Speak First Blog
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 ...
Read more10 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 ...
7 secrets of making a positive first impression
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This might be a bit of a cliché, but it’s repeated so often because it’s true. People make a lot of assumptions and judgements about a ...
What L&D Professionals need to know about data analysis
These days, almost all areas of modern businesses are results and data driven. A sales team needs to know exactly how much they’ve sold and whether or not they’re making the company a profit; the ...
6 Steps to raising your internal profile
Imagine that you are a senior partner and you have been asked to decide who in the office deserves a promotion. Who do you choose? Do you pick someone who is already on your radar, or are you going ...