On the 24th February this year, hundreds of excited children queued up waiting to see a spectacularly advertised ‘Willy Wonka Experience’ in Glasgow, Scotland. Their parents had paid the princely sum of £35 per ticket and all were expecting great … Continue reading
CASE STUDY – The Skilled Presenter™ – Controlling Nerves in a Challenging Environment
John experienced significant challenges in communicating as he transitioned from the military to civilian life. For many years, he struggled to communicate effectively and confidently in face-to-face interactions, often feeling extremely nervous and emotional, even to the point of tears … Continue reading
Why learn how to use the Six Thinking Hats®?
Six Thinking Hats® is a practical business thinking and decision-making tool, developed by Dr. Edward de Bono. The concept involves wearing metaphorical ‘Hats’ of different colours, each representing a different perspective or way of thinking. Why learn it? Being able … Continue reading
How to engage your audience and perform with impact whether online or in-person!
Why should your presentations be more dynamic, engaging and persuasive? Whether you’re giving sales pitches, leading meetings or presenting research findings – the ability to present dynamically can set you apart and open up opportunities for growth. Dynamic presentation skills … Continue reading
Plan, Perform, Practice – the three P’s of dynamic and persuasive presentations
Many psychological surveys rank public speaking as a greater fear for us than death. Rather than run from our presentations – we need to harness those fears. Here’s our three P’s of dynamic, persuasive presentations: Plan Probably the most important step, … Continue reading
Too much to read and remember?
We all face the challenge of business reports that remain unread, emails that don’t get dealt with, time-sensitive documents that don’t get the attention they deserve. We all have to read, absorb and recall more written information than ever to … Continue reading
Indigo is proud to sponsor the YES22 People Choice award – but who will win?
“We are proud to have sponsored the YES People’s Choice award for over a decade now.” said Robert Fisher of Indigo. ”Having a brilliant mind and amazing ideas is at the heart of this competition – translating ideas into something … Continue reading
Projects – maximise your potential
By Trish Thirley, Master Trainer Project Management A common question on our project management workshops is, “With masses of competing demands for my time, how can I maximise my potential?” I’d recommend the following three key ‘focus points’: Start slow … Continue reading
NHS staff get 30% off all Indigo public workshops.
Indigo is pleased to offer 30% off public workshops, for all NHS staff! We think our NHS is something to be proud of. We think it’s important to show our continued support for this outstanding organisation and its people. It … Continue reading
Hybrid meeting challenges and how to overcome them
The pandemic changed the way we work and changed it fast. After that initial scramble to source the tech and make sure everyone is supported to work remotely, we are now looking at ways to integrate hybrid working into the … Continue reading
Leaders can do more with less
Leaders have opportunities to use creative thinking every day. Whether they’re making improvements, cutting costs or solving problems, they have to go beyond what has been done before. The constant need to do more for less demands creativity from … Continue reading
Supporting Young Scientists – Young Entrepreneurs Scheme “People’s choice” award in 2019
Indigo are proud to champion university teams through our ongoing Young Entrepreneurs Scheme “People’s choice” award in 2019. Jack Fleet was a member of the University of Manchester’s winning YES19 team, Larvita. ‘Our business idea was a vertical insect farm producing … Continue reading
Charity Challenge (February 2020 – Manchester) – Think on Your Feet®
We delivered another great Think on Your Feet® workshop in Manchester this week. Thanks to all our attendees for contributing so positively, making it a fun and engaging two days. Due to its success we ran our third charity challenge. … Continue reading
Charity Challenge (January 2020 – London) – Think on Your Feet®
Here at Indigo we’ve had a busy start to 2020. We delivered another busy Think on Your Feet® workshop in London. Thanks to all our attendees for contributing so positively, making it a fun and engaging two days. The charity … Continue reading
Sponsoring The Engineers And Scientists Of The Future (YES19)
The final of the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES19) global competition was held on Tuesday 10 December at the Royal Society, London. Teams of postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers went head-to-head to compete for a prize fund of £15K. Every year … Continue reading
Too busy to think?
The decision is made – two weeks later you have to backtrack! How many times has that happened to you, either as the person making the decision or as a part of the team bringing it to life. This happens … Continue reading
Essential soft skills for graduates
Most newly employed graduates have the sector-specific knowledge required to hit the ground running, yet many lack the fundamental practical core skills that prevent them actually doing the job and reaching their full potential. These transferable skills, used across the … Continue reading
Indigo Business Services Named Best Training & Development Consultancy 2018 – UK.
