Australia Awards South and West Asia

On 28 January, Australia Awards – Nepal organised a Communication Excellence Workshop for members of the Women in Leadership Network, bringing together more than 50 alumni to strengthen their communication and presentation capabilities. The workshop focused on practical tools to help emerging women leaders deliver confident, compelling presentations in their professional roles.

Recognising that effective communication is central to leadership, the workshop provided alumni with techniques to elevate both the content and delivery of their presentations, skills that support their influence as leaders, changemakers and professionals.

Workshop facilitator and corporate coach Ms Mannsi Agrawal, highlighted important prerequisites for successful presentations, including overcoming fear and understanding the audience. She emphasised that everyone experiences some level of fear when presenting, but thorough preparation can help overcome it. She explained that a presentation has two key elements: content and manner.

Ms Agrawal delivering the session.

She explained that good content follows a clear structure that makes a presentation easy to understand. According to Ms Agrawal, every presentation consists of three parts: an opening, a body and a conclusion. The opening should capture the audience’s attention and establish the speaker’s credibility. The body should elaborate on the key aspects of the topic, and when preparing this section, Ms Agrawal advised participants to use the PREP method—point, reason, example, point. For the conclusion, she encouraged the alumni to include a clear call to action supported by persuasive and impactful statements.

Ms Agrawal also stressed that to deliver a powerful presentation, manner is as important as content. In some contexts, ‘how’ something is said can be more influential than ‘what’ is said. She encouraged presenters to be mindful of body language and voice, noting that while their content should follow a pattern, their delivery should be natural and avoid sounding predictable. Good posture, purposeful gestures, proper eye contact, and varied movement can help presenters appear confident. For vocal delivery, she recommended paying attention to volume, enunciation, pauses, and emphasis.

Participants responded positively to the workshop. Alum Ms Hema Bhatt shared that the session was highly useful, particularly the guidance on crafting openings and highlighting key points. Ms Bhatt, Country Manager for Oxford Policy Management Nepal and Vice President of the Association of Nepalese Alumni Association, said, “The workshop will definitely help me in my professional growth.”

Ms Bhatt posing a question during the workshop.

Similarly, Ms Shova Baral, Livestock Development Officer at the National Livestock Breeding Office in Pokhara, said that the workshop enhanced her confidence in public speaking. She particularly valued the practical tip of maintaining eye contact with the audience as a whole, an approach she believes will help her remain composed even when presenting to her seniors.

Ms Baral (right) enjoying the session.

The Communication Excellence Workshop forms part of the broader Australia Awards alumni engagement program, which aims to strengthen alumni networks while supporting their continuous professional development.

The Women in Leadership Network is a member-led alumni initiative under Australia Awards – Nepal that aims to connect, celebrate and strengthen women leaders. Together, its members seek to foster equity and inclusion by sharing knowledge, building leadership capacity and advancing gender equality.