Cultural difference is everywhere. How can we spot it early and work with it, rather than trip over it at a later stage? For me, cultural difference starts with a feeling. The first moment when you notice that something is different. It can be like a jolt or a shock to the system, when you realise that it’s not what…
The test question asked “What is your favourite film or book”. After twenty seconds of countdown on the screen, I had two minutes to give my answer to the video link with no other other human contact except an inverse picture of me. This was my practice session for an autonomous video interview. It was part of a recruitment process…
Last month I went on a Microsoft Excel course, as part of upgrading my skills. It’s Powerpoint next. I have made a commitment to upgrade my software skills. Why? The products have changed since I last went on training, ahem, twenty years ago. I had become increasingly frustrated by continuously feeling on the back foot. I was irritated by having…
Sometimes attending a training course can be a little disappointing. It doesn’t quite meet your needs or hit the spot. It may be though, that your company or manager has asked you to attend. You may not perceive it as optional. How can you make it not a total waste of time and money? If you have reservations before you…
Do you know your audience? Two weeks ago in St Petersburg I was delivering Presentation Skills training to middle managers from a clinical research organisation. They need to be great at communicating, influencing and persuading many different nationalities across the globe. In this workshop participants are asked to give a three minute presentation, focussing on creating a punchy opening and…
What do you see? The grey head or the blue wings? (This is a grey headed kingfisher.) Recently I attended a talk about diversity and inclusion as part of a conference, the panellists did not mention age. Gender, race, LGBT were all rightly mentioned, but not age. Worse still, at Q&A, I didn’t have the courage to mention age…