‘We can’t decide what to do about our backgrounds.' This question arose recently during an online communication workshop I was running for the senior team at a law firm. I cast my eye across the framed faces on my screen. Most people were evidently sitting in a home...
Though we cover a range of disciplines at MSB Executive, a few core themes cut across all our specialist areas. Stress is one. The subject arises wherever we work, from executive coaching sessions to communication workshops. So when Martyn, our founder, told us...
Lisa’s heart is racing. Her breathing is rapid and shallow. Her armpits are sweating, her hands are clammy, and her neck and face are red. Her legs are jittery, her mouth is dry and her teeth are clenched. Her brain is alternately racing, then going blank. She has...
Public speaking gets a bad rap. One well-known poll places glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, at the top – making it a more terrifying prospect than spiders, enclosed spaces and even dying. (As Jerry Seinfeld wryly observed, at a funeral, most people would...
When it comes to speaking with impact, we at MSB Executive are passionate believers in the usefulness of storytelling techniques. Whether you are launching a new product, pitching for investment, or developing your personal or corporate brand, you will increase your...
Among all the terms future dictionaries will inherit from COVID-19, ‘Zoom fatigue’ is certain to feature. (It applies to all video conferencing software, but ‘Microsoft Teams fatigue’ doesn’t have the same ring.) Citigroup employees are clearly fatigued: on 23 March,...
We’ve recently been coaching a group of Directors from one of the 'Big 4’ accountancy/consultancy firms to help them with this very thing. Emotional Intelligence (or EI/EQ as it’s often referred to) is an essential component for successful leadership. What do you...
Yesterday (3rd February 2021) I ran a webinar for CFA UK, and there were a couple of questions about how I managed my set up. In particular people wanted to know about how I kept eye contact with the camera while using notes. Here is a photo of my set up: You will...
Feeling disheartened already setting new year’s resolutions? We understand. 2020 was an unbelievably challenging year. There is still so much uncertainty around what options will be available to us in 2021 which can make setting resolutions tricky. We can’t...
The impact of Covid 19 transformed the world as we knew it last year. We have been reflecting on what this has meant for the way we communicate as humans. It feels that we have adapted from age-old, ingrained, means of communication to entirely different norms in a...
Particularly in the corporate world, Powerpoint slides crammed with tiny writing, diagrams and complexity are entirely the norm. Many people complain about Powerpoint overload but still we are presented with huge decks of barely legible slides. Following on from our...
History was made at Prime Minister's Question Time yesterday when Boris Johnson took part by video link. We were interested in how this would affect the dynamic of the exchanges, particularly with the leader of the opposition Keir Starmer. We noticed an interesting...
