Yesterday I attended the quarterly meeting for the Aftercare Advisors of the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust, chaired by the Regional Manager Grampian. These advisors, like myself are volunteers who are helping young 18-25yr olds set up and continue in business through the PSYBT. Each advisor is given at least one client, who has been before a panel, presented their business plan and been accepted, and then supports them, by regularly meeting them for the next 2 years. At this quarterly meeting we hear the latest update on how the business is going, any problems encountered and importantly progress made. This is where the experience of others, who may have encountered a simialr situation, is invaluable. My role is slightly different in that I come in as a specialist advisor, helping out whenever one of the advisors thinks there may be a confidence issue, some help needed with how they present themselves, for example at networking events or even how to “sell” themselves more successfully when vying for new business. I too update the group on the progress I am having with those I see.
As usual the meeting was full of energy, enthusiasm and problem solving – not to mention laughter. This is a wonderful way to share ideas, learn from each other and develop an awareness of the huge differences in perspectives and experience of both volunteer and client. There are many ups and downs for these young people to navigate and in this current climate, where we seem to hear so much negativity about them, it is refreshing to meet with people who believe in and support them. It is also rewarding to meet some of these young people, who have the drive and determination to succeed, often against amazing odds, and are willing to work hard at achieving their goals with a little help from PSYBT.
Tags: aftercare advice
Well at last I can believe we have left the snow behind. Why? Because I spent a very pleasant and sunny three and a half hours on the golf course yesterday. This was the first 18 holes I had played since last October – I am definitely a fair weather golfer – and was not expecting much score wise. However, after a shakey start, I then came into some semblance of the game I had at the end of last season. This started me thinking about why, after not doing anything golf related for the good part of 5 months, I was still able to perform at a reasonable level. Yes, there is still room to improve but for the first game, I was very satisfied.
Today I have been writing the course notes for a new course I am delivering in May on behalf of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, entitled “Communication Skills for Managers”. The course is aimed at managers who have some training in this skill set but, just like me and my golf, although reasonable, still want to improve. The content emphasizes the need to clarify expectations, develop potential, motivate and stay positive, again criteria by which I could look at my performance yesterday.
I believe the crucial points here are to have clear and realistic expectations which help both set goals and keep motivation going. My expectation was that I would hit some good shots, I play off 17, but then because of lack of practise, my short game and putting would likely be poor – and so it proved for the first 9 holes anyway. But was this just a self fulfilling prophecy? I expected to be bad so I was bad! However, thanks to some “muscle memory” returning as well as growing in confidence, those aspects of my game improved too.
And so it is with communication. We make a lot of assumptions about what to expect and must be wary not to let them cloud our ability to look for actual evidence and build on it positively. With clear expectations, we will enhance our “winnng” ways, continuing to build ever stronger realtionships. Happy golfing!
Tags: expectations, golf
At last I have received my flyers for my new service as advertised on my website. The service is to help anyone who has to stand up infront of an audience and speak -whether groom, best man, maid of honour, father/mother of bride or even receiving an award. We can all put together a few words but how do we deal with actually standing up and saying them. Not easy but possible with a few TIPS!
Tags: public speaking
I have read much about different perspectives and our own “map of the world” but how does this affect us on a daily basis?
Yesterday was a good example!
I collected my daughter at 9.00pm. She had been teaching dance since 2.30pm and apart from a short break at 5.00pm to eat the pasta salad she had taken with her, she had had nothing else to eat. Coming back in the car she said “I’m hungry!” to which my reply was “You can’t be hungry”. She then repeated it saying “Yes, I am hungry” and again I repeated “You can’t be hungry”. She was now getting annoyed and upset and started pleading her case about not having eaten much and insisting she was very hungry!
I too was losing my patience when I suddenly realised that we were not using the same “map”. Yes, she was hungry and my reply had been intended to give her support in implying that “Oh dear I can’t have you being hungry” but because I had shortened it (just like emails and texting) and she had not picked up on my “caring” tone, because of the noise of the traffic, she thought I was teasing her.
Luckily we sorted it out pretty quickly and stopped for fish and chips! So just be careful when next you say, or write, something in your own shorthand version. You know what you mean, but does the other person? The consequences may not be as expected!
Tags: communication, perception
With 36 delegates from Aberdeen Businesswomens’ Network, we had an entertaining session. After a demonstration by Sheila, using a “magic scarf” on how to use a prop to get your message across, groups of 4 were then given a “prop” of their own, anything from a button to a box of chalk, and set to, over a lovely lunch supplied by AECC, to prepare a 2 minute presentation of their own. Their message had to be relevant to the audience and each person had to say something! All the talks showed a confidence and creativity that maybe some did not think they were capable of and many very entertaining. The winners, decided on by a show of hands, who used a Bulldog clip to show the importance of looking beyond the obvious, will now get a 2 hour follow up workshop from Sheila at the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce where Sheila conducts full day training courses on both basic and advanced presentation skills, to fine tune their skills even further.
Tags: presentation skills
I am giving a workshop on behalf of Aberedeen Businesswomens’ Network on Presentation Skills on Tues 23 Feb at AECC
Tags: presentation skills
