Articles and News

Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP is an approach to psychotherapy which encourages people to actively use the mind, body and emotions to run their life more successfully, and communicate with others in an enhanced and extraordinary manner. It is said that becoming skilled in NLP will allow you to:
- Achieve better success at things you already [...]

Many of us in the business world are required to make presentations, whether we are delivering to a customer or colleagues.
We may also feel that verbal communication skills are not one of our best attributes, it is something that you will be required to think quickly about and use on-the-spot. It is easy for us [...]

Spontaneous speaking is an essential skill for leaders, managers and front line staff who want to engage their audiences.
Say the right thing at the right time… speak off the cuff… improvise… we can’t help but admire those who have the ability to be spontaneous – and rightly so. If you want to become [...]

Talking to your boss, a colleague or customer…
Creating a podcast…
Being interviewed…

Good verbal communication skills are important in business, so that you can communicate effectively with people in a wide variety of situations. In some cases you may be dealing with people in other countries, people with different cultures, varying ages and with different levels [...]

Can you imagine yourself standing in front of an audience without PowerPoint, without notes, without a script? Just think back to the last time it was vital to get your message across. Did you fully succeed?
The problem is that many people have a small but insistent voice in their heads at such time telling them [...]

How to respond quickly and build (rather than damage) your credibility when you are asked an unexpected question
You are a young/not so young/mature (delete as appropriate) executive, professional/manager/director (again, delete as appropriate) grabbing a coffee first thing on a Monday morning. Your boss (or boss’s boss or head of another department) spots you, ‘Ah, glad [...]

Who wouldn’t want to have the ability to say the right thing at the right time… to speak off the cuff, to improvise, even to wing it?
Have you ever admired someone who is spontaneous?  Someone who always seems to have the ‘right’ answer and is always cool, calm and collected? Could that be you?
Is this the gift of [...]

You don’t have to look far to find some clear examples of people who try to be spontaneous only to fall flat on their face. So, let’s deal with any fears you might have about improvising.

There are two distinct parts in the majority of presentations; the part you can prepare for in advance, and the part that involves responding to challenges, questions and objections. In this article, Clive Lewis, Director of Illumine Training, looks at some of the pitfalls in both parts and suggests some ways of avoiding the common [...]

We all know how to think and learn, right? Not according to Clive Lewis, Director of Illumine, the training company that specialises in thinking, learning and creativity.
Being able to think, learn and work effectively used to be regarded as ‘nice to haves’. This perspective was often combined with the view that our ability to learn, [...]

…but little use if you can’t get them across
How many managers and leaders with brilliant ideas fail to impress and inspire the people they are trying to reach? It’s a big problem — and not just for those who have to make stand-up presentations. It’s also a challenge for those who are trying hard to [...]

The ability to be spontaneous when speaking is essential for leaders, managers and front line staff who want to engage their audiences. Here Clive Lewis, MD of Illumine Training, reveals how you can begin to think on your feet.
Who wouldn’t want to have that ability to say the right thing at the right time…to speak [...]

When times are tough people need to ‘up their game’. Here Clive Lewis of Illumine highlights how leaders and managers can develop the ability to reach out and communicate more powerfully .

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a communication approach which can transform your impact and your ability to communicate. Here Anthony Landale outlines the fundamentals.

If you were advised to work on your communication to others, how would you go about it? Would you try to develop your Powerpoint presentation skills? Pay more attention to the way [...]

3 Steps For Making Writing Easier
Planning – professional writers often spend twice the amount of time planning comparted to non-professional writers. It is key – it helps the writer gather all their ideas and information and it helps stimulate creative thinking. Mind Map your ideas – allows you to put all your various associated thoughts [...]

When most people think about improving the impact of their verbal communication, they probably think about how to improve their presentation skills. That’s because most people would consider a formal, pre-prepared presentation to a specific target audience as the most common situation in which communication creates an impact.
In reality this is simply not the case. Most [...]

Many financial professionals have real problems when trying to get their message across clearly and concisely to colleagues and clients. So how can they transform their ability to communicate? Clive Lewis, a speaker at this year’s ACCA conference, explains that it’s all about understanding brain power.
As accountants and financiers we face a pressing challenge… we [...]