ALLCOT, together with other public and private organizations from the Dominican Republic, which will attend and support the delegation to COP28, were trained in public speaking to effectively advocate for climate action on the global stage.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, through its Alejandro E. Grullón E. Sustainability Chair, and Fundación Popular organized a workshop with renowned international negotiation expert Juan Carlos Monterrey of Geoversity (Nature’s University) in which representatives of important non-governmental organizations participated, including ALLCOT, which through ALLCOT Academy, supports the Dominican delegation in capacity building and action for climate empowerment.

Effective public speaking for COP28

In the preamble to the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), convened for the end of the year by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the training activity was aimed at increasing the public speaking skills and abilities of the Dominican delegation to effectively advocate for climate action on the global stage.

During the training, Monterrey Gómez said that “effective public speaking is a powerful tool to advocate for climate action“, explaining that it improves the negotiators’ abilities to communicate their message in a persuasive, attractive and confident manner.

The key principles

Participants focused on key principles, such as the importance of strategic pauses, crafting impactful opening words, appropriate timing of praise, relevance of attire, clarity of the core message, conciseness in communication, and effective use of inspirational quotes, among other topics.

The workshop was based on the content of the book Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History’s Greatest Speakers, by American author James C. Humes, and was conducted in an interactive manner, motivating audience participation through examples, comments and dynamics designed to improve the public speaking skills of the Dominican Republic’s technical negotiators before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

At the end of the activity, the executive director of Geoversity, the University of Nature in Panama, said that the Dominican delegation is prepared to make a significant impact at COP28, advocating for climate action through bold and effective communication.