As a seasoned communications professional with experience spanning four decades working with a variety of large and small organisations, I feel I have built up a powerful armoury of soft skills. Which is comforting, especially in light of the fact … Continue reading
A mum’s tale – Thinking on your feet after a career break.
After a career break to raise two boys, the day finally came to wave my youngest off to school. The time was right for me to return to work. I’ll be honest, although I was excited about the prospect of … 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
When you need to answer quickly and persuasively…
Gilly Meek, Accredited Think on Your Feet®, Six Thinking Hats® and Skilled Presenter™ trainer.. Imagine you’re asked to present at a really important meeting. You’re ok with the presentation itself but the questions and answers section fills you with dread! … Continue reading
When your mind goes blank, when writing…
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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
When your mind goes blank, when responding…
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Gilly Meek, Accredited Think on Your Feet® trainer. You’re stood by the coffee machine, a Director happens to bump into you and asks you how things are going with that project you’ve been working on with her team. You open … 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
Creativity throughout an organisation
We all know that change is happening more often and faster than ever before! Organisations have to be innovative, whether they’re responding to change or driving it. They’ll need to innovate at all levels and in all functions to be … Continue reading
Getting your message across when presenting
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. Most people are very nervous about public speaking and giving presentations. There are a number of ways to deal with nerves in our … Continue reading
Getting your message across when writing
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. We’ve all been writing for most of our lives and have developed our own style and method. Most of us probably haven’t questioned … Continue reading
Getting your message across in conversations
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. Conversations, unlike formal presentations and written documents, give no time to prepare how to get our message across. In conversations, we can’t try … Continue reading
Changing the way you do things
By Richard White – de Bono Accredited Trainer. Change for the better is always good but we have to make it happen, we can’t sit back and wait for it. Adding to that, the old adage “nothing is perfect” suggests … Continue reading
Making your words effective and dynamic
We all know that time is money: constructing documents, presenting or in dialogue. And the time it commands from your recipient to read, attend or listen. Whatever we write and say has to hit the mark. It doesn’t matter how … Continue reading
Do you plan what you say?
During my career I have received and delivered communication skills training, achieving both effective and candid outcomes. Much of this development has been preparing what I would say in any given scenario – and it’s served me well. However, there … Continue reading
Add IMPACT To What You Say
There have been times in my career when I had business VIP visits and opportunities to make an impact; to show just what an expert I was. I would be asked an easy question such as “how’s the project going?” … Continue reading
How do your listeners perceive you?
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. The impression we make when we’re speaking is important. Whether we’re presenting, speaking on the phone or having a chat at the watercooler; … Continue reading
Making communication style work for you
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. When we talk about communication style we are referring to the expression of ideas. Whatever you have to say, expressing it well will … Continue reading
Getting complex and technical information across
By Richard White – Master Trainer: Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™, The Skilled Presenter™ and Grammar on the Rocks™. Communicating complex or technical information to an audience that has no special knowledge of the subject is always challenging. We recently … Continue reading
Making emails work
By Richard White – Writing Dynamics™ Master Trainer When you glance down the list of senders in your email inbox, do different names create different expectations? Some people’s emails are a pleasure to read: you know they’ll be clear; to … Continue reading
Engaging stakeholders
The skills required to 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 are your … Continue reading
Five most common presentation mistakes
By Richard White, Master Trainer – The Skilled Presenter™ We’re often asked for the most common errors people make when planning and delivering a presentation. We’ve helped hundreds of people to improve their presentation skills so we have a good … Continue reading
Why The Skilled Presenter™ will benefit you
By Richard White, Master Trainer – The Skilled Presenter™ Presentations can pose a real dilemma in as much as we all want them to be professional, clear and persuasive but we also want them to be authentic, genuine and inspiring. … Continue reading
The Skilled Presenter™ for sales professionals
By Richard White, Master Trainer – The Skilled Presenter™ A successful sales presentation must win over the client in order to win the business. Great speakers and speechwriters know that the three essential elements of effective public speaking are: Logic. … Continue reading
Are you an occasional presenter?
By Richard White, Master Trainer – The Skilled Presenter™ People who plan and deliver presentations regularly have plenty of opportunity to develop and hone their skills. But, if you are an occasional presenter it’s not so easy. So, if your … 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
How do I answer that?
A month ago I was sitting in our Monday morning sales meeting with the Sunday blues hanging over my head. I jolted back to reality when I saw my boss glaring at me. There was a question looming between us … Continue reading
My Writing Dynamics™ experience
Having recently started at Indigo Training, part of my induction programme was to attend the two-day Writing Dynamics™. I was really excited about the opportunity to develop my professional writing style. Not only was it an insightful learning opportunity, the … 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
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, Managing Stakeholders™ 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, employees, shareholders, … 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
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
How do you turn a complaint into an opportunity?
Nobody likes hearing customers or stakeholders complain. So here are some suggestions from the globally delivered Think on Your Feet® workshop. Continue reading
Calculate the readability of your documents.
Everyone loves a clear and concise document. What’s more, the easier your document is to read, the more likely your message will be understood and actioned. The Fog Index is a simple way you can assess how accessible your writing is. Follow these simple steps to calculate you readability statistics. Continue reading
It’s not what you say – but the way that you say it!
In a recent study by job website Monster.co.uk, graduates have just 6 minutes and 25 seconds to impress a prospective employer during an interview! Continue reading
Presenting boring facts and figures in an interesting way…
One of our recent Skilled Presenter delegates (thanks John Shaw) saw this pretty impressive way of communicating those dull statistics and sent it to us. Take a few moments to view this and tell me your not impressed with Stockholm… Continue reading
Surviving Projects in the Oil & Gas Industry with Stephen Carver
This highly practical, engaging and interactive workshop focuses on the skills and behaviours that make Project Managers and teams highly effective. In adition to the workshop, we are proud to announce Stephen Carver – a globally renowned Project & Programme Management expert – will be streamed live for an interactive Q&A session. Continue reading
Presentation Panic! How to Control Your Nerves
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. You can be successful and be remembered by your audience. Here’s how: Continue reading
Love from Indigo – your Valentine gift from us…
With love in the air, and as Valentine’s Day approaches, we at Indigo would like to share the love by giving you a heart warming 20% off selected open workshops – but only for the next 48 hours. There are 27 open … Continue reading
Did you miss the Skilled Presenter webinar today?
If you missed the Skilled Presenter webinar, or would like to forward it to a friend to listen / watch, simply go to this link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/430260254 Continue reading
Think on Your Feet: 3 Steps to Success – Top Tip No. 3 – Remember the rule of threes to stay on track.
Our final ‘Top Tip’ is this series looks at when we are subject matter experts and get wrapped up in too much detail. If we are passionate, our emotions override our logic and we ramble. Continue reading
Think on Your Feet: 3 Steps to Success – Tip No.2 – Identify triggers to know how to respond.
In our last blog of this series, (see http://www.indigobusiness.co.uk/blog/?p=1108), we discussed listening skills, to gain understanding before reacting. The example we used was when you are talking to your team about implementing a new process and you hear “Why is this company always making things more complicated”. A good listener will acknowledge that change can be challenging. If spoken with sincerity it will help move the conversation in the right direction. Continue reading