Anel Martin

The aim for me is to create practical and future focused material for the executive assistant role. The material has been created using my own experience as an award winning assistant, entrepreneur and qualified Results Based Coach. I have also had the privilege of working all around the world which gives my programs a global view. This is the shortened version of the four day master class and it consists of 11 Modules with a strong focus on how we prepare for the Connection Economy, keeping the role relevant, communication, brand and productivity.

DAY 1

Module 1 – The Connection Economy and the Assistant’s role

• What is the Connection Economy?
• How will this Fourth Industrial Revolution change the world of work?
• What will the impact be on our profession?
• What will be the key attributes for success in the future?
• Trends to watch : AI, Big Data, Digital Nomads…etc.

 

Module 2 – Building a Powerful Brand

• What is a Personal Brand and why does it matter?
• How do you clearly define your brand? Create a brand story
• Steps to enhance your brand
• Your brand, your manager’s brand and the company brand – being a custodian of brand value

 

Module 3 – Brain Basics

• How does your brain respond to fear?
• Why do we back away from challenge?
• How do we learn?
• Dealing with overload and overwhelm?
• What happens when your brain is under stress and how does one cope?

 

Module 4 – Boost Your Personal Productivity

• We all face time and resource constraints
• How do you get more done with less?
• How to differentiate between urgent and important?
• Practical steps for enhancing your productivity

 

Module 5 – Collaboration

• Collaboration will be critically important in the future
• Collaboration makes business sense
• How do we collaborate successfully?
• How do we create a collaboration culture?

 

Module 6 – Customer Care is EVERYONE’S job!

• Own your customer, be their champion!
• Dealing with difficult customers
• Going the extra mile and being service orientated

 

DAY 2

Module 7 – Communication in the Modern World

• How has technology changed the channels and speed of communication?
• What are the major trends?
• How will modern professionals need to adapt?

 

Module 8 – Effective Presentation Skills : The Confidence to speak in Public

• Learning how to speak in front of people
• Avoiding death by PowerPoint
• Expert Tips
• Practical experience

 

Module 9 – Assistants as early adopters and change champions

• Understanding the stages of Change
• How to manage change personally and support your team during transitions
• Taking the stress out of new software and systems by collaborating

 

Module 10 – Networking for success

• Why you need to network?
• How do you network online and where?
• How do you network in the real world?
• Your network = your net worth

 

Module 11 – Getting Focused

• Planning ahead
• Time Management
• Getting organised
• Reducing the multi-tasking/distractions and noise
• Switching off and being present

 

Conclusion and Wrap Up

This is the expanded version of the Upgrade Yourself Two Day Assistant Master Class. As with the two day program I have tried to create relevant, fresh and up to the minute materials which would help assistants and companies future-proof themselves against the changes that radical digitalisation and AI will bring. This is an in-depth, immersive training experience which will create high performance mind-sets which focuses on the Top Skills for 2020 (WEF). It contains 23 Modules.

DAY 1

Module 1 – The Connection Economy and the Assistant’s role

• What is the Connection Economy?
• How will this Fourth Industrial Revolution change the world of work?
• What will the impact be on our profession?
• What will be the key attributes for success in the future?
• Trends to watch : AI, Big Data, Digital Nomads…etc.

 

Module 2 – Top Skills for 2020

• What are the Top Skills identified by the WEF?
• How are we currently using them?
• How do we maximise and enhance these skills further?

 

Module 3 – Building a Powerful Brand

• What is a Personal Brand and why does it matter?
• How do you clearly define your brand? Create a brand story
• Steps to enhance your brand
•  Your brand, your manager’s brand and the company brand – being a custodian of brand value

 

Module 4 – Brain Basics

• How does your brain respond to fear?
• Why do we back away from challenge?
• How do we learn?
• Dealing with overload and overwhelm?
• What happens when your brain is under stress and how does one cope?

 

Module 5 – Problem Solving like a Pro

• Regrouping in times of crisis
• Formula for problem solving
• Tools for problem solving
• Applying creativity and positive energy to challenges

 

Module 6 – Assistants and Business Continuity

• What is Business Continuity?
• What should we consider, plan and put in place?
• Your role in times of crisis

 

DAY 2

Module 7 – Communication in the Modern World

• How has technology changed the channels and speed of communication?
• What are the major trends?
• How will modern professionals need to adapt?

