We are a company that works for society
We believe that the best communication and decision-making processes happen in teams where critical thinking, listening and argumentation are valued and frequently used skills.Various research confirms that these are the most important skills for the leaders and professionals in the twenty-first century. According to the "The Future of Jobs Report" published by the World Economic Forum, the top ten of the most important professional skills to have in 2020 will include problem-solving, critical thinking and negotiation skills. By 2022, "human" skills such as negotiation, critical thinking, persuasion and problem-solving are predicted to remain topical or even gain increased importance. And so, even though technological advancements change the nature of work, at the light of these changes people need to have good interpersonal skills.
We are an enterprise that works for society—we are a social company. Social entrepreneurship developed when entrepreneurship met social interests. As a company, in addition to earning a profit we strive to solve a social problem from which society would benefit from. For us, there is beneficial value in increasing the number of people with argumentation skills and in rationalising the discussions by actively involving them in social discussions.
SpeakSmart has developed from a global debate movement and has actively been teaching argumentation skills in Estonia since 1994. Our employees share the understanding of our company’s mission to teach the necessary skills for and introduce a mindset of having discussions in organisations and society, where the strongest argument wins and not the strongest, who wins the argument. Since 2012, we've been one of the founding members of the Estonian Social Enterprise Network.
We help our clients become organisations where leadership decisions are made based on arguments by:
- developing quick and analytical thinking;
- helping to phrase viewpoints using argumentation;
- practicing how to listen and ask;
- initiating and leading discussions that are rational and based on strong arguments;
- consulting on how to perform with confidence and ease.
We are celebrating 15 years of business!
On 10 June 2006, we began as a training service department at non-profit organization Estonian Debating Society). In 2012, we were able to expand and create the first full-time positions with the support of the National Foundation of Civil Society. We were one of the operating divisions of Estonian Debating Society and have later been named as Estonian Debating Society's training and later Väitluskoolitus (Debate training). Since the 2011/2012 academic year, debating has also been included in the state curricula of schools.In 2015, we separated from Estonian Debating Society and by becoming SpeakSmart OÜ we started using the trademark SpeakSmart. The sole proprietor of the enterprise is Estonian Debating Society.
In 2015, we conducted research on communication among our clients. The results indicated that argumentation skills were important to them in various areas of life and especially important in communicating their positions, allocating work tasks or reaching mutual understanding between colleagues. Our clients recognize that the skills we teach help them foster a better team spirit by strengthening the team's sense of belonging and clarifying each other's strengths, weaknesses and world views.
In 2015/2016, we were the main partner in the project “Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Personnel Planning and Development”, which was led by the Tax and Customs Board. This project won the title of 2017 PARE (Estonian Human Resource Management Association) Best Human Resource Management Project.
In 2016, we opened SpeakSmart Pakistan services.
In 2018 (and in 2015-2017), we were recognized with the Estonian Responsible Business Index bronze level label. Estonian Responsible Business Forum unites established and leading Estonian businesses that voluntarily integrate economic, environmental and social measures into their daily operations, leadership and business strategy. In other words, they are aware of the impact their business has on nature and are minimizing their business' effect on the living environment and communities; they follow the principle of equal treatment; value their employees; are honest and transparent with their clients, suppliers and partners.
In spring 2018, SpeakSmart joined the Estonian Responsible Business Forum's call for a better tomorrow. We are a responsible enterprise!
In 2019, SpeakSmart was awarded Kaugtöö Märgis (Remote Work Badge). The main beneficiaries of teleworking are employees, who prefer to plan their own schedule and not to spend too much time commuting between work and home or attending unimportant meetings. Various research, also conducted in Estonia, indicates that when employees are given greater control and responsibility over their work they are more motivated and spend more time on working than they would at the office.
We have trained 17 000 people and moderated 170 discussions
From 2006-2020, we have worked with over 17 000 people and taught them to use their thinking and communication skills with argumentation in their profession.We work approximately 200 hours pro bono work a year.
We have designed and moderated over 150 discussions. Read more about our moderating services from our website www.moderaator.ee.
Our recommendation index of client loyalty is 88%. In the business of training, a good recommendation index is above 50%. The average feedback from participants across all provided services is 4.88 / 5.
Our materials are protected by the CreativeCommons license with which we authorize the use of our product by copying and public distribution, but prohibit any changes or use for commercial purposes. Description of the licence Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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