That meeting. You know. The tricky one. Here's how to manage that. With some tips taken from swimming in cold water….

A few times a week I go to a local outdoor pool. They say it’s heated and I think it was probably was - shortly after the last Ice Age.

And so getting in the pool as you can imagine is quite the experience.

Time for a song. A song about how communication skills coaching boosts your career, helps get you that promotion and increases your impact in the workplace.

How speaking up can get you seen and raise your visibility. How building your engagement skills can strengthen your network.

How telling stories that bring ideas to life and listening more and talking less makes you a valued member of a team.

This article is for you if you’re a coach looking to take The International Coaching Federation’s credentialing exam, of if you're thinking of getting a coach and want to know what it takes for a coach to get accredited by The Gold Standard of Coaching, The ICF.

Long story short, it’s slightly less than it took Frodo in “Lord of the Rings.” Slightly.

And note, this exam is the very last thing a coach does in a series of assessments before becoming a fully credentialed ICF coach.

Being creative with how we communicate can pays dividends. How we present something can grab people’s attention. Make them sit up and take notice.

But how do you do this? You can use a different shape for your talk. Spice things up a bit.

Take the Pecha Kucha format.

If you’re looking for a new job, or a change in career there’s one thing you can benefit from knowing really well and one thing you shouldn’t be scared to do.

So, what am I talking about?

First up, knowing your skillset well means you know yourself well, meaning that you know what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing and the benefits these skills bring to others. As for the one thing that you shouldn’t be scared of – that’s standing out.

So, you’re bored in your job. Or you’re feeling lost and wondering what to do about it.

And like colourful flowers in a meadow, there are lots of jobs that catch your eye. But how do you know which is the right one for you? Ever thought of career coaching?

Career coaching is getting to know yourself better so that you can explore what you’ve done in the past and the present that lights you up and use this to discover what your next role can be.

“You can find out a lot about yourself up a chimney.” Did you know that the actor Bill Nighy comes from a long line of chimney sweeps?

Sometimes we can learn a lot about ourselves in unusual situations.

Before I went to university I worked for a few weeks in a warehouse. It was dark, there were hardly any windows and it felt a little like being trapped.

Oxygen tanks and sherpas. Blisters and stunning views. The endless cycle of one foot in front of another. My husband and I recently went mountain climbing. And didn’t experience any of these.

But we did go to a place we’ve never been before. And saw sights we’d never seen.

You may have heard of where we went.

It’s that time of year again. Communication skills are in the spotlight, entire evenings of public speaking, and winners connecting with their audience.

It’s award season, with a number of glitzy, glamorous TV and film ceremonies toasting the great and the good, applauding and awarding performance.

But what 24 things does award season and the annual performance review have in common?

It’s been 3 months. I’m sitting staring at a wall. This isn’t working. It’s really not. It’s gone from being a nagging feeling following me around to something much bigger.

Now it’s time to talk to someone about it. And I’m about to develop my communication skills in a way I never thought I would be doing…

Many months before during my free time when not teaching, I’d been sitting at my dining room table in an Italian village, reading through brochures, sifting through pages, and filling in application after application.

So, you’re thinking of getting coaching. And you’re wondering how to go about it. Maybe you’ve never done it before and aren’t sure where to start because there are loads coaches out there.

Maybe you’ve had coaching and so it might feel a bit like getting back on a bike.

But one thing is for sure: you want to find a safe space to think, grow, make decisions, try things out and have some time for yourself. Boost your confidence. Improve your career development.

What do you do when the rollercoaster of day-to-day life contains more downs than ups?

When things are hard. Confidence is low. Stress is high. Your sense of self worth is paper thin. Your morale is low. And life comes and smacks you in the face.

What I’m about to share with you is what I call a ‘break glass in emergency’ exercise. And it’s a brilliant way to boost your confidence, trust me.

Can you give me some tips advice on overcoming common communication challenges that people have?

This was asked to me by a client recently and it's a big question, isn't it? Especially in a world that involves more and more hybrid working.

I paused and then I asked them if they’d ever been to Iceland.

It's that time of year.

And maybe you’re wanting to make improvements in your life.

Go for that promotion at work. Get a new job. Or develop your communication skills and feel better and do better at public speaking.

Being an effective communicator, speaking confidently in meetings and being a good networker, all have more in common than you’d think with the trifle.

The holiday season is here and one of the most popular Christmas desserts is trifle.

And just writing about it makes my mouth water.

It’s that time of year again when Christmas presents get gingerly peeled open, assaulted with total abandon or unwrapped with business-like efficiency.

How people unwrap their gifts, unwraps their preferred learning style.

Which style are you? And if you’re creating and delivering learning, whether it’s on top leadership skills or improving communication skills, what can you do to cater for these learning styles?

Using pauses in your public speaking can be your best friend. It can be one of the most effective ways to improve your communication skills. Here are three ways to use them.

Barack Obama uses them all the time. Eddie Izzard is a master. His brilliant Death Star saga is both a masterpiece of storytelling and pauses as God, Darth Vader and catering manager, Mr Stevens fight it out over the penne arrabbiata.

It’s coming up for Christmas and so it’s that time of year: The school nativity play.

Now, there are the favourite parts that everyone wants. And when you’re a 7-year-old girl, you want to be an angel. Except I didn’t get to be an angel.

But here’s what I did get: the chance to develop communication skills and public speaking.

Picture the scene. You’re in a meeting and you’ve been waiting for your turn to speak.

You know it’s all about good communication skills and that your public speaking is what can make or break you.

Picture the scene: you’re at the top of the table. Sitting around you are people from different departments and organisations, and they all know their stuff. They’ve got facts and figures at their fingertips.

They’re looking to you to run the meeting. And you’re looking to put your public speaking tips into action to impress. What do you do?