 

Module 8 – Dealing with Infobesity and Tech Stress

• How do we all create less email?
• How do you process and deal with masses of electronic communication effectively?
• Tech detox and why we need it

 

Module 9 – Communicating with Confidence

• Exploring body language and voice skills
• How do you create a more confident impression with good communication skills?
• Managing your inner dialogue to boost confidence
• You fake it until you become it (fooling the body to create the reality)

 

Module 10 – Creating Focused Written Communication

• How to create written communication that people will actually read
• Being mindful of the limitations on bandwidth/attention span that we all face
• Changing the email culture

 

Module 11 – Difficult Discussions & Dealing with Conflict

• Preparing for difficult discussions
• Identifying your conflict and communication style
• Seeing conflict as an opportunity
• Speaking up when you need to

 

Module 12 – Listening Skills : Get the detail and get things done!

• Practical listening techniques
• Listening to enhance relationships
• Listening to enhance performance

 

DAY 3

Module 13 – Boost Your Personal Productivity

• We all face time and resource constraints
• How do you get more done with less?
• How to differentiate between urgent and important?
• Practical steps for enhancing your productivity

 

Module 14 – Getting Organised

• Organised? Are you born with it? Can you learn it?
• What should be organised more carefully?
• How do we get organised – step by step strategy

 

Module 15 – Time Management : ROLEX THEORY

• Seeing time as an asset and yourself as an asset manager
• Block planning for the day, 3 days, week and month cycles
• Getting back to basics on diary management
• Problems and strategies on time management in the modern office

 

Module 16 – Using Your To Do List for maximum results

• The science behind making a list
• Brain dump
• How to create and actually use your to do list

 

Module 17 –Creating and Managing Team Task Lists

• Can minutes be replaced with something more useful and practical for team meetings?
• Can you help you manager to get better production/performance from the team?
• Can you function as a second brain for your manager by using a Task List System?
• How do you implement a Task List System?

 

Module 18 – Monkey Mind : Managing Procrastination

• Why do we procrastinate?
• What procrastination does to your energy reserves and enjoyment of your role
• How do you beat your own Monkey mind

 

DAY 4

Module 19 – Building Emotional Intelligence

• What is EQ?
• EQ vs. IQ
• Why emotional intelligence will matter more in the future?
• Components of EQ
• Steps to build EQ

 

Module 20 – Dealing with stress and finding resilience

• What causes Assistant stress?
• Stress is contagious…how is your boss’ stress?
• Eustress, distress and chronic stress
• Strategies to deal with stress
• Practical steps for building resilience

 

Module 21 – Accountability and Extreme Ownership

• Becoming a real leader requires personal leadership first
• Discipline is power and creates respect
• Beating the blame game in your office
• Owning and being fully accountable for everything in your sphere of control
• Ridding yourself of the victim mentality

 

Module 22 – Discretion and Confidentiality

• Access to confidential materials and the associated responsibility
• The pressure of inside information
• Being ethical and discreet as critical factors to the Assistant role
• The double edged sword of discretion

 

Module 23 – Pay Attention and be mindful

• Being in the moment
• STOP MULTI-TASKING (as much as you can)
• Minimising distractions
• Paying attention to people, subtext, subtle clues, new ideas and creative impulses

 

Conclusion and Wrap Up

DAY 1

Module 1 – Communication in the Modern World

• How has technology changed the channels and speed of communication?
• What are the major trends?
• How will modern professionals need to adapt?

 

Module 2 – Core Concepts of Communication

• Communication Channels
• Coding and Decoding
• Noise
• How incorrect communication methods impact the quality of communication

 

Module 3 – Creating Focused Written Communication

• How to structure written communication for maximum effect
• Understand how people process written communication
• Top tips for creating better emails

 

Module 4 – Body Language

• What is your body language telling other people?
• Do people believe your words or your body?
• Link between brain and body (do, feel and become)
• Small hacks to appear (and feel) more confident

 

Module 5 – Voice

• How important is your voice?
• Speed of speech
• Tone
• Audibility of speech
• What can you change and improve about your voice?

