Reza Zolfagharifard Speaker | Enterprise & Careers

Reza Zolfagharifard

A former fighter pilot, a businessman, a teacher, and now a positive psychology consultant.

Positive pyschology is the science of well being and flourishing, and Reza uses it to provide his audience with practical information on topics such as assertiveness, courage, emotional resilience and personal effectiveness.

Reza is a qualified performance coach, an experienced workshop leader and a dynamic speaker. For the past six years, he has been a judge for the Institute for ideas, 'Debating Matters' programme - a national competition aimed at engaging sixth form students in topical debates and ideas.

He started his working career as a fighter pilot where, at a young age, he learned discipline, diligence and leadership. He later applied his skills to business management and entrepreneurship for many years. Reza also was a teacher of Science and Mathematics for over 12 years and served as head of Maths department for at least half of that period.

He is now a positive psychology consultant in London and in his spare time works with a number of mental health charities (The Stuart Low Trust, Community Options and SOVA Support Link) as a mentor and trainer.

He provides workshops, seminars and talks for students, teachers and executives on assertiveness, emotional resilience, empathy, personal effectiveness (handling criticism, standing up to bullies and overcoming shyness), presentation skills (public speaking), overcoming social anxiety and defusing stress.

His workshops and speeches are always packed with straight forward and practical information. He delivers with vigour and humour, so his audience (students, teachers and executives) find it easy to engage in the concepts that are often crucial to their future development.

Testimonials from Teachers

"We very much enjoyed Reza’s visit. He is an absolutely lovely, interesting man and gave the students some useful messages about positive thinking."

– Rosemary Brown-Humes, Careers and Higher Education Co-ordinator, The Judd School

“Reza has been a supporter of the Debating Matters Competition for several years. His help has been invaluable, whether it has been going into schools to talk to students about the importance of debating or as a panel judge at qualifying rounds and regional finals. Reza is analytical and probing in his questioning and feedback to students but at the same time supportive and very personable. He always brings out the best in the students, helping them to think outside of their experience and consider the broader implications of their arguments.”

– Jason Smith, Judges Coordinator, Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition

“Reza was able to pitch his talk at just the right level for our scholars; inspirational from start to finish. His first sentence caught their attention and kept them focused until the very end. They sat in silence listening intently to every word. The interactive discussion at the end was brilliant. I would certainly invite him back again.”

– Mehdi Behnoudnia, Assistant Head of Physics, Kingston Grammar School

"Our staff support people with complex mental health needs and so, their capacity to develop effective relationships and manage their own emotions is important. Reza Zolfagharifard delivered Emotional Intelligence training course for our managers which enabled them to put new strategies in place and reflect on, interpret and manage their own reactions and those of others. This was important in helping them create a positive and motivating environment for themselves and the team. Reza is a real professional and dedicated to providing services of the highest quality."

– Sally Lawson, Head of Training and Consultancy, Community Options