People often ask me about wedding speeches. Here are the 5 things I know:
1. LENIENCY
Know that the audience is the most lenient one you will ever have. They want you to do well and will be willing you along with every inch of their being. They aren’t expecting slick and professional. […]

There seems to be hundreds of theories and opinions about nerves in relation to making a presentation. Possibly one of the more famous sayings is that it is okay to have butterflies, as long as they are flying in the same formation. Other people say presentation nerves are built-in anti-complacency buttons, ensuring that […]

When paintballing misses the target
Katie Taylor, Mail on Sunday
24 October 2005
RALLYING the staff with paintball battles, clay pigeon shooting and other teambuilding days is popular with companies.
For instance, blue-chip retailer Marks & Spencer hit the headlines this month when it hired an American speaker to fire up its 56,000 employees and revive flagging sales.
But some […]

We all have an idea of the “typical telesales” person.
Usually it’s someone who:
- catches you at the worse time
- talks at you rather than to you
- inundates you with thousands of fast, and irrelevant words
- asks few questions
- tries to convince you to do something you don’t want to do
- hopes that they get their […]

There are people who like Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary. And there are plenty who don’t.
Regardless of how he operates, I do admire the way he communicates.
O’Leary pulls no punches. He wastes no words. His carefully prepared media statements are well considered. He never deviates from what he believes in.
Consider this: […]

The other day I got a call from a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) company.
SEO companies are all the rage at the moment. In a nutshell, they help you to get to the top of the search engine listings. Not the paid stuff, the natural listings.
I get at least one call per day from […]

This article was written as a feature for Marketing Week.

Steve Jobs can tell a great story - which helps him to create more understanding, and ultimately, sell computers and i-pods by the truckload. There’s a subtle dig at Mr Gates in there as well…

A good few years ago I cut my teeth in training working for a brilliant trainer who had a simple mantra:
“When training people, just help them to understand.”
He drew a road on a piece of paper. There was a big billboard down the end of the road with the word “understanding” written on it.
He […]

With the ever increasing competition in the hedge fund industry as well as recent concerns about stability and performance, the ability to present and sell your company well in the Alternative Investment Market has never been so important.
Feena Coleman, Director of AIM Presentation Skills specialist Natural Training looks at the three factors that will give […]