Online course
Start strong: an audio course for your first year at work
Your first job puts you in a team with people who may be decades older than you and who learned to work in a different world. Start strong is a set of short audio episodes on being heard and getting the feedback you want in your first year at work, whichever generation your manager belongs to.
What the episodes cover
Every generation in one office
What professional looks like to each generation, and how to read the room in your first weeks.
Pick up the phone
When a call works better than a message, and how to make one with confidence.
Ask for the feedback you want
How to ask for feedback, how often to ask, and what to do with it once you have it.
Speak up in meetings
Getting your ideas heard when you are the youngest person in the room.
Network in the room
Building working relationships in person as well as online.
Use AI without losing the skill
Where AI tools help at work, and the skills worth keeping sharp yourself.
Manage up
Working well with a manager from another generation, including one who takes some winning over.
Look after yourself at work
Pressure, boundaries and where to find support when you need it.
How it works
- Eight short audio episodes, made for listening on the way to work.
- A one-page sheet with each episode, with one thing to try that week.
- Places for groups of learners, bought by employers, apprenticeship providers, colleges and universities.
Who it is for
People aged 16 to 25 who are starting work: apprentices, graduates, and school and college leavers. It is also for the early-careers teams, colleges and universities that support them. Learners under 18 will take the course through their school, college or employer.
The course is about working life once you have the job, so it does not cover CVs or interviews.
Built from
Start strong draws on the work and student findings of Communication Habits and Preferences 2024, a UK survey of 4,067 people, and on conversations from the Generationally Speaking podcast with young guests and the people who train them.
About Alastair
Alastair Greener FPSA is President of the Professional Speaking Association UK and Ireland for 2026 and the author of Generationally Speaking: How to bridge the generation gap and communicate with confidence (Right Book Press, 2025), a Business Book Awards 2026 finalist. He is the founder of Present Yourself Ltd, a communication training company, and since January 2025 has hosted the Generationally Speaking podcast, with guests aged from 15 to 90.
Frequently asked questions
Can my organisation, school or college buy places?
Yes, and that is how most learners are expected to take it. Tick My team or organisation when you join the list and say roughly how many learners it is for.
When does the course open?
There is no date yet. Everyone on the waiting list will hear first, and the size of each list helps decide which course Alastair makes first.
How much will it cost?
The price will be set before the course opens, and the waiting list will hear it first.
Is the outline final?
Not yet. It is the plan for the course, and what people on the waiting list say they want will help shape it.
Be first to hear when the course opens
Join the waiting list