Protocol and Event Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Protocol Officers, Event Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-DP-004

Before you join: Participants should have experience supporting events, meetings, visits, executive offices, stakeholder relations, facilities, communications or administrative operations.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Protocol failures can damage relationships, delay decisions and place senior guests in uncomfortable positions. An incorrect order of precedence, poorly managed arrival route, unsuitable seating plan or unbriefed master of ceremonies can undermine an official visit, ministerial conference, diplomatic reception or corporate signing ceremony. Event managers must coordinate protocol, logistics, security, communications and hospitality while protecting the dignity of hosts and guests.

This course develops the practical methods required to plan and deliver formal events involving government officials, diplomats, executives, international delegations, media and community representatives. Participants learn to interpret precedence, manage invitations and RSVPs, prepare running orders, coordinate receiving lines, set seating plans, arrange flag and anthem protocols, brief principals and manage cultural expectations. The programme also covers venue operations, supplier coordination, access control, incident response, communications, sustainable procurement and post-event review.

Teaching combines focused briefings with realistic cases, planning workshops, document reviews, protocol simulations and group decision-making. Participants work with event scenarios such as official visits, conferences, receptions, signing ceremonies and high-level stakeholder meetings. They leave with a reusable protocol event management pack containing planning templates, checklists, communication tools and an individual application plan for their own events.

The course is suited to professionals who already support meetings, ceremonies, visits or stakeholder events and need stronger control of formal protocol requirements. It is particularly relevant to public-sector institutions, embassies, international organisations, financial institutions, universities, NGOs and companies hosting senior external stakeholders.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply precedence rules to guest lists, seating plans, receiving lines and ceremonial programmes
  • Produce a protocol event brief defining authority, stakeholders, constraints and decision routes
  • Develop running orders, cue sheets and principal briefing packs for formal events
  • Create invitation, RSVP and guest-management processes for senior and diplomatic attendees
  • Coordinate venue, transport, hospitality, security and supplier requirements through an event plan
  • Assess protocol, operational and reputational risks using likelihood-impact matrices
  • Manage cultural, accessibility and communication requirements for international delegations
  • Conduct after-action reviews and produce improvement actions for future protocol events

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence briefing senior hosts, guests and masters of ceremony
  • Practical authority to identify and correct protocol errors before events
  • Reusable methods for managing diplomatic and executive guest expectations
  • Stronger judgement when balancing ceremony, security, access and hospitality
  • A documented approach for progressing into protocol or senior events roles

For your organisation

  • Fewer protocol errors during official visits, ceremonies and stakeholder functions
  • Clearer accountability between protocol, security, communications and event teams
  • More consistent treatment of dignitaries, delegations and senior external guests
  • Better control of event risks, approvals, supplier commitments and contingencies
  • Reusable planning documents that reduce preparation time for recurring formal events

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define protocol responsibilities, authority boundaries and planning constraints for formal events.

  • Protocol principles, precedence and ceremonial authority in official public events
  • Distinguish diplomatic, governmental, corporate and community event protocol requirements
  • Map host, guest, organiser and security responsibilities using RACI
  • Apply the Vienna Convention boundaries to diplomatic missions and representatives
  • Identify protocol risks arising from titles, symbols, flags and forms
  • Document event purpose, stakeholders, authority and ceremonial constraints in briefs

Participants can establish the governance structure and planning controls for a protocol event.

  • Define event objectives, decision rights, budget limits and success measures
  • Build stakeholder maps covering principals, offices, sponsors, vendors and communities
  • Use RACI matrices to assign approvals, handovers and escalation routes
  • Create work breakdown structures for ceremonies, conferences, visits and receptions
  • Sequence critical-path milestones from invitation approval through post-event reporting
  • Maintain decision logs, action registers and version-controlled event documentation

Participants can manage guest lists, invitations, titles and seating according to protocol requirements.

  • Apply national precedence rules, host protocol and organisational hierarchies
  • Resolve conflicting ranks between diplomatic, political, military and corporate guests
  • Design seating plans using precedence, relationships, accessibility and security requirements
  • Prepare invitation wording, titles, salutations, RSVP routes and response deadlines
  • Manage plus-ones, substitutions, declined invitations and last-minute protocol changes
  • Produce master guest lists with status codes and contact controls

Participants can prepare ceremonial programmes that protect protocol, timing and participant experience.

  • Select ceremony formats aligned with purpose, venue, culture and authority
  • Draft running orders showing arrivals, introductions, speeches, presentations and departures
  • Plan receiving lines, escort assignments, photo calls and media positions
  • Apply flag display, anthem, insignia and naming conventions accurately
  • Brief masters of ceremony on pronunciation, timing, cues and contingencies
  • Coordinate interpreters, sign-language provision and multilingual speaker materials

Participants can translate protocol requirements into coordinated venue, travel and hospitality arrangements.

  • Conduct site inspections using room-flow, access, visibility and service criteria
  • Translate guest numbers into room sets, registration capacity and catering timings
  • Develop arrival, parking, vehicle routing and departure movement plans
  • Specify audiovisual, staging, lighting, signage and interpretation service requirements
  • Prepare supplier scopes, service-level expectations and acceptance checkpoints
  • Control rooming lists, travel itineraries, manifests and hospitality allocations

Participants can coordinate protocol event security, safety controls and response arrangements.

