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Building Confidence & Assertiveness

Build the confidence to speak up, set boundaries and respond to criticism with clarity, composure and respect.

Development is not only about doing more for the business. It is about feeling more capable in your role, understanding yourself and making room for the career you want. When demands keep growing, we understand why focus, confidence and resilience can need attention too.

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Thrive Training Lab

Explore. Practise. Make it yours.

Duration

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,100

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £899

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

Confidence gives your ideas a voice; assertiveness helps you use it with respect.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

When speaking up or saying no feels difficult, valuable contributions can go unheard and professional boundaries become harder to maintain. Building Confidence & Assertiveness explores what confidence really means, distinguishes passive, aggressive and assertive behaviour, and introduces practical techniques for communicating with greater clarity and presence at work.

Designed for early-career and newly promoted professionals, and anyone wanting to be heard more confidently, the course develops assertive language and body language through focused practice. Delegates build their ability to contribute in meetings, set boundaries respectfully and respond calmly to criticism, supporting more constructive working relationships.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Useful contributions held back by persistent professional self-doubt
  • Boundaries expressed too softly or through unnecessary confrontation
  • Meeting contributions deferred despite relevant ideas or experience
  • Criticism prompting withdrawal instead of a clear measured response

What this can change at work

Assertiveness is not about being the loudest person in the room. Practising clear requests, respectful boundaries and calm responses to criticism helps people contribute without abandoning their own needs or disregarding others. Teams can discuss workload and ideas more openly, giving the business a better chance to hear useful perspectives and address expectations before uncertainty or frustration takes over.

Views voiced clearly

Colleagues offer their perspective in meetings using direct, respectful language instead of waiting for someone else to raise the point.

Boundaries explained respectfully

People say when they cannot take on a request and explain their limits without apologising repeatedly or becoming confrontational.

Criticism met with composure

When challenged, colleagues clarify the feedback and respond to the substance rather than withdrawing or reacting defensively in the moment.

Inside the workshop

This interactive half-day session brings together 6–8 delegates for focused discussion, breakout exercises and peer-to-peer learning, moving from understanding confidence and behaviour styles to practising assertive responses in realistic workplace situations. Through live practice in speaking up, saying no and handling criticism, delegates leave with practical language and techniques to communicate respectfully, maintain boundaries and contribute with greater confidence.

Make Building Confidence & Assertiveness relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with what confidence really is. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss this course

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • What confidence really is
  • Passive, aggressive and assertive behaviour
  • Assertive language and body language
  • Saying no and setting boundaries
  • Speaking up in meetings
  • Handling criticism

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
Half day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Communicate assertively and respectfully
  • Say no and set boundaries confidently
  • Contribute more in meetings
  • Respond calmly to criticism

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Communicate assertively and respectfully.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Building Confidence & Assertiveness into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

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Take control of your workload with practical ways to prioritise, plan your week and protect time for what matters.

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

The aim is not a fuller diary; it is a clearer choice about what deserves your attention. Competing demands, constant interruptions and reactive working can make it difficult to focus on the work that matters most, particularly when juggling multiple priorities or adjusting to hybrid working. This practical half-day course helps delegates distinguish urgent from important, tackle procrastination and distractions, and manage the time spent on email and meetings. Working with their own to-do lists, they learn a simple prioritisation framework, practise planning their week in under 20 minutes and explore how to say no professionally. The focus is on building productive habits and a clear, repeatable system for managing workload with greater control.

Key focus areas

  • Prioritisation (urgent vs important)
  • Planning your week
  • Beating procrastination and distractions
  • Managing email and meetings
  • Saying no professionally
  • Building productive habits

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Prioritise your workload with a simple framework
  • Plan your week in under 20 minutes
  • Reduce time lost to email and meetings
  • Build habits that keep you in control

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Face to face

From £1,100+ VAT

Online: From £899 + VAT

Course details

Personal Productivity & Goal Setting

Set meaningful goals, turn them into practical actions and build productive habits that support focus without sacrificing energy.

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

A meaningful goal needs a workable plan that fits the reality of your week. Busy days can leave little room for meaningful progress, particularly when competing demands, distractions or a change of role make it difficult to maintain focus. This course helps delegates set clear, motivating goals, translate them into a weekly action plan and build daily habits that support consistent progress without relying on longer hours. Delegates explore how to manage energy as well as time, reduce distractions and establish straightforward ways to track and review their progress. Ideal for professionals seeking greater direction, people returning to work and early-career talent, it provides a practical approach to making deliberate choices about where to invest effort.

Key focus areas

  • Setting meaningful goals
  • Breaking goals into actions
  • Building productive habits
  • Managing energy, not just time
  • Reducing distractions
  • Tracking progress

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Set clear, motivating goals
  • Turn goals into a weekly action plan
  • Build habits that support productivity
  • Track and review progress

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Face to face

From £1,100+ VAT

Online: From £899 + VAT

Course details

your next step starts here —

Ready to step into the lab?

Your business. Our training. Together, we thrive.

Bring the challenge your people want to work on. We'll shape a practical training workshop or coaching experience around it — with room to explore, practise and take a useful next step.

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