Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The Duchess of Cambridge public speaking – building on your strengths in presentations

Posted by Liz McKechnie

So, at last, Kate Speaks!

What’s the verdict? Any feedback for her?

The Duchess of Cambridge makes her first public speech on her own. With the world’s press hanging not only on what she looks like but, now, on the words she utters, and indeed how she utters them. She only gets one stab at this. No pressure there then…

Bearing in mind this is something she’s going to have to do a lot more of, what would be most helpful to Kate as she progresses along the rocky road of presentations and public speaking?

Do we criticise or do we praise?

Have a look and see how you think she’s doing……honestly….

Whatever your thoughts, there are some things that work well and others that don’t work so well.

The thing is, what will be useful to her to hear? Read more

nerves

Assertiveness, feedback, the declaration of independence, and being OK

Posted by Liz McKechnie

800px-All_men_are_created_equal

The opening of the United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states as follows:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness

Who are we to argue with that one? (well….assuming when we say men we’re including women and children in the mix…but that’s another blog…)

And when it comes to the way we relate to other people and looking at the reasonable assertion of our rights – Jefferson’s statement roughly translates into the healthy psychological positions described in Transactional Analysis:

 

“I’m OK, you’re OK”

Read more

Appraisals and Feedback – What are we actually feeding?

Posted by Liz McKechnie

Research shows (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007) that whether we are giving positive or negative feedback the way we deliver it can have a long-term effect on the recipients’ ability to deal with immediate and future setbacks.

In work as in life, things don’t always run smoothly and there are bound to be setbacks and challenges. And whether we like it or not, part of our role as managers requires us to give appropriate feedback in order to redress the situation and/or to prevent the individual making the same mistake again.

Performance Management and Appraisals and Feedback

If the performance management and appraisal system is to be effective it’s important to think about how people in our teams deal with difficulties and, specifically, whether they go on to repair any damage done and to improve their future performance. Read more