Wordsmiths

October 13, 2022

Building rapport through questioning and active listening

So, you’ve made a great first impression and now you need to build a lasting connection by establishing good rapport. Using questions and active listening are techniques you can use to help with this. Useful questions to build rapport You might think all kinds of questions are useful when building rapport, but that’s not the case. Here are the ones you need to focus on. Open questions. These are questions you can’t answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to and help initiate conversations. Try asking how, why, what, where, what, when, who, […]

September 14, 2022

Making a good first impression – tips for building rapport

It’s your time to shine, so how do you make a good impression? Whether you’ve secured an interview for your dream job, or scheduled diary time with a new client, it’s important to make a good first (and lasting) impression to guarantee success. According to researchers, it takes just seven seconds to make a first impression on someone. A further statistic claims it takes only a tenth of a second to form an impression of someone from their face. That’s both interesting and terrifying, considering body language and non-verbal communication […]

July 4, 2022

Presentation Structure – what to consider for maximum impact

In the last blog, (click link – Preparing Perfect Presentations) we discussed presentations: the importance of preparation and how understanding your audience’s needs positively supports their engagement. The next step to delivering a great presentation is to consider how to structure it to achieve maximum impact. Telling the story Think about the structure of a simple story – one you might have been read at primary school. All the best presentations, like the best stories, should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Considering and constructing each of […]

June 6, 2022

Preparing Perfect Presentations

You’ve been asked to do a presentation, so striking while the iron’s hot, you settle down with your laptop, or a notebook and pen and get to work. But before you launch into creating content or designing attractive slides – stop. There’s no denying that for many business professionals, being able to deliver a great presentation is seen as a key skill. Nearly 70 per cent of people surveyed by a Prezi and Harris Poll agreed that presentations are critical to success at work. But while the focus of presenters […]

May 9, 2022

The Thomas-Kilmann model for managing conflict – choosing the right conflict response

In the last blog, we discussed how conflict, if carefully handled in a timely manner, can actually be beneficial to businesses. (link – conflict is good) This time, we’ll focus on the Thomas-Kilmann model, which outlines a range of responses conflict can elicit in people and how managers can actively tailor their responses to be more appropriate – and ultimately more successful – in resolving the issue. If you’re dealing with conflict, you’re bound to have your own personal preferences for how you approach the situation. It’s important, though, to make […]

April 18, 2022

Conflict is Good

Conflict: how can it be a good thing? In May 2021, workplace expert Acas published a report which showed nearly half a million employees resign every year as a result of workplace conflict. It also revealed the potential for increased conflict as organisations try to adapt to changes after COVID-19. There’s a clear benefit to handling conflict early. Not least avoiding stress and impact on team morale. But unpick the problem, and you might find it’s productive and leads to positive change. Here’s why. How can conflict be a positive thing? Many […]

April 1, 2022

Strategic Leadership

How to become a strategic leader As you progress in your career you often need to move from being an operational leader to a strategic leader. But the word ‘strategy’ can instil a feeling of fear into many managers. It may be because it sounds grander than it actually is, so we thought we’d ask Brenda Etchells, our associate and specialist in strategic planning, to help us de-mystify strategy. So what is strategy? In essence, a strategy is having a plan of how you will achieve your goals, objectives, and […]

March 18, 2022

Difficult Conversations

How to handle difficult conversations Throughout our careers, we all experience those moments when we’re not happy with someone’s behaviour or performance. It’s easy to put off a difficult conversation. You could be worried about the other person’s reaction and how you might handle it. Or worse, you might convince yourself that ignoring it will mean the matter goes away. But if they aren’t nipped in the bud, issues can escalate, impacting others in the team or customers. How you have a difficult conversation can affect the outcome. So how […]

February 19, 2022

Feeding Back Effectively: tips to help keep feedback helpful and constructive

In the last blog, we discussed how facilitating good feedback should be a priority for leaders. It’s critical for improving the performance of your team. But what is best practice when it comes to delivering that feedback? To be truly effective, feedback needs to fulfil these criteria: Timely If you had to pick one vital component to make feedback effective, it’s timing. Feedback conversations – whether positive or negative in nature – are most effective when they’re held as soon as possible after the event. Relevance wanes after a while – […]

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