Viv McWaters and I have created a brand new training program on how to make Insanely Great Slideshow Presentations. Insanely Great Slideshows View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. Where did the training program come from? Over the past few years, I have had many discussions with Viv about the Powerpoint presentations that we observe in our facilitation work. Given our role is about group ‘process’, we are in a unique position to analyse the effectiveness of the presentations we see. Why? We do not suffer from the CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE that comes from working inside the ‘content’ of the …

Another great TEDcast! This time from Tim Brown of Ideo. You can watch the 25 minute presentation here … or here … Here’s my visual summary of the key messages. I find drawing pictures of the ‘key points’ a much more useful way of storing messages than by using words. Geoff

Ok, here’s one thing we can all do to live a better life. If we all took Steve Jobs’ advice, our collective capacity to adapt and improvise would see us through any crisis. Hat Tip to Jack Martin Leith for reminding me about this talk. Here’s a clip: Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what …

Applying Improv has sharpened my awareness of what’s going on around me. As a facilitator, practicing presence is critical to help serve the group. As a dad, being fully present with my children brings them joy and confidence. As a project leader, improv reminds me to ‘notice’ what’s happening in real time … let go of control of outcomes & learn from (and celebrate) mistakes.  Thanks to Dave Pollard’s weekly update, I found this New York Times article ‘Can Executives Learn to Ignore the Script?’ Applying Improv principles to our work challenge ‘business as usual’ and, in my experience, makes managers & …

Discovered this great Black Cab Session site by accident when searching for a Taxi Service phone number. I have watched only 2 sessions (incl. the Kooks) and will watch more. For me, here’s what appeals: Like much of the stuff on YouTube its rough and often the first take The musicians are having a go and for the one’s I’ve seen are happy to make some mistakes along the way It is kind of like being a front seat passenger with musos doing their thing behind you It’s unexpected … most of the artists are complete unknowns … like Seth …