As a speaker, you strive to fight your fears and overcome your nervousness before or when you face your audience. But what about your audience’s fears of you? Have you tried to address them? What happens if you don’t? Do you even know what those fears are? Here are some of your audience’s concerns regarding […]
As Sami was getting ready to depart to one of the countries in the region for a training assignment, he posted a status on his facebook page saying: “On the way to Kuwait for a training assignment”. Within a few minutes, he got a message from a previous colleague, Jad, whom he had worked with […]
If used correctly, soft skills can take you through the toughest of situations, both professionally and personally. There are 100s of books written yet most of us still choose to ignore their importance. Some of us even disagree that it can work. I used to think that only degree based education would advance my career, […]
The Johari window is one of the best tools for self-awareness and personal development when it comes to soft skills. The technique created by Joesph Luft and Harrington Ingham helps in understanding relationships, levels of trust, sharing and communication. The window consists of 4 Areas. Open Area: – This area represents the information about you which […]
The first thing that comes to the average man’s mind when I say that I work as a Soft Skills trainer is usually the communication skills training. Simply because the evolution of this rich realm often started with such a basic notion of “effectively communicating with one’s self and everyone around” So what is communication? […]
Driving this morning, I was amazed by the way a particular driver was driving ahead of me, and I thought to myself, I wonder if he, as a person, is the same as his driving! Then it hit me; the way we drive is indeed part of our character and attitude and it specifically relates […]
Before you start reading what I hope will be an insightful article, I would like to invite you to spend 5 minutes and do the following exercise: Remove all distractions near you – particularly your smartphone – then try to empty your mind of those wandering thoughts, close your eyes and just listen. I’ll wait. […]
In part one of this series, I addressed THREE main fears that your audience have of you, the speaker. Fears they have before they decide to attend your talk, just before you start your talk, and just after you start it. In part two, I will discuss three more issues you need to be aware […]
Almost everyone dreads Q&A, although they should be the most interesting and productive part of any speaking event – speakers are often worried that they’ll be put on the spot and unable to answer and listeners don’t want to be subjected to long, boring diatribes by audience members who are riding a particular hobby horse. […]
Interest in emotional intelligence (EI) has bloomed over the last few years and has become a standard concept in general and applied psychology, as well as in applied business settings. Private and public sectors have recognised the important role emotions play in our actions and, therefore, our performance. Although this interest or understanding of EI […]
