Aug 16 2010

How to achieve Mastery

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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This weekend I watched a magician enthral an audience with his art. As he performed his sleight of hand and misdirection I wondered at the thousands of hours he must have invested to achieve mastery.

 Mastery involves focus, concentration, passion, intention, commitment, and discipline.  We can’t achieve mastery in everything in fact most people are unlikely to achieve mastery in anything as they dabble in this and hack about at that. Continue Reading »


Aug 8 2010

How to Influence your Boss

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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I recently conducted ‘Critical Skills for Leaders and Senior Managers’ in Singapore and Malaysia; during these programs I surveyed the participants for their desired take-aways – 80% of the attendees wanted to know how to influence their boss.

Research has shown that the inability to build a successful relationship with the boss is a significant reason for managers failing or not reaching their full potential.

When I approach this topic I encounter a number of mindsets that lead to an inability to effectively influence, these include:

  • My boss is autocratic
  • My boss doesn’t listen to me
  • I don’t want to jeopardise my career
  • I have no power in the relationship
  • My boss doesn’t give me time

Do any of these sound familiar? Continue Reading »


Aug 6 2010

What to do if you forget your words when public speaking?

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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A common fear of public speaking is forgetting your words and yet we all grapple to find the right word from time to time. In this short YouTube video I talk about some of the strategies I use to speak fluently and overcome the occasional ‘brain freeze’.

I was recently speaking to the Malaysian Association of Professional Speakers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the topic of ‘Professionalism’; practice these techniques and soon you will be speaking like a professional.


Jul 18 2010

Speaking about Sex, Politics and Religion

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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I recently engaged in an online dialogue on, sex, politics and religion. The person who started the post made the comment that we should NEVER talk about these topics.

Now I understand where the writer was coming from;talking about  sex, politics and religion can break rapport, create conflict and ruin the career of the unwary but I have a different perspective. As humans, sex, politics and religion play a significant part of our lives and the biases and meanings we bring to these topics will significantly affect our behaviour; so to not talk about them can be equally dangerous. Continue Reading »


Apr 24 2010

Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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The fear of public speaking can paralyse otherwise confident inviduals; in this video you will learn how to overcome that fear.

Footnote: Experienced NLP practitioners will recognise the embedded frames and state inductions in this video.


Apr 10 2010

Singapore Leadership Development Congress

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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Just a quick note to say that I will be speaking on Influence at the Singapore Leadership Development Congress on Monday.

I have a limited number of complimentary tickets available so if you want to learn about leadership and influence and are in Singapore, contact the organisers and mention this blog and they will have a ticket emailed to you (whilst stocks last).

See you there? Andrew Bryant,CSP


Apr 9 2010

Preparing a Presentation or Speech

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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Have you ever wondered how to plan a presentation or speech?

This short video will certainly help.


Dec 4 2009

Reflecting and Learning: 2009 to 2010

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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Rocks

As Christmas approaches we get time to reflect upon what we have learned from 2009; here are a few things that come to my mind.

It has undoubtedly been a tough year with a global financial meltdown and  H1N1 amongst the challenges we have all faced – so what have we learned? Continue Reading »


Sep 3 2009

Learning to Walk the Talk

Posted by Radu Palamariu
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walk the talk

It is more than a year ago that I walked through the door of the Self Leadership International office for the first time. I was a young graduate of psychology, coming all the way from Romania to learn about training and leadership development in Singapore; with very little idea of what my internship will bring about.

Now, one year later, I can whole heartedly say that it was the greatest learning experience of my life.

Continue Reading »


Aug 18 2009

Public and Professional Speaking

Posted by Andrew Bryant, CSP
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professional speaking

The ability to speak effectively to small or large audiences is a vital competency for manager and leaders and yet this competency is often lacking.

As a Certified Professional Speaker myself, I have spoken to thousands of people over the years and experienced the first hand what to do and what not to do with an audience. As an executive coach I have trained and coached hundred’s of managers who were previously tongue tied to connect with the audience and deliver their message effectively; so allow me to share with you a secret of public and professional speaking:

There is no such thing as an audience

The biggest mistake that novice speaker make is to imagine their perspective audience as critical or hostile. Creating this mental picture of a group united in their disapproval of you will create a state of anxiety in even the strongest of heart.

Accomplished speakers realise that an audience, small or large, is made up of individuals just like you. Each individual has needs and wants and can change their state from boredom to curiosity. If you connect to their needs and wants and create a sense of curiosity they will be on the edge of thier seats.

So the first key to successful public or professional speaking is to break down your audience into a group of individuals and preferably know what it is they want before you deliver your topic.

Most of the work in speaking is not the speech itself but the research and preparation before the speech. Only speak “off the cuff” if you know your topic backwards and know exactly who you are talking to.

As you present make eye contact, smile and imagine you are having a conversation with a group of friends or colleagues. Will it still be nerve wracking? Perhaps but the only way to get better at it is to practice at every opportunity. Remember, as we move up through an organisation, we are paid less for what we do an more for what we influence others to do. Speaking in public is a core competency for influence.

If you are interested in professional speaking training or coaching please contact us.