October 2016

How to prepare for a presentation

Our ability to communicate has an enormous impact on our lives, both professionally and personally but for many, one form of communication - presenting - fills us with fear. We become petrified at the very thought and can go to extreme lengths to avoid doing it.

If it’s true that we fear what we don’t understand, here we deconstruct presenting as a skill and offer ideas for taking action;

7 Ways To Build Lasting Relationships

Consider what it is that contributes most to any long lasting client relationship and I believe it comes down to our attitudes - the sort of people we are more than anything else; Here’s my top 7;

1. Be Polite

What Skills Do You Need To Be A Great Sales Person?

"You’d be a good fit in sales", said HR Director Kevin Sheerin at the conclusion of my first ever psychometric assessment, way back in 1980. ‘Really?’, I thought.

So, as an aspiring engineer, I ignored that entirely, continuing onward with plans for an engineering degree and a career in a blue chip engineering organisation. After all, I wasn't a sales person, was I?

8 Common Mistakes Made By Managers and How to Avoid Them

Back in 1991 I was handed my first management role as a Product Manager for Bonar Rotaform, a specialist plastics company and part of the mid-250 industrials group, Low & Bonar - it was a big deal to me.

Up until that point I’d been just another member of a field sales team and prior to that, an engineer working on missile systems at British Aerospace. I can remember thinking how well I’d done to have secured my first management role at the not so tender age of 29!