The Communication Skills Wizard™️
Subscribe to my twice weekly email "The Spell" to accelerate your career and develop your confidence, find your voice and be more strategic in your communication.
🟡 The Spell: Oatcakes
Dear Reader, I’ve just come back from the supermarket, the one with the biggest range in The Netherlands. I got everything on my list but one thing. Oatcakes. I’m a bit gutted. I’ve got a nice piece of mature cheddar in the fridge that is crying out for an oatcake and it’s not going to happen. Oatcakes are one of these things that I stock up on when I’m back in Scotland, and a Scottish friend has been emailing me about the local kinds made on one of the farms near her. It made my mouth water...
🟡 The Spell: Jump!
Dear Reader, I’d been thinking about this for a while and a few months ago I decided to just get on with it and do it. So I bought a rebounder. “What’s that, Mica?” you might be asking. It’s a circular trampoline for one person. And I have been having THE best fun! I bought it thinking, “Yeah, I’Il use it a couple of times a week.” I’m actually using it most days. One thing I’ve been learning with each passing birthday is the importance of looking after myself. In your twenties and thirties...
🟡 The Spell: The golden boy of Hollywood
Dear Reader, Over the last few years I’ve got into reading biographies. It’s a great way to get a ring side seat to someone’s life and see how they became who they became. The one I’ve just finished reading was riveting. Here are some things I learned about this person. Can you guess who it is? 🎬 He was a “blue baby” born 6 weeks prematurely and was lucky to survive. 🎬 When travelling in Europe as a student he was so poor that one night he couldn’t afford a place to stay. So to keep warm he...
🟡 The Spell: 6 ways to manage change
Dear Reader, On the kitchen table was a delicious spread. Hummus, sliced peppers, olives, flat bread and sticky squares of baclava. And it was all laid out beautifully. My neighbour was having a few people over which was lovely in itself. More amazing was that this was happening two days before she and her husband moved house and this little get together was a way of saying goodbye. Was I impressed? Yes! It was a thoughtful thing to do, and it highlighted not just their organisational skills...
🟡 The Spell: How to improve stakeholder relationships
Dear Reader, Welcome to my 6 email series sharing my very top tips on developing your communication skills and career and answering the questions I get asked again and again by clients. This is the 6th and last email in that series. And it’s a powerful exercise which I’ve saved for last. Are you ready? This is about answering the question “How can I have better relationships with my stakeholders?” Which is a big question that can be unpacked in a number of ways. Ways like: How do I know the...
🟡 The Spell: How 1-1s support your career
Dear Reader, Welcome to my 6 email series sharing my very top tips on developing your communication skills and career, focusing on the topics clients ask me about all the time. This is the 2nd email in that series. This one's about me sharing how having regular 1-1s have supported me in my career, and how they can help you, too. *** "But how do you know this, Mica?” my colleagues would ask me. “Because I have 1-1s with our manager.” I used to work at a place where having 1-1s with your boss...
🟡 The Spell: Feedback and the toilet brush
Dear Reader, It’s a hot afternoon in May and I’m teaching a group of university students online. I’ve already been teaching them for a few months. Faces fill the screen but one square only has a patch of blue sky. After a few minutes the sky disappears and there’s now a face. Let’s call him John. “Great to have you back, John!” I smile. “What happened?” “Er, yeah, Miss, I got the time of the class mixed up and I’m still out on my boat but I’m almost home, now.” Give him credit, he does look...
Subscribe to my twice weekly email "The Spell" to accelerate your career and develop your confidence, find your voice and be more strategic in your communication.