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.

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.

You pole vault to get to the end of a packed aisle in the supermarket. Surrounded by families, rubber rings and Pina Coladas at the resort pool in Tenerife, you execute a dive Tom Daley would be proud of. On the dance floor at a family summer wedding you throw in some Simone Biles moves.

The Olympics were brilliant. Are you like me and a part of you is still grieving for the sheer excitement and those “wow, did that just happen” moments? It was amazing, wasn’t it?

But much as I loved it all, some of the sports have limited advantage in everyday life. What if there were sports that did have a huge advantage? What would the "Communication Olympics" look like?

It takes 1.6 seconds and reaches a speed of 48 kmh. And it takes a huge impact on the wrists. What am I talking about?

The 10 metre Olympic dives I’ve been mesmerised by. It’s quite something to look down from that height never mind dive from it. 

And it’s something else when the diver goes to the very edge of the board, turns around, stands on their hands, goes into a full handstand, and then pushes themselves into the air, twisting and turning as they speed towards the water.

They smile. Laugh. Scrunch up their eyes a bit as they think. "Wow. That was fun, Mica!” This is the answer. But what’s the question? The question is “What’s it like to work with me?”

One of the ways I work with clients is through doing a series of communication skills exercises. They’re short and snappy. And – the important bit – they get results.

My clients get promoted. They take on new, big pieces of work that would have scared them before. Their words are more fluent, natural, and calm in those important meetings. So, what exactly happens in a coaching session when we do these communication skills exercises?

How would you rate your influencing skills? And how good are you at influencing the influencers?

When you know how to do that well your career picks up pace. Meetings get more productive. Communication is easier. You start getting noticed for all of the right reasons.

In my 1 hour bitsesize workshop “Influencing the Influencers” I help you explore the different needs of your stakeholders.

Life and work can be tricky when you’re stuck. This gentle book takes you by the hand and helps you get unstuck.

Recently, a friend told me about a book. I was intrigued by the title and was also interested in what the book looks at because it explores some quite big issues but does so in a kind of gentle, storytelling way.

The book is called “The cafe on the edge of the world” and it’s a fairly short read of 125 pages.

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.

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?

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.

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.