There’s now less than 5 weeks until Christmas and at the end of the year your personal learning budget vanishes as quickly as a plate of gingerbread cookies.

Which means it’s use it or lose it time.

Are any of these 5 things as jolly as Santa’s chuckle, as sweet as a Christmas pudding or as magical as flying reindeer? And all of them can improve your career and get you ahead.

A little story about learning to walk. 14865 kilometres from home. And how this can help you communicate well in your new job with new colleagues.

I was in a freakishly high top bunk bed in a shared room, even with sunglasses on, the seering white light of the afternoon bouncing off the pavements was blinding and I really was far, far away.

But the thing that freaked me out? Walking.

Disclaimer - you can probably guess which side of the fence I’m on with that one… but read on. Have you ever shared a career challenge like this with AI?

Dear ChatGPT, it’s me again…I’ve had a heck of a week and, yes, I know it’s only Wednesday. Can you help?  I'm struggling with three deadlines that are getting increasingly close and one of those involves that presentation to a client who I think I’ve mentioned to you before, you know the one that always looks at me like I’m a bit slow.

I’ve a presentation to deliver tomorrow afternoon to senior management that I haven’t even started to look at yet but it’s hey, only 5 minutes…. so I can probably just wing it, can’t I?

Being alone can get a bad rap. It can mean less of. Inferior.
But the opposite can be true.

As a career coach, I work with my clients who are looking for a new role. Maybe they’ve been let go and made redundant, or they feel like they need a new direction and aren’t sure what to do.

And at first they can find that they feel all alone. But by tapping into the network around them they can find new opportunities and develop skills that lead them to their next big thing.

How do you know your stakeholder relationships are strong? How do you know that your colleagues value your skills? How do you know that your communication skills are supporting your career and not creating stress – for yourselves and others?

And wouldn’t it be great if there was a simple way to check this out? Well, it turns out there is!

Welcome to the Power Audit. Here’s how you do it.

Tom Jones, Bryan Ferry and KT Tunstall. What do they have in common?

How can this help your career and get you noticed for all the right reasons? And how can it help you be a brilliant facilitator that brings people together?

If you’re anything like me you’ve been to a number of concerts. Live music is special, isn’t it? That energy in the room. Hairs on the back of the neck stuff. And yet it can be a very different experience. And for me, that's down to how good the performer's facilitation skills are.

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.

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.

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 and some nods to a politician and a comedian who are brilliant at using 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.

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.

And there are people in this meeting that you want impress. And then it happens.

It’s your turn. And all eyes are on you. And you babble.

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?

Read on a for a simple check list of what to do to chair and facilitate a meeting effectively.

I recently replaced a relic of an old phone. And spoke with someone who’s customer care and communication skills were off the charts. But it was one thing that he did which really impressed me.

And it’s a skill that goes a long way in developing rapport and trust with others. And we all love it when someone uses this skill with us.

Here’s what he did.

Emotional triggers. Grinning madly. Then welling up moments later. Giving a crap about something. Excitement. Every minute dripping with glamour. A few laughs.

There’s one show on the telly right now that's nailing all of these.

Mainly because of the range of emotions it manages and creates and the sheer excitement it can pack into a couple of hours.

I played a lot of badminton as a kid at school, regional and national level. And there’s one golden rule my coaches drilled in to me that improved my game and can improve your relationships with stakeholders.

You’ll stand out as a better listener and someone who has focus and attention.

Here’s how…

Woman reassesses life during a road trip around Iceland in November with best friend’s deaf son. What happens when you find out your boyfriend’s not a regular bloke but a superhero. Oscar winning Anglo-French actress disappears from the glare of celebrity and escapes to the countryside.

These are the last three books I’ve read and this is what they've reminded me about how to balance our energy.

Meaning I get more balance into my week and avoid the crash and burn.

When we’re vulnerable and open up, it increases our ability to connect with people. It develops trust. And strengthens relationships.

And yet it can be safer to be neutral and not attract too much attention to ourselves.

Here’s what a tin of white paint and a recent networking event taught me about opening up to others.