Blog Archive

Steve reduced his meetings from 150 minutes to 40 minutes

Steve reduced hi meetings from 150 minutes to 40 minutes

Even Santa needs an elevator pitch

A jolly “ho ho ho” won’t cut the mustard if you want to ring the bell as Santa. You’ve got to impress the shopping centre

Presence – the elusive quality

Which is more important when you speak or present – content or delivery?

Think about receiving a parcel. I have one coming today and I’m looking forward to receiving it. The delivery is crucial – it doesn’t matter

How we shortened a 2 hour meeting down to 15 minutes and still covered everything.

I had a client who had a requirement to formally meet with the workforce once a week. It could best be described as a cross

Challenge yourself to paint pictures with your words

Metaphors make your words sizzle and sing. They give instant clarity as brains are more wired to images than just words. They’re the quickest route

Halve your meeting frequency & double productivity

Here’s an idea to put in your toaster and see what pops up. Halve the frequency of your meetings. Right now. Just try it. If

Respected leaders are decisive

There is a really interesting piece of research that was done with 400 CEOs. This is what they were asked….. “Of all the decisions that

This may explain why things aren’t moving forward

Are you and your team “Yes but” people, or “Yes and” people? Do you naturally tend to say “yes and” or do you naturally say “yes

Who is the drummer in your meetings? Who sets the pace?

Every meeting has a rhythm, a pace, sometimes called the cadence. Surprisingly, it’s not always the person running the meeting. But it should be. In

Design & Delivery – the 2 crucial ingredients for powerful presentations

Designing an executive’s presentation is like designing a car. It needs to fit the style of the executive. It needs to fulfil its function. It

Is it nepotism if a husband and wife serve together on the same committee?

QUESTION – A vacancy occurred on a committee and a man said his wife would be happy to fill it. The committee was in need

Biting the bullet on the people who are deadwood in your organisation

Bite the bullet on people who are deadwood in your organisation Recently I was working with a client and had an interesting conversation with a

Use the Traffic Light Principle to improve your meetings

The humble traffic light – green, amber, red – is a quick and powerful way to find out what people really think about the meetings

How many times should you practise a presentation?

We all know you need to practice before you present. But when it really matters, and your job could be on the line, what is

Is there a link between the number of meetings you attend and salary?

Some people justify their salary by having meetings. But are the meetings effective? Today I had an interesting meeting with a senior business person with

Why the difference between misinformation and disinformation in meetings matters

Why the difference between misinformation and disinformation in meetings matters The meaning of misinformation is often merged with that of disinformation, but they are not

Parkinson’s Law is alive and Well

I’ve been talking about Parkinson’s Law in relation to meetings for over 30 years. Simply stated (in terms of meetings) it says that a meeting

Is snail mail the way of the future?

Every now and then, I go through my emails and set up a pile of filters to delete the email newsletters and other things that

It’s all about getting your ducks in a row!

Everyone was surprised at how we managed to get so many people to vote at a community association meeting. It’s all about getting your ducks

How do some people climb the ladder but somehow miss out on learning how to speak effectively?

It’s really interesting, I think, that some leaders climb the corporate ladder and yet they somehow miss out on acquiring the skill to present and

To Wear a Tie or Not to Wear a Tie

Recently I was working with a professional services firm and the issue of wearing ties sparked some interest. It was raised from a person in

Some businesses seem to miss the point

Recently I have come across two businesses that in my humble opinion have missed the point. I am not going to identify either business as

The secret sauce you need to make sense of the different generations

The other generations are not “wrong”, they are just different! I have found myself talking a lot in the last couple of weeks about the

Fact or Opinion – The crucial distinction for good decision making

It’s been calculated that the “average” adult makes 35,000 decisions every day. It seems a bit high to me but who am I to argue

What is confirmation bias and how does it affect your decisions?

Confirmation bias is the phenomenon that when making a decision, people tend to look for and consider data that supports their own view or opinion

Charisma – You Either Have It Or You Don’t..Maybe Not.

Charisma is that magnetic quality that some speakers may have in drawing an audience. It is that certain “something” that the audience may not be

How to be a Charismatic Chairperson – David Price

In every workplace, on virtually any day, there will be one, six, ten, a hundred meetings and every one will be “led” by someone. Whether that person sees themselves as “chairing” the meeting or not, the other people do. And so every day throughout the world there are tens of thousands of people chairing meetings – it is perhaps the most common universal activity which occurs in workplaces in every part of the globe every working day.

What To Wear When You Speak? – David Price

You have an important presentation to make and you just don’t know what to wear. It’s a question that is as important for men as

Speak Confidently and Persuasively – David Price

Make 2017 “The Year of You – The speaker!” by following these four strategies 1. Face the fear Depending on who you speak to, most