[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="The power of non-verbal intelligence" ids="113850,113849,113851"] Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah, recently organized Michael Grinder's workshops as the threshold of the new academic year. Grinder is a master and expert in the power of influence through the science of non-verbal communication, charisma and leadership, group dynamics, relationship building and presentation skills. The Liaisons of the workshops were Dr. Suhair Al-Qurashi, president of the University and Salwa Raquib. Dr. Sanaa Askool, Dean of student affairs too actively participated. Grinder's workshops were for six hours each and the topics included Charisma, Group Dynamics and Charisma Engineering. The workshops included interactive sessions on transforming one into a charismatic leader, effect of oral vs. written communication and using non-verbal communication to influence others. The Charisma workshop was also offered to the public on two consecutive days and was attended by social media activist Mohammed Hakeem, who is also best known as an inspirational leader and public speaker. "We learned that charisma is a set of skills that requires you to use your mind to perfect it and affect people. We also had many misconceptions that were cleared such as speaking quickly without pauses. I've also learned how to stand correctly and where to place my hands when listening to someone. It's interesting to know that through simple skills you can affect the person in front of you," said Hakeem. The interactive sessions in Group Dynamics included building skills for successful meetings, training sessions, presentations and facilitation. The five proven ways to adjust a person's management style to deal with different groups were too discussed. Grinder discussed in detail the "Art and Science of Communication" and the four levels of professional development such as permission, perception, process' and content. He further elaborated on the science of non-verbal communication by focusing on the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, breathing and the Special Pentimento Patterns. He discussed six wrong ways to make a first impression, about the "power of the pause" and various other concepts. The workshops proved to be a mere success with people from various fields and different nationalities participating. Students, tutors, educators from popular universities and schools attended the program. A student who attended the workshop said, "You have everything right in your mind but when everything comes to real life applications it vanishes. You don't know whether it is you or them, well that is when charisma comes in and that was what Michael Grinder taught us for the past three days." Certificates were allotted to all on the successful completion of the workshops and students received 1 credit hour for attending the workshop. The workshops were both educative and informative and audience satisfactory. Grinder plans to come back to Dar Al-Hekma in September 2017 after the new academic year begins. "We are happy to have Michael Grinder visit Dar Al-Hekma University and grace us with his knowledge on non-verbal behavior. It makes us even more proud that we were the first institution and place in the Middle East Grinder has visited and look forward to him coming again in September," said Dr. Al-Qurashi.
