Alessandro Garaffi

The lecturers I met in both programs are top-notch teachers with excellent communication skills adapted to young people.
 

Studying in my penultimate year of the International Baccalaureate at an international lycée in Turin, Italy, I am very interested in business and leadership. I started researching the best business management universities in Europe and the world and the Financial Times ranking promptly identified HEC as the top institution worldwide for the subjects that piqued my interest. I was struck by the level of education, the organization, and the programs HEC offered. When I saw that it also offered summer courses for high school students, I immediately acted to enroll in several courses available to me.

I chose High Impact Communication online and was honored to also attend the Youth Leadership Initiative directly on the Paris campus. The lecturers I met in both courses are top-notch teachers with excellent communication skills adapted to young people. I got to know them personally on campus and had a very professional and personal relationship with them. Also, the guest speakers that HEC had chosen for us were people of remarkable personal success who have imparted to us important elements for our future development.

High Impact Communication, which focuses on speaking with confidence in a variety of settings, was utilized to learn different techniques for relating to an audience. It provided me with a solid foundation for communicating with different types of audience and enabled me to understand how to create mental organization while presenting. The program confirmed my desire to be at the center of attention with the eyes of many people on me and to no longer have the fear of not knowing what to do and increased my confidence considerably. The lesson that impressed me the most was about communication during online meetings, where I discovered many techniques to facilitate these types of meetings which are becoming more and more common. It was an enriching journey to have participated in this online workshop. Lastly, the capacity to deal with an audience and communicate confidently and clearly is a form of leadership, so, this course was very helpful because it provided me with the foundation to participate in the Youth Leadership Initiative. 

In this residential program, I went on to develop a diversity of leadership skills that will be useful for my future professional life. It helped me grow in multiple aspects, such as the experience of living on an international campus in full autonomy, and the interaction with faculty and guest speakers increased my knowledge and critical thinking skills. 

I must admit that a few days before departure I was very nervous and agitated as I was facing a very big psychological challenge for me, in that I had to travel abroad and live alone in a place and context unknown to me. But it was worth it!  Every day that I spent on campus with faculty and fellow students gave me great energy, great joy, great experience and autonomy, and a deeper knowledge of the subjects that will be fundamental for me in building my future. 

I recommend these two complementary programs to anyone who wants to achieve important goals in life through the expertise of a No. 1 institution like HEC.

Find out more about High Impact Communication

Find out more about the Youth Leadership Initiative