Speak First Blog
What our Animals mean
If you’ve spent any amount of time on our website, you’ll be aware of Speak First’s Animal Quiz. In short, the test asks you to select a number of words or phrases that match how you tend to act and ...
Read more5 tips for networking with purpose at your next event
Networking events come in all shapes and sizes. There are casual evenings with drinks and there are formal meals; breakfasts, lunches and dinners; art galleries, conference halls and cocktail bars. ...
How to deliver bad news
In life and in business, at some point you will have to deliver bad news to someone. Perhaps you’re announcing lay-offs, you’ve lost a major client, or the office has to move. Sometimes the news ...
Using different styles of training for different audiences
Workplace learning has an interesting role to fill. Its purpose is to educate and help people with their personal development, but in large organisations one course or learning solution often needs ...
10 ways to become emotionally resilient
When we’re faced with setbacks in our lives, it can be hard to know how to get over the resulting feelings of disappointment, shame or fear and to keep moving forwards. In both our professional and ...
5 tips for managing communication to lead successful change
“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.” – Bob Iger, Disney CEO.
10 reasons you might find it hard to say 'no'
It’s never nice to hear the word ‘no’. It represents everything from rejection, to failure to missing out. Sometimes it comes as a surprise and sometimes it’s expected, but it’s rarely the answer ...
How L&D actually helps employee retention
Classic wisdom suggests that hiring a new employee to a company and spending time training them up will end with them leaving you and finding a better job with all of their new skills – which you ...
A conversation with… Amanda Vickers, Speak First CEO
Amanda Vickers has been Speak First’s CEO since 2003, using her experience in training, coaching and management development to transform it from a very small company into a global business. Before ...
5 steps for handling customer complaints
No matter how hard-working and conscientious you are, at some point you’re probably going to be on the receiving end of a complaint from a customer or a client. Maybe you work in retail and customers ...