Reg Parrett is a man approaching a milestone, he’ll be 100 next year and shows no signs of slowing down. Dapper and debonair, this is a man who had “great larks” with the RAF, became an interior designer responsible for transforming homes and hotels across North Wales well into his late 80’s and, more recently,…
Category archives: Storytelling
In Praise of Microsoft Partners
It’s Microsoft Inspire awards season and I’m delighted to see UK Microsoft partners well and truly represented amongst the winners. Seeing the celebratory posts prompted me to think about the partners I worked with during my 10 years at Microsoft – many of which were spent as a Partner Account Manager. I’ve written and spoken…
What Camping and Business Travel Have in Common
Not so long ago I wouldn’t have set foot inside a tent. The aversion to canvas was in part formed by an early experience with the Brownies where we camped on a rugby pitch in Abergavenny; one of our party had (to put it delicately) a “very upset tummy”, the rest of us were just “very…
Before
Before testosterone takes hold And stubble grows upon your cheekBefore your voice descends an octaveCould I forever hold this week Before the scent of little boySlips away like grains of sandBefore your chest and shoulders broadenCould I forever hold your hand Before your sleepy tousled hairIs tamed into a grown-up styleBefore your giggle turns to…
The Power of the Truth
How many times have you been to an event and been disappointed with the keynote speakers? Perhaps you’ve sat through five presentations and only one has stood out. Feels like a waste of time eh? On Saturday, I had the rare experience of compering an event where every speaker was first class. It was the…
What to Expect When Your Dog Has Been Neutered
Wondering what to expect when your dog’s been neutered? Wonder no more!
Five Steps to Demystifying Self-Publishing
Apparently we’ve all got a book inside us but if we only try the traditional publishing route, the saying that “many of us will die with the song still inside us” becomes true. Self-publishing remedies this, and has opened the door for many more of us to share our stories without the pain of endless…
Owning Up to My Mistakes
Mistakes…..we’ve all made them. Here I own up to my top three workplace faux pas during my 20s. Just don’t ask me to make you a cup of tea….
Bears, Ancient Persia and Making the Boat go Faster
What do you call a group of graduates? For some, the preferred collective noun is “bunch”. This could be an unconscious way of putting them in their place as they enter a business, or a way to reflect presumed youthfulness, energy and vitality….”bunch” has a bouncy feel when you say it. Whatever the reason, in collectively grouping people…
The Ten Minute Storytelling Workshop
How much can you teach people in a ten minute workshop? As someone who’s used to having at least a few hours to coach others in storytelling as a means to free them from PowerPoint, being offered ten minutes at an Athena Networking meeting felt like a pretty tall order, but I thought I would give…