Michele Keighley

Bryce Courtney once pointed out that our negative self-talk is so overwhelming that if we treated our friends that way we would soon have no friends - and it's our negative self-talk that turns potential friends into scary strangers. Learn simple coping strategies can help you create the self-confidence to walk into that roomful of strangers and turn them into instant friends.

Walking into a roomful of strangers can be an unnerving experience; and often we can talk ourselves into a negative frame of mind. Here's some tips to help you overcome the voice of doom and gloom and walk into a room to discover a Roomful of Potential Friends/

Communication is the way in which we exchange ideas, opinion and information. Most of us understand that there can be many barriers to effective communication such as age, experience and culture. We can undertake training to overcome these barriers. But there is one other barrier which is the silent cause of misunderstanding and that is gender - and we need to understand that in fact men and women do communicate differently and how that can impact on the way we understand each other.

Effective business communication is more than just sending out emails, attachements, documents and reports, Information overload is not communication, but unfortunately that is what modern organisational systems seem to be dominated by. An organisation is a group of people achieving together things that they could not do individually. And the basis of the success of any organisation from the local cricket club to a national army is the effectiveness of their communication systems.

How often have you said 'Yes' when you really wanted to say 'No'? - If we are to achieve a proper Work/Life balance we need to understand how to say 'No' to activities which will over-comit us, or cause unecessary stress. How to do it? This might give you some good ideas

If we only have 60 second to make a good impression at an interview - it really isn't any difference with a speech. We need some good ideas on how to begin our speech to 'Startle, Dazzle and Amaze them!'

If we do not know what we want to achieve when we stand up to speak, we may not succeed in our communication. Understanding how to organise our ideas and our thoughts is the first step in effective communication. Like undertaking any journey, knowing where we are heading is essential for us to plan a way to get there.

Conversation - or any communication - is really a two way activity. That means we alternate talking with listening. Unfortunately while we are all happy to talk, we are not so expert at listening. There are at least seven ways in which we don't listen properly. and you might recognise yourself in one of them. If communication is to be effective, or conversation is to work for us, we need to know how to listen properly. Fin out what dos not work for others and learn from their mistakes.

Unintentional extra words will only district our audience from our message. The problem is often the vocal virus UM or URR! Learn how to rid yourself of this problem in two short steps.

Many of us find it difficult to enter a room full of strangers and start up a conversation. Here are some very effective tips on how you can start a conversation, find out about other people and how to finish with a view for the future.