How many conferences and events have you been to where you have been preached at by someone in a pinstripe suit, drowning you with countless volumes of PowerPoint slides? Most people that stand up at a conference are brilliant at what they do – they are truly experts in their field and have more knowledge than they could be possibly share with you the audience in half a lifetime, let alone their current allocated time…

When was the last time you went out in the rain with a smile on your face, jumping and splashing around in puddles.? Many years ago (for some of us very many years ago) this was the best fun you could have. Your parents struggled to get you in the house and out of the rain. So what happened? What changed? You got old and boring. Society told you it was no longer appropriate to…

Having recently been Best Man at my best friend’s wedding, I saw close up the stresses and strains all the speakers were going through before delivering their speeches. With that in mind I thought I would share my top tips to help you deliver a relaxed, enjoyable and memorable wedding speech! There are many more – this is just an appetiser. Everyone is behind you It’s true. This is a wedding and everyone is on…

If you don’t ask you’ll never get an answer or a response. I recently had a reader of FAFF refuse to give me a recommendation or an endorsement for the book because he “hated it”. I was naturally a little surprised at this response and enquired as to why, as you would expect. To which he replied as follows (minus the odd swear word), “It was like you were inside my head, I do everything…

I have been working with a number of companies recently who have been having issues with the performance of their business development team – intentionally I did not call them their sales teams because therein lies the fundamental issue. Everyone is in sales to a greater or lesser extent, in the main most people don’t believe that and shy away as much as possible from anything vaguely sales related. Specifically anyone that communicates with anyone…

As my career has developed as a speaker I have come to believe that there are four main categories of speaker in the market place. By “speakers” I am talking about people who perform at conferences and conventions across the globe, playing a specific role in the event. Herein lies the graveyard of many events where they make a fatal error of not deciding what that role should be. Is it simply to fill in…

We all crave quality introductions from our contacts – be they friends, colleagues, peers or clients and of course, we then follow up immediately, make necessary appointments and do business together, don’t we? Well that’s what’s meant to happen. I was reminded of this only yesterday when with a contact.  Not two weeks ago, he had passed me an introduction along the lines of,” Mike and Paul, I would like to introduce you guys to…

The International Speakers Conference I went to Dubai with three objectives – to make connections, to build relationships and to learn. Gaining some business would be a bonus. The good and the great travelled to the desert in the UAE, with a goal to learn and understand how to build and do business in one of the world’s most exciting developing regions. Witnessing established professional motivational speakers at work was inspiring. At the time I…

Nearly every one has one! What is it, and how much more could we achieve in our lives if we didn’t have one? This article clearly demostrates why you should remove it or at least limit its use. A friend of mine Gareth Davies who is a speaker, consultant and an ex-professional footballer introduced me to the idea of the Electronic Income Reducer in the corner of the front lounge – yes, you know what I…

You will have seen books in bookshops entitled “101 things to do before I die” or “200 places to visit before you die”. Now let’s be honest, some of you hate the idea of reading these books and steer clear of them entirely whereas others secretly read them in search of ideas and inspiration. If you are anything like me you do find some ideas of dreamy, far-off places that you’d love to visit balanced…