 

Module 6 – Effective Presentation Skills : The Confidence to speak in Public

• Learning how to speak in front of people
• Avoiding death by PowerPoint
• Gaining tips and practical experience

 

DAY 2

Module 7 – Listening

• Practical listening techniques
• Listening to enhance relationships
• Listening to enhance performance

 

Module 8 – Difficult Discussions and Conflict

• Preparing for difficult discussions
• Identifying your conflictand communication style
• Reframing conflict as an opportunity
• Speaking up when you need to

 

Module 9 – Creating your own brand story

• Understand the importance of your brand
• Unpack your special features
• What is a brand story?
• Create your own brand story
• When is a brand story useful?

 

Module 10 – Managing your brand on social media

• Why does social media matter?
• Do’s of social
• Don’ts of social

 

Module 11 – LinkedIn

• How to create a profile (step by step)
• Common pitfalls
• Advantages of having a good profile
• Overcoming the feeling of bragging
• LinkedIn profile vs. CV

 

Conclusion and Wrap Up 

DAY 1

Module 1 – What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ) & why does it matter?

• Intro to EQ
• EQ on the Top 10 skills for 2020 list
• Connection Economy and the importance of EQ
• EQ & human work (the rise of AI)

 

Practical Session – EQ Questionnaire

Module 2 – Self-awareness (Internal)

• Understanding your emotions
• Learning how to acknowledge and release feelings
• Identifying the things that push your buttons

 

Module 3 – Self-management (Internal)

• Being able to control your impulses
• The power in choice (gap between input and response)
• Inner dialogue and how it enhances self-management
• Self-talk and confidence

 

Module 4 – Social awareness (External)

• Understanding relationship dynamics
• Office politics and hierarchy
• Context and subtext in conversations or other communication

 

Module 5 – Relationships (External)

• Building trust
• Creating rapport
• Boosting team morale
• Listening and its impact on relationships

 

Practical Session – Stakeholder Identification and Action Plan

Module 6 – Leadership & Influence

• What is leadership and how does it differ from management?
• Key leadership attributes
• Growing your influence
• Discipline and personal leadership

 

DAY 2

Opening: Recap & Review of Day 1 – delving into insights/questions from the previous day

Module 7 – Difficult Discussion

• Finding your conflict and communication style
• Identifying your manager/s styles
• How to utilise these as guides and potential strategies
• How to prepare for difficult discussions

 

Practical Coaching Session – Dilemna Resolution as a group and action plan for a future difficult discussion

Module 8 – Building a Powerful Brand

• Understanding that your brand influences your earning potential and opportunities
• Your brand can positively or negatively impact your team and your company

 

Practical Session – Creating a Personal Brand Story

Module 9 – Managing up or without title

• How do I get people to do what is required without using force, threats or positional power?
• The power of leverage( used well)

 

Module 10 – Dealing with toxic personalities and office politics

• Survival strategies for harsh work environments
• Common manifestations and the impact on the global workforce

 

Module 11 – Managing your stress to improve EQ

• What is the impact of stress on EQ?
• What does stress do to your body?
• How to build resilience
• How to get organised to combat stress

 

Practical Session – Brain Dump and Relaxation Technique

Conclusion and Wrap Up

DAY 1

Module 1 – Death by PowerPoint

• Why do we sit through so many bad meetings and presentations?
• Why is PowerPoint so ineffective in some cases
• Is PowerPoint the only method for presentations?
• How to deal with and make the most of templates

 

Module 2 – Understanding your audience

• How do we identify and speak to our audience?
• What does our audience need from us?
• Who are the influencers?

 

Module 3 – Creating Compelling Content

• How should you approach your content creation?
• Research and managing your info partners
• What human limitations should we be aware of?

 

Module 4 – Voice

• Tips for making the most of your voice
• Can the voice be improved?
• How to prepare your voice and breathing before a presentation

 

Practical Session (10 minutes) – Simple Vocal Warm up and Breathing 

 

Module 5 – Body Language

• Albert Marhabian Communication Model
• Posture, expressions and micro expressions
• People always believe what your body is saying
• Mirroring
• Avoiding the clichés of body language

 

Video Comparisons – Good vs. Bad Body Language and Voice – What Can we Learn?

