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.

Maybe you’re wanting to make improvements in your life. Go for that promotion at work. Get a new job. And get more balance and control into your life. Or perhaps you want to develop your communication skills, be better at public speaking and raise your visibility at work and being heard and seen more.

When we communicate well, say what we mean and connect with others, it can do wonders for our reputation at work and boost our career prospects.

But where do you start? How do you know what exactly needs developed? Try this fun and creative exercise.

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 and meet your learners' needs? Try this approach to understand your learners’ personas and needs.

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.

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, aren’t there? And when you’re a seven year-old girl, being an angel is pretty much the top of that list.

With dreams of floating about a stage in a delicate, white dress.

Except I didn’t get to be an angel in the school nativity play. But the role I did play taught me a whole bunch of communication lessons that have benefited my career in a way that flouncing about in a gorgeous white dress may not have.

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.

The Rugby World Cup is edging to a close with the remaining 4 teams left in the competition. It’s thrilling stuff.

And apart from showing the million and one ways you can play about with a ball they’ve also had some fabulous lessons in how to communicate.

Lessons that can show us how to interrupt effectively, show top leadership skills and manage meetings successfully. Here's how.

Developing strong writing skills saves you time in the workplace and makes your audience happy. And a clear writer is often the sign of a clear thinker. Here’s one place you can read brilliant writing and one exercise that you can do to develop your writing muscle…

Big things in a small space. Mining meaning out of millions of minutes. A lifetime on a page. 

There’s a place where you can see brilliant writing. Often it’ll be about someone you never knew. And now sadly never will.

A website’s a place to announce things, isn’t it? And I’ve just done one small thing that’s made a big difference.

Chosen words to shape a message and get clearer about what I do and the benefits I bring to others.

Which leads me to this question and short exercise that you can do to strengthen your profile and raise your visibility to others…

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…

Communication skills coaching has a lot to do with gardening. Are you after a brilliant pot plant, a section of your garden looking stunning or do you want the whole package: landscaping the lot, to create a wow factor among your colleagues and the leadership?

What I am talking about? Well, it all started when I went to the garden centre at the weekend. And it swallowed me whole.

It’s where, in addition to 15 other indoor and outdoor plants,  I picked up Chamaedorea Elegans, which sounds like a posh sexually transmitted disease but isn’t.

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.