Offering a variety of professional development opportunities, the WESTRAIN program connects trainers and members to provide access to customized training sessions. Selected trainers are leaders in their respective areas of expertise delivering nonpartisan training designed to enhance leadership skills of legislators and legislative staff.

Training sessions are offered as a member service and provided at the request of legislative leadership.

TRAINING TOPICS INCLUDE

COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC SPEAKING – Effective delivery of your message can be instrumental in communicating with constituents, colleagues, and the media. Learning tools to control your nerves, tailor your message, and be prepared for any question can ensure successful interactions for all audiences.

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS – The modern news cycle is now global and non-stop with a variety of platforms ready to share the latest information – good and bad. Learn how to prepare for the unexpected crisis in a way that aligns with your goals and community.

DEVELOPING DIVERSITY – Utilize recent research to better understand diversity and how to move from having a seat at the table to be a voice in the conversation. Discover ways to incorporate differences to maximize creative solutions and sustained results.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS – Through a better understanding of our own leadership style and tendencies, we are able to identify areas of opportunity to improve our ability to build and direct others. Explore the foundation elements of great leadership – trust, clarity of purpose, action – and how to build upon them to achieve common goals.

INFLUENTIAL AWARENESS – A common trait among effective leaders is the ability to influence those around them. The ability to understand the different styles of influence and how they work together, or against one another, provides insight and the ability to adapt for great influence.

INTEGRITY & ETHICS– Go beyond rules and laws to discover how intentional efforts to connect with others, build trust, and develop clear communications can shape the culture of your environment.

MEDIA RELATIONS – Gain insights from experienced reporters and communications experts on best practices for more effective media interactions. Learn how to create a media plan, take questions from reporters, and best practices for publicizing your work.

MEETING MANAGEMENT – Hone your skills and gain a better understanding of how to design and implement a well-structured and facilitated meeting. From building a well timed agenda to maintaining participant focus throughout the meeting, this review of key meeting elements can enhance all levels of meeting management skills.

NAVIGATING CONFLICT – Everyone has a style preference for dealing with conflict. Understanding the styles and how they work together, or against, resolution can provide key tools to being able to convincingly sell a point of view and achieve goals in a nonthreatening manner.

NEGOTIATION & CONSENSUS BUILDING – The ability to successfully negotiate and find consensus is key to success in the legislative arena. Sharpening techniques can increase effectiveness for those seeking to reach common ground, make a deal, and build consensus among colleagues and/or their communities.

STRESS MANAGEMENT – Recent research suggests that improving the ability to identify and manage stress has a significant impact on the work environment and personal performance. A review of the new science of stress management focuses on developing awareness, as well as tools to intentionally manage stress situations to improve both mental and physical well-being.

For information or training requests, please contact Edgar Ruiz, CSG West Director.