RICHMOND, UK, 18 December 2018: Indigo Business Services Named Best Training & Development Consultancy 2018 – UK. By Corporate Vision Magazine’s Small Business Awards. Indigo Business Services Limited is a leading international training consultancy that helps organisations gain competitive advantage … Continue reading
When your mind goes blank, when writing…
You’ve got a great idea. You need to sell your idea. Your fingers hit the keyboard. Your mind goes blank? Absolutely nothing! Your mind goes blank. You’ve got writer’s block. This happens to all of us at times. So how … Continue reading
Waterfall or Agile? How will you manage your projects?
Research shows that the majority of projects spend more time and money than estimated, and many also fail to meet customer needs accurately too. This means delivering poor customer value, and low confidence in project success. Many organisations are struggling … Continue reading
Classic Lateral Thinking™ in action: Plastic bottle tops that double as Lego blocks.
This article, first published in March 2010, has become topical again with all the discussion regarding implementing a plastic bottle tax to tackle waste and ocean pollution. With a little Lateral Thinking there could be more innovative ways to solve these challenges… …bottle caps … Continue reading
Indigo Business Services Named Exclusive UK Distributor for Think on Your Feet®
RICHMOND, UK, 30 August 2018: McLuhan & Davies Communications, Inc. has appointed their exclusive UK distributor, Indigo Business Services Limited. Indigo will be the sole provider of their suite of business-communication workshops in the UK. “From September 2018 our 17-year relationship … Continue reading
Engaging stakeholders
The skills required to understand, engage, manage and communicate with stakeholders. By Trish Thurley, Indigo Master Trainer and Richard Evans Stakeholder management can be the difference between success and failure for anyone who has to deal with other people. Who … Continue reading
The (ugly) truth about workplace communication.
Excellent verbal and written communication-skills is a standard requirement in today’s workplace. Communication plays a vital role in your company’s success and productivity. And ignoring it can be dangerous. Download our FREE infographic: The (ugly) truth about workplace communication. It reveals the … Continue reading
Don’t talk too long
Adapted from an original article by Roger HB Davies, Think on Your Feet International Inc Do a “dry run” to focus on the timing of your presentation. Listeners commonly complain that speakers waste their time and talk too long. If … Continue reading
Three challenges Managing Projects™ helps to solve:
The frustration of never-ending projects that drag on and drag you down. Stops ‘risk’ from being a chore, making it your best ally for saving time and effort. Avoids the pain and humiliation of failure, by ensuring success. Tips Use … Continue reading
My day is just meetings, meetings, meetings…
Does this sound like a familiar problem? Too many of us find ourselves spending many hours a day in meeting after meeting, which all too often fail to reach any sort of positive outcome, even after hours of debate. The … Continue reading
Research: Supporting the management of change
Change is something that we are all experiencing more often. Any kind of project will initiate some kind of change, whether that’s a change to the way you communicate with clients to a restructure of a team. It’s important for … Continue reading
Listen – to be more influential
Experts say the ability to express yourself verbally often reaps influence. There is evidence (Journal of Research in Personality) that being an effective listener is also as important. Effective listening is two-way, it: Prevents miscommunication. Confirms understanding of the message. … Continue reading
Understood and remembered – add structure and IMPACT to everything you say…
‘Brain fog’ – that’s what happens when you get asked a question you know the answer to, where your response is unclear, often a little confused and long! There can be many reasons for this: An intimidating audience (your team, … Continue reading
Reducing project failure… an article for Project Sponsors
Projects are a great way to manage change. But with more and more projects clamouring for the same resources, some are likely to fail. Add increased pace, increasing levels of complexity and ambiguity, and achieving project success becomes extremely difficult. … Continue reading
Project management for non-project managers
Project management, a profession for some – for others, it’s a requirement as well as their day job, no matter what role or level of seniority. As a marketer I manage projects on a daily basis, having never been project … Continue reading
The three P’s of dynamic, persuasive presentations
Public speaking is a top fear for many people. It’s okay to be afraid as long as you try to keep that fear at bay when you give a presentation. Here’s our three P’s of dynamic, persuasive presentations: Plan Probably … Continue reading
Good writing leads…