 

Module 6 – Tips & Tricks

• Tips & Tricks that I have learnt from international speakers

 

Practical Activity – Briefing on Mock Presentations

 

DAY 2

 

Opening: Recap & Review of Day 1 – delving into insights/questions from the previous day

 

Practical Session – Individual Mock Presentations & Feedback

 

Module 7 – Looking & Feeling Confident

• How to I project confidence?
• How do I ensure that I position myself for success?
• Neuroscience hacks for creating actual confidence

 

Module 8 – Repetition & Rehearsal

• Hardwiring
• Making mistakes early and often
• Refining the skill over time
• How to rehearse

 

Module 9 – Common Presentation Problems & Fixes

• Common problems discussed
• Issues analysed
• Solutions suggested

 

Practical Activity – Debrief on Information and Group Discussion on take-aways and what they plan to implement

 

Conclusion and Wrap Up

I have many hours in my catalogue which can be used to create your own customised program. I am also able to build new material according to client requirements.

Module 1 – The Connection Economy and the assistant’s role
Module 2 – Top Skills for 2020
Module 3 – Collaboration and mentorship
Module 4 – Innovation and problem solving strategies
Module 5 – Organisational culture and the value you can add
Module 6 – Brain Basics
Module 7 – Building Confidence
Module 8 – Effective Presentation Skills
Module 9 – Consistency and Accountability
Module 10 – Resilience, ethics and discretion
Module 11 – Change management
Module 12 – PR for the modern assistant
Module 13 – Customer Care
Module 14 – Business continuity for PAs
Module 15 – Advanced social media concepts for PAs
Module 16 – Social media trends
Module 17 – Electronic records management for PA roles
Module 18 – Hard copy records management
Module 19 – Creating a filing and e-filing system
Module 20 – Filing Action Plan
Module 21 – Filing migration strategy and the future
Module 22 – Confidentiality in document management
Module 23 – The Modern PA
Module 24 – Planning and Preparation
Module 25- Diary and Time Management
Module 26 – Managing Mail and To Do Lists
Module 27 – Successful Travel Management
Module 28 – Meetings and Minutes
Module 29 – Communication in the modern world
Module 30 – Communication and conflict styles
Module 31 – Verbal and non-verbal communication
Module 32 – Report writing
Module 33 – Difficult conversations and conflict
Module 34 – Listening
Module 35 – The Magic Power of the To Do List
Module 36 – C Level Personal Assistants
Module 37 – Building a strong personal brand
Module 38 – Technology in the workplace
Module 39 – How to get the most from your smartphone
Module 40 – Project Management for Personal Assistants
Module 41 – The PA personality
Module 42 – Leadership and people management
Module 43 – Building emotional intelligence
Module 44– Goals and development plans
Module 45 – Stress and bullying in the workplace
Module 46 – The Modern PA Survival Guide
Module 47 – The Rolex Theory – Time Management

Anel Martin provided the keynote for our annual Administrative Professionals Day training and development event. As a former personal assistant, we were so excited to be hearing her first hand perspective on the important challenges facing our industry, including information on how to navigate the latest tech and IT trends and tools needed to embrace rapid change. Her approach to tackling these important topics came with good humor along with great information on addressing the major factors of our industry trends. She focused on how to succeed in the new digital economy and skills for surviving beyond the rise of AI. Anel added value to our group event and I would highly recommend her for your administrative event.

Anel Martin was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Exxaro Office Professionals’ Seminar and she was outstanding.  She used the topic we gave her and with her background knowledge as an Assistant, she gave practical advice that was well-researched and delivered with flair.  Her presentations are not boring bullet-form presentations and you cannot wait to see what happens on the next slide.  Anél is a vibrant, interesting speaker with a wealth of knowledge.  I can highly recommend her for any speaking engagement.

Anel captivates from her first words with her charmingly warm South African accent. Then she delivers the goods in spades. Anel’s presentations are content-rich, very funny, and ring with the truth that comes from been there/done that experience.