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Once upon a time, learning someone else’s language was a highly coveted skill. To be able to converse in a tongue that was not your own gave you an edge in the days when vocabulary dictionaries, grammar guides and hours of study were the cutting edge (and only) tools available. Then the smartphone came along […]
Assessing risk, anticipating outcomes and predicting likely decisions is part and parcel of working in sectors such as law and business, but do you spend too much time worrying about outcomes you can’t affect? Sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters, author of the Chimp Paradox, frequently speaks about the need to ‘control the controllables’. He argues […]
Who do you know who has a strong voice? Who do you know who commands attention, trust, respect, authority, just by the way they talk? And what does ‘having a strong voice’ mean? Often when I start conversations about using a strong voice, assumptions are often made that ‘strong’ means loud to the point of […]
Let’s start this article off with you putting yourself in the mindset of being at a social gathering. The process of making a new acquaintance tends to follow a particular pattern. An introduction is followed by cordial chit chat, as conversationalists size each other up, before the inevitable question – “what do you do?”. What […]
Most sporting fans only have eyes for the competitor or team during a match or a game, but it’s always worth keeping an eye on what’s going on the sidelines. Although unable to exert a direct influence on the action, it’s fascinating to see how the best coaches can influence from the afar – and […]
It’s hard to stand out these days. We spend our lives in a state of information overload –from the moment we get up to the moment before bed, navigating our way through personal and business environments with significant side portions of dopamine drip from whatever social media channels we have chosen to plug into. So […]
The Summer holiday season is it a good opportunity to rest the mind, body and soul (depending on your co-holidaymakers of course) but I find it’s also good for ruminating on ideas and projects for the months ahead as the Autumn starts to loom on the horizon. I’m not alone in this it appears – […]
For many readers this is the time of year when minds turn to holidays several of which will involve air travel. If you are lucky enough to be boarding a plane headed for far off (or near) climes, may I encourage you to really listen to how the pilot speaks to you and your fellow […]
Love them or loathe them, summer parties are part of the annual calendar of professional and social activities… and attendance is usually required at all levels. For some these will be a calendar highlight and for others these will be anxiety-inducing hours of excruciating awkwardness. I am frequently asked for tips about how to navigate […]
This month I’m returning to the topic of panel discussions and focusing the spotlight on the person who, if doing their job properly, makes the panel tick like a metronome – the moderator. In previous sessions we’ve looked at what makes a good panel discussion and how to stand out on a panel so part […]
We’ve all been there… sitting through a panel discussion where one guest drones on with vague insights, another rattles off jargon-heavy monologues, and the rest simply nod along. But then, there’s that one panellist, the person who captures the room. They’re engaging, relatable, and make you think. So, what makes the difference? In my previoius […]
What are your thoughts on panel discussions? As we all know, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t and in this first article of three I’m going to take a closer look at what works and what doesn’t. I spend a lot of time coaching people on how to present. A little like a tennis […]
Using video to engage used to be preserve of those who had extremely deep pockets and the benefit of a technical team to produce the lights, camera, action experience. No more of course. We all have that power cradled in the palm of our hands. But just because we can all make videos, that doesn’t […]
Are you ready to jump back into work after the Christmas break (I say ‘break’… when December 25th falls on a Wednesday it’s more of a disruption than a break)? Most of us will have muttered a quiet mantra as the new year got underway about improving at least one aspect of our personal lives. […]
Are you someone who hates the sound of silence? Some people find silences very troublesome and can’t resist the urge to fill pauses with rather than sit them out and wait to see what’s coming next. Others prefer to sit back and listen before adding to a conversation. But what happens when these two conversational […]