It was in 1624 when English poet coined the phrase “No man is an island.” Fast forward 400 years and social isolation has been proven to reduce your life expectancy. We all need people in our personal and professional lives.  We need to be able to connect, collaborate, and communicate with others. In most corporate environments we also need to work with others to get our work done. Here are the three circles of connection you need. Personal The personal network is our wellness network. It consists of families and friends and prevents us from being socially isolated. Traditionally, women w ..read more

I want you to try something for me. imagine walking into a garden with a lemon tree. You reach up and pluck a bright iridescent yellow lemon. As you walk back to the kitchen you can feel the weight of the lemon in hand. You gently dig a fingernail into the rind, and you are hit with the lemon’s tangy floral scent. You then slice the lemon into segments, pick up a segment and take a bite. So, is your mouth watering yet? What memories does the smell and taste of a lemon bring back to you? Our psychology and physiology are inextricably linked. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You become what you thi ..read more

Someone once said to me something that stuck “A manager manages things, a leader leads people.” The best leaders I see empower others. They realise that their key role is helping their team to achieve their goals. They are able to put their ego and ambition to one side and revel in seeing others shine. The best leaders use coaching techniques, they talk less and listen more. Michael Bungay Stanier says there are seven key questions leaders need to master to bring out the best in their teams. He categorises them as follows: 1. The Kickstart Question – What’s on you ..read more

Heather Day appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 with her product Hay Day Butter.  She approached me after attending my Perfecting Your Pitch seminar as part of the eChallenge program hosted by the University of Adelaide. Here are 5 tips I coached Heather on to win her pitch Grab them at the start Going on Shark Tank is like stepping on stage at a concert. You want to make a great impression and win over the audience as soon as you can. My advice to Heather was to come out smiling and looking confident. The goal was to get Janine to light up, and you can see on the video she achieved this. On S ..read more

Oooo, Ahhh, Ummm, kind of, like, you know? We all have them, these little meaningless filler words, also known as verbal graffiti. An occasional one here and there is not a problem (after all, we are humans not machines…) but they become a problem when: The audience starts counting them They give the impression you are uncertain They undermine your credibility  So, what can we do? Here is a simple exercise I call the JAW DROP. Here’s how you do it. Have your speech prepared and find somewhere private to practice.  Start speaking while looking straight ahead try and touch your chin ..read more

Who is the better singer? Kylie Minogue or Jimmy Barnes? Well, it depends, how are you measuring them? Vocal scale? Number of hits? Global reach? Years of experience? Or are you measuring them on your personal preferences? Maybe neither is your favorite, and that’s okay too, we don’t all like the same thing. Every singer is unique and there is room for everyone, and you don’t even have to be a good singer to be successful! (I’m thinking Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen here) It is the same with public speaking. The goal is to clarify your style and amplify it.  Here are some tips to help ..read more

Mark Randolph is the co-founder and past CEO of Netflix. 25 years ago he had a great idea, in fact he had hundreds of them, ranging from customer surfboards through to personalised dog food. The idea that grew legs after being tested was Netflix.  Netflix started as DVD mailing service and evolved nine years later into a subscription based streaming service employing over 12,000 staff. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the Fearless Females #iwd2023 event. Here are his top 5 key takeaways from his presentation.  Ideas don’t count. They’re all bad ideas to start wi ..read more

I love working with entrepreneurs. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you have to be creative, resilient, and persistent. What we see as ‘overnight success’ is the cumulation of many years of hard slog, rejection, and disappointment. I love asking them about how they started. What was the trigger, the idea, the opportunity they saw that got the ball rolling? This is the essence of the founder’s story. Richard Turner is a serial entrepreneur, founder of Zen energy, and author of The Essential Entrepreneur. This is his founder’s story behind Zen Energy “I was in the cubby house at the bott ..read more

Do You Suffer From EBS? EBS is a terrible condition that can strike at any time.  There are two types of EBS, and both are equally destructive. They can occur in the middle of our presentations but usually, they arise when we are asked a question.   The first is Empty Brain Syndrome. This happens when you are asked a question and your brain goes into hibernation, and you struggle to even say your name let alone come up with an answer. The second is Exploding Brain Syndrome. Your brain enters hyperdrive throwing up thousands of iterations and you can’t choose an answer ..read more

Cathy was struggling to communicate effectively to her boss. “Bob’s always interrupting me, and I lose my train of thought. I was allocated 20 minutes and I spent a lot of time preparing my presentation and I never get to finish it. I end up being flustered and frustrated.” One of the questions that comes up frequently in my workshops is how do I persuade up? This is especially difficult when you have an Alpha personality type who wants your conclusion now! My answer is always the same: Get to the point, fast! I have written about this previously with Clarity is King and The Best Speakers Star ..read more