25th November 2009
If you have to deliver a presentation or speech to a group of people, there is no doubt that your number one enemy is coping with nerves. In surveys into people's fears, speaking in public consistently comes out as the greatest fear!
I have trained pe...
05th November 2009
Some people are just naturals aren't they. Give them a room full of strangers and they waltz around it looking confident, full of smiles and small talk, doing all of the right things. All of the people they talk to look happy and alert, look pleased to ...
04th November 2009
Some things we can easily accomplish by ourselves. We don't need to involve anyone else. Other things that we want to achieve, involve others. If we want to sell something, get buy-in to an idea or a project or motivate others to be enthused about somet...
27th October 2009
Am I right in assuming that nearly all of us suffer from the affliction of procrastination at some time? That awkward telephone call that we'd rather not make, the task that we are unsure of our ability to carry out, the potentially difficult conversatio...
20th October 2009
There's a story of a man, a poor farmer, who was fed up of his life working from dawn to dusk. He decided to sell his fields and went off to seek his fortune. He travelled the world for many years until finally, tired and defeated he returned home. He ...
16th October 2009
The job market is the most competitive it's been for many years, with no sign of an improvement happening soon. Whether you are currently out of work, or looking to change your job, you are facing stiff competition to secure the job you desire.
I have...
09th October 2009
Over the last 20 years, I have trained thousands of people in presentation skills. I always require my trainees to deliver a short presentation before I start training them, so that I can evaluate their starting position. I can now share with you the mo...
05th October 2009
When negotiating, Gambits can be used as manoeuvres for advantage to get us as close as possible to our ideal position, whilst still leaving the other party feeling as if they've got a reasonable deal too. So use these techniques to your advantage and, p...
25th September 2009
I have operated a successful training company for over 10 years and one thing puzzles me more than anything else. Out of hundreds of quotations to clients, I have only been asked to negotiate on my prices a handful of times. Even then, when I say that I...
23rd September 2009
Listening is something we do on autopilot, so it's easy to forget that it is a key skill in helping us to develop productive business and personal relationships. Improving your listening skills, as most of us are aware, is more difficult than you would t...
15th September 2009
No matter how much effort and time you spend on preparing a presenation, if you fail to focus on the needs of your audience, your presentation will not achieve anything and the audience will leave your talk dissatisfied. If the audience do nothing differ...
15th September 2009
I'm sure that we have all heard that when we meet people for the first time, they make 90% of their mind up about us in the first 90 seconds. The 90/90 rule. This sounds incredible. Is it just another example of research designed to generate maximum pub...
14th September 2009
Imagine that you are out with your partner for a walk in the country. You have both stopped for a rest and are leaning on a gate admiring the view. A stranger approaches and asks if you wouldn't mind doing him a favour. He asks you to climb over the ga...
11th September 2009
Are people born to lead, or can effective leadership skills be trained? Leadership trainers will tell you that, of course, effective leadership skills can be developed through training and coaching. People who are natural leaders may disagree.During my 30...
10th September 2009
If you are ambitious and currently working long hours in the persuit of your next promotion, you have chosen the most difficult route to realising your ambitions. It is easy to assume that if we demonstrate commitment to our employer by being the first i...
