Read more about the article A simple way to make your presentation more professional
A simple way to make your presentation more professional

A simple way to make your presentation more professional

Here at Business Learning Solutions we are getting asked more and more to do presentations training and coaching in multinational companies. And I see managers and directors who have been giving presentations for years making the same mistake over and over again.

What is the common mistake most of them make? – There is no structure to their presentations. And no structure to a presentation means that the audience soon becomes bored and switches off. (more…)

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Read more about the article How to get genuine feedback
How to get genuine feedback

How to get genuine feedback

Sometimes as a manager it’s difficult to get honest, genuine feedback on how you are performing from a member of your team. We know that if we are to get the most out of our team we must listen to their view on how we can improve but many people are reluctant to tell their boss ‘the honest truth’. (more…)

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Read more about the article How to influence people in 5 simple stages
How to influence people in 5 simple stages

How to influence people in 5 simple stages

I’m busy preparing a course this week on persuasive speaking and influencing  skills. Despite framing up the course as we always do, that we’re concentrating totally on skills rather than teaching English, I suspect some of the participants expect me to wave a magic wand and present them with some set phrases in English that will make the difference between winning a contract and losing it. (more…)

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Read more about the article Essential negotiation phrases
Essential negotiation phrases

Essential negotiation phrases

It’s a mistake to believe that if you learn specific phrases in English for either negotiations, presentations or meetings you will be proficient and successful when participating in these activities.  There’s no escaping the fact that you have to work hard on increasing your level of English in general to allow you to be flexible and deal with whatever comes at you when faced with other English Speakers. Learning fundamental techniques and principles for negotiating and presenting coupled with solid English classes comes before learning specific negotiating and presenting phrases.

Having said that, there are some phrases which are good to practice and “have up your sleeve” to bring out at the appropriate moment.

I’m busy preparing a negotiations course for this week. The focus of the course is to learn and practice “principled negotiation” rather than “positional negotiation”, meaning we take a collaborative approach to reaching agreement (win-win) rather than a competitive approach (win-lose).

As part of the course, I’ve included some specific language practice for those more sensitive stages of negotiation, where the other side is reluctant to engage in principled negotiation. (more…)

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Read more about the article How to finish a meeting on time
How to finish a meeting on time

How to finish a meeting on time

Now the title of this post may appear rather obvious to many, but here in Spain it is a challenge to start a meeting on time so actually FINISHING a meeting on time can seem like a “mission impossible”.

However, as I reiterate in our meetings training courses to Spanish participants, if they are doing business with anglo saxons which requires leading meetings, an adherence to timings is essential. (more…)

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Read more about the article The most effective feedback question you can ask
The most effective feedback question you can ask

The most effective feedback question you can ask

We are constantly receiving feedback in every area of our life either directly or indirectly, and this is essential; it tells us how we’re doing, and more importantly, where we can improve.

However, most people will not voluntarily give you feedback. If there are indeed areas where they think you can improve, they’ll be reluctant to tell you, wanting to avoid hurting your feelings or risk your disapproval.

To get honest, open feedback you will have to ask for it  and make it safe for the other person to give it to you.

The most powerful question you can ask in this arena is the following: (more…)

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Read more about the article Go From Confusion To Clarity Using Powerful Questions
The Power of Questions - Business LEarning Solutions

Go From Confusion To Clarity Using Powerful Questions

As a coach, trained to ask powerful questions I have no doubt of just that – that questions are by definition powerful.

I had lunch with a friend the other day who is feeling uncertain about her professional future and wanted to chew things over (as well as the lunch) with me. I gently slid into coach mode and she got clarity very quickly. It made me realise that when we speak to our friends and family they automatically start giving us advice and we often come away not feeling any clearer about our issue because WE  haven’t taken responsibility to decide our actions, we’ve just listened to what THEY would do. (more…)

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