“I did very badly at that exercise”, confessed one marketing executive to me during a workshop this week, “I used so much jargon that I was thrown out of the cocktail party”. He was one of fifteen members [...]
I am currently working with Molson Coors on a really successful programme to support innovation and personal development within their business. As part of this programme groups are presenting ideas to senior leadership, and I am supporting them [...]
How can we make our pitches, presentations and every other communication more successful? Unlocking your instinctive story telling skills is the answer. Watch this short film to find out more. [...]
Last week I worked with a set of attendees who were really fizzing with energy – yes they worked for an energy provider but these guys were pretty good at generating it too. EDF Energy is the UK’s [...]
I think it was the hottest day Edinburgh had ever seen when I arrived at the Headquarters of Sky. I had been invited to run a day for the Telephony management team to explore and build the story [...]
Consulting on the script for this excellent film by Medical Aid Films taught me some very useful lessons in terms what changes deliver maximum impact to a communication. The team already had a good solid technical script in [...]
This session was held in an impossibly picturesque village hall in Oxfordshire with lunch in the next door to a pub, supplied by a local small holder: absolutely perfect for a specialist food and travel PR agency. Sauce [...]
I would never have had the guts to propose this session but my client turned out to be much more brave and experimental than me, which is how I came to arrive at the doors of Aimia equipped [...]
The monthly report is very often the neglected Cinderella of business storytelling: time-consuming and dull for its author, and skim read (if at all) by its audience. I am always secretly thrilled when someone on a training course [...]
Last year I learned how story coaching could inject confidence and focus into the interview experience. The catalyst was a talk I did at the Institute of Directors in February, where three individuals approached me to ask if [...]
It was late and I had driven a long way, but that was all forgotten when I got my first view of Milton Abbey School as I turned the corner onto the long drive – absolutely breath-taking. The [...]
With a new website or a website ‘refresh, there is a danger of trying to kick-start the process by staring at the computer screen trying to visualise what it should look like – that is rather like an [...]
What do pharmaceutical chemists, and customer and market insight teams have in common? They both have to turn research, data and recommendations into something that grabs the attention and inspires a response from senior management. It is a [...]
I think the most compelling shape of story has to be ‘success against the odds’. I’m not alone. If you think about it, it’s a classic story arc for documentary makers, it’s the driver of every game/quiz/talent show, [...]
BAE recruitment wanted more applicants for specialist engineer roles at all levels. These specialist engineers are in demand and can be choosy about their employer, but it turns out one of the most persuasive ingredients in the mix [...]
“Once upon a time there were two candle-makers in the town…” This may seem like a unlikely start to an internal strategy presentation but believe me it’s a gem (see below if you are already hooked). Stories can [...]
Last week, I was sat in the the Head Office of a large financial services company waiting for a meeting with a prospective client, when I noticed in a glass-walled office nearby, a noisy gathering of senior managers. [...]
“Join us after the break when we’ll see whether Helen manages to break her duck”. Whether you love or hate, bugs, bitching, and ritual humiliation it’s really difficult not to be lured into the web of I’m a [...]
