When it hits the fan Crises happen. Despite the best-laid plans, there is always an opportunity for something to fail: often systems, people and/or finances. The big number in the news this week is 400,000. 400,000 Ryanair passengers are likely to have their flights cancelled after the Irish budget airline messed up its pilots’ holiday … Read more
Perform to impress Are you a slide-reader? Does PowerPoint tear your gaze away from the room and force you to stare backwards at the wall behind you? Go on, admit it. I bet you spend far too long looking your slide deck and not enough time connecting with your audience. I’m sure you’ve attended numerous Death … Read more
Getting the CSR message across Communicating CSR (corporate social responsibility) is increasingly important. It can influence leaders and opinion leaders, maximise business opportunities and increase employee morale and reputation. It can differentiate between responsibility and irresponsibility and distinguish ethical behaviour from questionable conduct. In short, it is something every organisation should consider. Today I’d to explore two important channels … Read more
Oxymoron or reality? When we hear someone speak, our immediate gut feeling tells us whether we should trust them. Research suggests we should listen to our initial instincts – they’re stunningly accurate. But can we be misled by political performance posing as true leadership? Do we delude ourselves that we hear an authentic voice when in … Read more
Can body language really affect election results? When people assess politicians in the media, physicality and body language have a significant, albeit subtle effect. It’s said they can swing a close-call election, although this is controversial. The claim arises from the very first televised leadership debate, which took place in the US in September 1960. Around 70 million viewers watched … Read more
Read on for my offer of free individual advice With hundreds of business communications demanding our attention each week, and thousands of marketing messages every day, we forget most of what we see, hear and read. Even pictures – said to be worth a thousand words – are sometimes of little value in the long run. … Read more
From client meetings to boardrooms It almost makes me weep to see so many high-flying execs painfully stressed about important events. Offices around the world would be much happier places if senior personnel recognised that this overwhelming anxiety is unnecessary. Work would become more productive without endless hours spent on something which probably needs a fraction of the … Read more
Making and breaking careers Whether you are a native or non-native English speaker, your accent can play a major role in how you are perceived. Surveys show that accents have an impact “on success, in employment, social life and elsewhere”. Sadly, and very unfairly, ‘accentism’ appears to be an acceptable prejudice. Take singer Cheryl Cole, who was sacked as … Read more
Do you REALLY know what you’re doing? Most people think they make eye contact perfectly well in a business situation. Most people fail to recognise that what they think of as eye contact is not really eye contact at all – at least not in the influential way that they expect. This is hardly surprising. … Read more
The power of communication in leadership How much truth is there in the old adage, “it ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it”? Is this merely urban myth? Can you really engage an audience and hold them in the palm of your hand while speaking pure flimflam? Well yes, actually you can. You … Read more
