I was recently reminded of a video by Andy Bounds (author and trainer) where he noted that whenever he asked his delegate groups what the end of my title sentence should be, overwhelmingly everyone now plumps for “Death by …. PowerPoint”I found that very interesting. Why isn’t it “firing squad” anymore, or “chocolate”? Have we really reached such a nadir in our visual aids that this has become the Pavlovian response? Sadly, the answer is yes because we don’t seem to have…

I’m sure I can’t be alone in leaving workshop planning/editing/producing manuals and paperwork until the last minute? I have always told myself that I thrive on the urgency but the truth is that I often feel stressed and rushed - and I will probably pop off this mortal coil a lot sooner because of my lack of focus and preparation!It is true that the last-minute panic can concentrate the mind, some of my best ideas have been at the eleventh hour – but…

Oh the joy of retail and services opening up again after the long hibernation of the pandemic. Some of us have battled to stay on some kind of footing throughout, clinging onto our clients by our fingernails, whilst others have managed by furloughing themselves and/or their teams. What is true for many is that our ‘customer service muscles’ have been underused lately, becoming a tad weaker than they were. So let’s tighten them up again!Over the years Stratus has delivered many successful customer…