Public speaking is becoming an increasing part of our day to day lives even outside of the work place. Inevitably, you must have attended presentations where the speaker mumbled, went over time, fidgeted or simply was not able to captivate the audience. Bad presentations are a waste of time, cost money and can damage reputations. So, if this is what you are aiming for here is the perfect guide for you. Follow...

Whatever the nature of your business, chances are you have to interact with clients at some stage. Whether you are selling a product or service you will need to establish trust with customers in order to do business. There are however, simple harmless words that can damage this trust. Minimal changes in your deliberate choice of words can have a huge impact on your results. If we use a backwards approach and...

This is the best blog you have ever read. Wow! What a statement. It will be quite difficult to live up to it. In addition to overstating my writing abilities, it assumes I know exactly what else you have read which is impossible. Essentially, I am destined to fail and disappoint you. So, why would I set your expectations so high right from the start? Surely I am setting myself up for failure. If you have read...

Does your boss motivate you? If you answered yes, then consider yourself to be one of the lucky few. Do you think your boss is arrogant, lazy, incompetent or plain useless? If this is your reality, you may find some consolation in knowing that unfortunately you are not alone. Having a bad boss is a major reason why many people leave their jobs. We are all different and respond to a variety of stimuli and management...

Difficult conversations are typically those that we know we should have yet keep putting off. They range from having to remind your best friend about the money they owe you, or telling your other half that you don’t want to have dinner with their family every weekend or trying to tell your colleague that they have bad breath. Why do we put these conversations off? We dread the reaction, we don’t...

If you manage a team you are probably faced with the issue of selecting team members and finding the best possible team. When we think about sports, there are specific numbers for different teams. A football team is always 11 people and basketball 5. However, when we consider the workplace there does not appear to be a set rule that determines the optimal number of team players. So how do you know if your team...

Throughout your career you have probably lost count of the number of meetings you have attended. Team meetings, department meetings, focus groups, workshops, you name it. Do you find yourself dreading your next meeting and see it as a waste of time? Well, you are not alone. It never seizes to amaze me how many meetings take place without any real purpose. Improving meetings is not about ordering bagels and coffee...

Following on from my previous blog on How to Talk to Anyone and Start a Conversation, I thought it would be relevant to discuss the Power of Silence. Silence is very much like the ugly sister in the house of communication, misunderstood and underrated. Many people are uncomfortable with silence and view it as hostile and unpleasant. In the words of Charles de Gaulle “silence is the ultimate weapon of power”...

It is that time of year when there are more parties and social events than usual. Do you have work functions coming up? Have you been invited to a party where you hardly know anyone? Many of you will be looking forward to these occasions, yet for others, these are the sort of situations that cause stress as they start fretting about what they’re going to talk about. It is often said that communication is an...

People say timing is everything. By virtue of sheer luck or by design you will come across that one person who can help you achieve your goal and sell your solution whether it’s a product, service, idea book or yourself. Sounds great right? Well yes, if you are prepared. If you haven’t considered what you will say then you will have missed an opportunity. So this is where the elevator pitch comes in. It...