Gamma, Alberto showed how a visually compelling, well-structured presentation can be built in a fraction of the usual time — a revelation for attendees who had previously spent hours wrestling with PowerPoint.
The Practical — Putting It All Together
The afternoon culminated in the moment that every attendee had been both looking forward to and quietly dreading: the live presentation exercise.
Each participant was given a choice between two scientific papers and asked to develop a concise five-slide presentation to deliver in front of the group. They had their laptops, the skills they had absorbed throughout the day, and a fixed amount of time to bring it all together. Then — one by one — they stood up and presented.
For some, it was nerve-wracking. For all of them, it was transformative. Each presenter received individual, constructive feedback tailored to their strengths and the areas where a small adjustment could make a significant difference. By the end of the exercise, the growth visible even within that single session was remarkable.
“I have not felt that it was a workshop at all — it was fun and very interactive, with no room for judgement. This workshop has been really useful for me. It has given me new ideas, helped me understand things about talking in public more clearly, and made me feel more confident about my future.” - Maricris Moreno, Attendee
In Their Own Words — Attendee Feedback
The feedback received in the days following the workshop was genuinely heartening. Here is a selection of response.
“I enjoyed the relaxed and informal atmosphere but equally, the session remained highly informative and professional. The presentations were clear and easy to follow, delivered in a way that seemed to suit everyone. Alberto’s session on improving presentation content and layout was invaluable and has given me a whole weekend’s worth of playing with different apps.” — Stephanie G.
“The highlight for me was Natalya’s session and the tips for using AI for presentations — Gamma is now my best friend.” — Amanda A.
“The course was very practical and engaging. I particularly found it useful to learn how to structure my presentation. I also appreciated the emphasis on credibility, but also the permission to say ‘I don’t know’. This made the training feel realistic and I felt less pressure.” - Emily H.
“The practical exercises improved my confidence in presenting by giving me practical strategies to structure my delivery and engage an audience effectively. It has also increased my awareness of how to use AI responsibly within healthcare.” - Taffie D.
What Comes Next
This was our first in-person workshop — but it will not be our last. The response from attendees, faculty, and the BDNG alike has affirmed what we set out to create: a truly high-value, skills-based learning experience for healthcare professionals who want to step into rooms with more confidence and leave a lasting impression on their audiences.
We are already planning our next cohort. If you are a Bright Med member and the idea of developing your own presenting skills resonates, keep an eye on this space — details of upcoming dates will be shared with members first.
Because great speakers are not simply born. They are trained — and now, they are trained with us.