  • Assess threats using likelihood-impact matrices and event-specific vulnerability indicators
  • Integrate protective security with protocol, guest experience and venue operations
  • Set access zones, credential categories, screening points and controlled routes
  • Plan medical support, fire safety, evacuation and shelter procedures
  • Establish incident command roles, communications channels and escalation thresholds
  • Manage protests, disruptions, no-shows and reputational incidents through response playbooks

Participants can adapt protocol arrangements to cultural expectations, inclusion needs and accessibility requirements.

  • Research host-country customs, religious observances and local sensitivities before planning
  • Adapt greetings, gifts, dining and dress guidance for delegations
  • Handle names, titles, pronouns and forms of address correctly
  • Plan accessible participation for mobility, sensory, dietary and communication needs
  • Use cultural briefings to prevent avoidable offence and exclusion
  • Reconcile diplomatic protocol with institutional diversity and inclusion policies

Participants can prepare clear event communications for principals, staff, guests, media and suppliers.

  • Create communications matrices for principals, staff, vendors, media and guests
  • Write protocol briefing packs with schedules, biographies, maps and contact details
  • Prepare speaker notes, talking points, introductions and ceremonial scripts
  • Coordinate press advisories, accreditation, interview schedules and photography pools
  • Establish radio discipline, messaging groups and event-control communication protocols
  • Draft holding statements and approval routes for emerging issues

Participants can control supplier selection, event budgets and sustainability actions for formal events.

  • Apply ISO 20121 principles to event sustainability objectives and controls
  • Specify ethical procurement criteria for venues, catering, transport and gifts
  • Build event budgets covering fixed costs, variable costs and contingencies
  • Compare supplier proposals using weighted evaluation criteria and documented approvals
  • Reduce waste through reusable materials, attendance forecasting and donation arrangements
  • Track commitments, invoices, variations and close-out financial reconciliations

Participants can direct event-day operations, resolve protocol deviations and improve future delivery.

  • Run event-control meetings using situation reports, decision logs and action boards
  • Execute minute-by-minute programmes with cue sheets and contingency triggers
  • Monitor arrivals, seating, speaker readiness, service delivery and security status
  • Resolve protocol deviations through authority checks, options and documented decisions
  • Conduct after-action reviews using objectives, evidence, findings and assigned actions
  • Create a 90-day protocol event management application plan

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Protocol event brief template
  2. Precedence and seating-plan worksheet
  3. Invitation and RSVP management checklist
  4. Ceremonial running-order and cue-sheet pack
  5. Protocol event risk register
  6. Post-event review and action plan

Who should attend

  • Protocol Officers — require reliable methods for official visits, ceremonies and senior engagements
  • Event Managers — need to integrate formal protocol with event logistics and supplier delivery
  • Government Liaison Officers — coordinate ministers, dignitaries, delegations and institutional stakeholders
  • Executive Assistants — support senior principals attending or hosting high-level events
  • Diplomatic Mission Staff — manage official functions, visiting delegations and representational events
  • Corporate Affairs Managers — organise stakeholder events involving public officials and senior executives

Skills and tools covered

Diplomatic protocolEvent operations planningPrecedence managementCeremonial coordinationProtocol risk controlStakeholder briefing

Tools and standards

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ISO 20121, RACI matrix, Incident Command System

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce protocol principles, followed by case work based on official visits, receptions, conferences and signing ceremonies. Participants review invitations, seating plans, running orders, briefing packs and event-control documents. Group exercises address precedence conflicts, late changes, cultural considerations and incident decisions. Simulations test arrivals, receiving lines, media moments and escalation routes. Each participant completes application planning using an event from their own organisation or a realistic assigned scenario.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience supporting events, meetings, visits, executive offices, stakeholder relations, facilities, communications or administrative operations. They should be comfortable reading schedules, coordinating multiple parties and working with formal written correspondence. Familiarity with their organisation's approval processes, event policies and senior stakeholder groups is useful. Prior diplomatic service or protocol certification is not required. The course does not assume prior knowledge of national precedence tables, the Vienna Convention, security operations or event-management software.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have some experience supporting events, meetings, executive offices, stakeholder relations or administrative coordination. No prior diplomatic post, protocol qualification or security training is required.

Bring examples of event documents you are permitted to share, such as programmes, invitations, checklists or briefing formats. A current or upcoming event challenge is also useful for the application-planning work.

It is designed for protocol officers, event managers, government liaison staff, executive assistants, diplomatic mission personnel and corporate affairs professionals. It is most useful for people who support senior guests, formal ceremonies or external stakeholder events.

General event courses often focus on marketing, audience growth, ticketing and commercial event production. This course concentrates on precedence, ceremonial procedure, dignitary management, formal communications, official hospitality and coordination with security.

Participants receive planning tools that can be adapted for visits, receptions, conferences, signings, launches and official ceremonies. The course also includes an application plan linked to a realistic event responsibility.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and contains approximately 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, document-based case work, group planning, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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