I had a discussion recently with someone who didn’t think writing was a leadership skill, rather, something to be learned by new hires versus the old hands. I found this interesting. Only recently I’d heard of a senior executive being … Continue reading
Improving how your graduates write
Madison Abernethy recently graduated from the Ivey Business School at Western University in Canada, where she developed strong interests in marketing, media and corporate communications. Throughout University she was plagued by writer’s block. She admits that 95% of her designated writing … Continue reading
Top tips – communicating with difficult stakeholders
Stakeholder management can be a challenge, you often need to juggle between positive and negative groups or individuals. A logical way to build good relationships, especially when communicating with a difficult stakeholder, is by using techniques learnt on our Internationally … Continue reading
Selling your ideas – stakeholder communication
Our blended, computer simulation based, Stakeholder Engagement (including Simulation)™ defines a stakeholder as ‘anyone that can affect what you are trying to achieve.’ Engaging and communicating with these groups is core to business and project success. These include colleagues, customers, … Continue reading
Selling your ideas – cutting though the noise…
Guaranteeing clarity of your message is becoming harder because of increasing disruption and distraction in today’s business environment. You still need to get people to read, see, listen and understand what you are trying to say. How can you be … Continue reading
Will your idea work?
So, ‘innovation is a part of your culture’ and you have accepted that ‘change is inevitable…’ You have set your focus and generated fresh, fast and on-demand ideas, so what next? Do you just pop them in a box somewhere … Continue reading
Ideas on-demand: fresh ideas, fast = competitive advantage
Our article ‘Is innovation a part of your culture?’ looks at how many organisations want to be innovative or creative, yet the people at the top of the organisation cannot often elaborate on how or if this happens. In this article we … Continue reading
Change – is inevitable…
Change in business is constant. The 2016 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Davos, focused on ‘employment, skills and human capital’. It found that successful organisations need to ensure their employees have the skills to be able to innovate, evaluate … Continue reading
Before starting a project…
We’ve heard from our clients that no matter what the individual’s role, they will have projects to look after. Large or small, simple or complex, these individuals are often not project management qualified. This is presenting a challenge for organisations … Continue reading
Is your writing ruining your reputation?
Six mistakes that could cost you customers. Adapted from the original article by Joyce Restaino. There is no sale until you sell yourself. Every business professional knows that. Whether you are selling your ideas to your boss, selling yourself to … Continue reading
Stand out reports
Do you hate writing reports, yet find you are writing more and more of them? We’ve been working with business professionals to improve their written communication skills for nearly 15 years. By listening to the challenges and objectives of our … Continue reading
Breakthrough in communication DNA
Think on Your Feet International, Inc. have recently announced some interesting findings from the results of their study about how the left- and the right-side of the brain influences communication. The brain is an amazing organ that we still need to … Continue reading
Indigo Update – Autumn 2015
Welcome to our Autumn Indigo Update. There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes here at Indigo. We’ve been listening to your feedback, and over the next few months we’ll be bringing you some more exciting launches and offers – fulfilling our mission to … Continue reading
Supporting the world’s biggest coffee morning
‘Lights’ off (to keep the cakes cool)… ‘Camera’ ready (they look so good)… ‘Action’ with the companies from 7-11 St John’s House… The night before there was a plethora of frantic cake baking and decorating in the South of England … Continue reading
DO sweat the small stuff – why detail makes all the difference to project success…
Written by Robert Fisher – 10.06.2015 Even if you are not familiar with cycling, you will no doubt know who Sir Bradley Wiggins is, or at least recognise the name. After his success of winning the Tour de France and … Continue reading
Clients take Indigo everywhere.
With 2015 looking like being the busiest in our 14 year history, Indigo has witnessed a major upturn in the number of international workshops we’ve been invited to run. Recent training projects have taken us to Saudi Arabia, Bangalore, New York, Sydney, Singapore (to name just a few) and many cities throughout Europe. But what has been behind this trend? We think there are a couple of fundamental reasons: Continue reading
Dr de Bono – you can be Big, Bold and Agile
Large organisations can get bad press for being unwieldy and lacking in imagination and smaller companies tend to get good press for being nimble and innovative. But the story is not so straight forward. Continue reading
