Simplicity: Seeking stability in an unstable world
Would you like the world to stand still for a day or two, so you could catch up and enjoy some stability? Most people want to see a semblance of order and structure in their lives, says Trevor Gay, but we live and work in unstructured organisations where we just don’t have that luxury. So […]
Become a presentation sensation
Terence Mauri hones in on the preparation and delivery skills that turn a lacklustre lecture into a sensational session. “The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the minute you are born and never stops until you stand up and speak in public.”Roscoe DrummondThe fear of speaking to a group of people – technically […]
Rise to the challenge
With most organisations facing tough trading in the year ahead, Nigel Paine explains how to rethink your L&D strategy for the economic downturn. I have just spent a week in Philadelphia teaching doctoral students on the world’s first programme that combines business with learning. It is the first course out of a business school (and […]
Developing confidence in others
A large proportion of people complain about a lack of confidence. Rich Lucas considers the effect this can have on training, and provides a few tips on how to boost participants’ confidence. Ask someone to name three good traits about themselves and they will struggle. But ask them to tell you about the negative aspects […]
Review: The Really Good Fun Cartoon Book of NLP
It has to be one of the supreme ironies of NLP that very few books written on the subject are visual, given that one of the basic premises of the 'success science' is that 60% of people process their thinking in a visual way. However, one recently published book – 'The Really Good Fun Cartoon […]
Top reads 2008: Creativity: Can you teach it?
Can some clever training coax creativity and innovation out of even the most unlikely candidates? Annie Hayes reports. Setting the sceneThere’s no doubt that some people are just naturally talented when it comes to being creative, whilst others flounder at the first obstacle. So is it a skill that can be honed, tweaked and ultimately […]
Tony Buzan: Brain play – the never-ending story
It’s hard not to feel exhausted after talking to Tony Buzan, the brain-power guru best known for his Mind Mapping techniques, for Buzan is a man who never tires, who endlessly achieves and whose commendable positive attitude never fails – he is a veritable example of how to enjoy life to the full. Annie Hayes […]
2008: That was the year that was…
2008 is a year few of us will forget in a hurry. But as the credit crunch rolls into recession, it has been interesting to hear so many voices stress the importance of investing in skills. So how has L&D fared over the past 12, turbulent, months? Rebecca Midgley asked some key industry figures about […]
Simplicity: Formality v informality
Today’s society is less stratified and deferential than it was 30 years ago. Has the workplace lost anything important along the way? Trevor Gay considers the pros and cons of formality. “Would I be comfortable receiving financial advice from a bank manager dressed in jeans and T-shirt and a gold stud in his or her […]
Xmas crackers: Avoiding email clangers
Email is good for information and confirmation – not so good for persuasion and emotion, says Bryan Edwards. Here are his tips to email etiquette. When sending: In character, email is somewhere between an informal telephone call and a formal letter, but an email can be easily kept as a permanent record – a phone […]
A profile of Charles Jennings
Charles Jennings has close to 25 years’ experience developing and deploying technology-supported learning. Donald H Taylor talked to him about his approach to learning and why he doesn’t believe that training is always the answer. Charles Jennings, global head of learning at Reuters is responsible for the learning of some 18,000 people working in Reuters […]
Right to request training ‘to come in by 2010’
Twenty-five million employees are expected to gain the right to request time at work for training within two years. Under The Children, Skills and Learning Bill, to be put before Parliament next year, all employees who have worked for their employer for more that 26 weeks requests could ask to undertake accredited courses that lead […]
New to training? Avoid beginners’ blunders…
Sally Poyzer provides some advice for new trainers on how to skirt around the common pitfalls of being new to the job. As all of us who have been training for a while would agree, training is not as easy as it looks. And, unfortunately, new trainers are often thrown in at the deep end. […]
The watercooler: How languages boost employability
Tom Griffiths, entrepreneur behind gapyear.com, explains how a second language can boost young people’s employability. Young people could bolster their employability and open up opportunities at home and abroad by learning a second language at GCSE level and beyond. There are serious mismatches between the expectations of young people and employers about what makes school […]
A week in training: A vision of the C21st trainer
As an L&D professional are you firmly rooted in C21st? Find out how the CIPD would view you as it presents its vision of the modern trainer. Meanwhile the government invests millions in advertising Train to Gain and it turns out that coaching doesn’t always mean a lucrative contract. CIPD sets out its vision of […]
The Browser: L&D blogs you can’t live without – part two
Blogwatcher Karyn Romeis selects the final 10 of her favourite L&D blogs. Read the previous list here. Are there any unmissable blogs we’ve not included? Add a comment below. Continuing where I left off last time, and still in no particular order:1. eLearning Technology. Tony Karrer’s focus is on corporate learning and he has excellent […]
Free thinking: Telling tales
Can the use of a story in a serious presentation ever be justified as anything more than ornamental – a sprinkle of sugar to help the pill go down? Martin Shovel asks if you’re sitting comfortably, as he looks at how adding some storytelling art to your arguments can make an impact. "This presentation had […]
Hard cash for soft skills: Making a business case for training
There always seems to be more demand for training and development than budgets to pay for it. So how does one make a case for a training programme that would satisfy the sternest of finance directors? Richard White has some suggestions. If you are looking to make a business case for training that will impress, […]
Agenda: Can we learn our way to happiness?
Gemma Middleton reports on a recent conference on happiness run by the Campaign for Learning, and comes away with some insights into misery as well as some tips on how to embrace and spread a little sunshine. When TrainingZone.co.uk asked me to attend the Campaign for Learning conference called ‘Can we learn our way to […]
Opinion: How creative is your training?
Forget the misapplied training of the 1980s and 90s, says Bob Selden – creative training has now ‘grown-up’. He takes a look at what is on offer, and finds that acting and music can enhance the learning experience. As a young trainer, I was fortunate to work with a group of extremely talented and creative […]
