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Hopes and fears? Don’t invite fears into the room!
Hopes and fears? Don't invite fears into the room! A lot of training sessions, courses, even conferences begin by asking their participants to consider their hopes and fears. It's a good idea to hear what people want (their hopes), and better to have those expressed...
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Lubricate your presentations with collaborative humour
Lubricate your presentations with collaborative humour When people don’t laugh at my jokes – and by people in this context I mostly mean my children – I don’t get offended. I remind myself that I was a comedy professional. Yes, the BBC employed me for five years, and...
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Your stories are never neutral
Your stories are never neutral I was listening to the provocative BBC radio series, The Tyranny of Story, which prompted a few thoughts. One suggestion is that a story is never neutral. Any story that you hear, and for that matter any story that you tell, is pushing...
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How the CNN Effect is killing grandma
How the CNN Effect is killing grandma They call it the 'CNN Effect’. When a cyclone or hurricane hits the seaside town, the pictures are spectacular. You have a heady mix of devastation, offset by a heart-warming and equally compelling spectacle of a family rescued by...
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Three Ways to Let Go
Three Ways to Let Go The first of the LIFEPASS principles is ‘Let go’. Easy to say, sounds OK, but what does it mean? Here are three intended interpretations. Let go of the plan – especially when it is apparent that the plan is no longer serving you. If you are...
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Federer, Kasparov and Perfectionism
Federer, Kasparov and Perfectionism If you feel caught in a trap of perfectionism, consider this: the very best champions of all-time are not perfect and never could be. Gary Kasparov, the most dominant world champion of chess sometimes won and sometimes lost. He won...
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What’s improvisation got to do with your psychological strengths?
What's improvisation got to do with your psychological strengths? If you’re keen on strengths-based psychology, you’ll love Applied Improvisation. The strengths movement is all about finding out what you are good at. It’s not so interested in your weaknesses or...
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My Powerpoint’s not working – quelle surprise!
My Powerpoint's not working - quelle surprise! In many organisations, there are excellent people who give ordinary presentations. That is a terrible waste of potential. Often they are doing silly things that can easily be fixed. For example, at a recent conference, I...
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How many words does a picture prompt?
How many words does a picture prompt? I've seen this technique used recently a few times to stimulate participants' thinking on the topic of the day. The facilitator shows an interesting picture - on a screen or printed out - and asks the audience to express their...
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How to avoid boring your audience with dull, dull process changes?
How to avoid boring your audience with dull, dull process changes? You have a short slot in a conference session, let’s say 10-20 minutes, to introduce an important new process in your organisation. Everyone needs to know about it, and that’s why you’ve been allocated...
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Protected: The successful approach to failure
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‘Fail’ succeeds in getting the headlines
‘Fail’ succeeds in getting the headlines When I mention there's a Failure Fetish, which is unhelpfully skewing the way we talk about and teach improvisation, fans of Celebrating Mistakes look affronted, as if there is no such thing. They ask where is the evidence for...
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