How to sum up the life of a Civil Service College Trainer?
Well, if you'll excuse my playing in the world of words, my particular area of expertise...
Fascinating, feelgood, and fun is a fine way of putting it.
Firstly, you get to pass on those skills you've built up over the years to some wonderful people.
And that's a great feelgood experience.
These are some new friends I made from a delegation of politicians from India.
We talked all about how best to get their message across, which they found very helpful.
And which, in turn, I found very fulfilling.
It's also fascinating, meeting people from so many different places, with such a variety of perspectives on life.
You also have the scope for some lovely creativity in the way you teach. And that makes it fun.
This picture was from a session on storytelling with some politicians visiting London from Malaysia.
Photos are such an important part of communications, and they wanted some memories to take home with them...
So what better way to teach photography than taking a picture of a classic eccentric Englishman? In this case, you won't be surprised to hear, me.
You also get to travel, and explore places you wouldn't otherwise have the privilege of enjoying.
This was Guernsey, where I did some work on how to deal with the media for their important financial sector.
And this was Edinburgh, where I worked with the Scottish government on their communications.
I've now taught courses on all areas of the media, from social to radio, TV and newspapers; complete communications, from writing a report to making a speech; and dealing with pressure, including experiences from being a news editor to an army officer.
This was a workshop I did with Public Health England, on how to handle pressure.
But perhaps the greatest feature of the teaching I do is that it's a true win-win in life.
I get to talk about subjects I love, I learn a great deal about them, and myself in the process.
The group get to understand, and put into practice, new skills which can be a great benefit to them.
I don't think I've ever finished a course without there being a lovely buzz in the room, shared between all of us.
The job of a trainer is fascinating, feelgood and fun, an absolute privilege for so many reasons.
I'm looking forward to holding many more courses in my communications field over the coming years.
This piece was written by Simon Hall a Communications Consultant and trainer for the Civil Service College, visit his blog here. Simon leads courses on Complete Communications, Social Media, Mastering the Media and Dealing with Pressure.
Twitter - @SimonHallNews
