A Marxism …
“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping […]
A Letter from George – Storytelling #5
Betsy Loveless was beating the back out of a piece of meat with a weighty rolling pin. The occasional trapped rabbit with wild vegetables regularly put food on the family […]
Robert’s Rules of Order
In the last 9 months I have been involved in a number of political (small p) meetings where Robert’s Rules of Order have been applied. Whilst I have been to […]
Getting Past the Gatekeepers
Roughly only 20% of B2B telephone cold calls reach the decision makers on the first call. You need to recognise that persistence is important if you are going get through the […]
Passing the Baton – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
What are you doing to ensure the ongoing success of your club? Planning an effective succession strategy for your club’s committee is not easy. We are all busy people, but […]
Variations on the Death of Trotsky – Interpretive Reading #4
Laura McHarrie has chosen and for the purpose of timing edited, a short one-act comedy-drama written by David Ives. The play fictionalises the death of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky through a […]
Variety is the Spice of Life – an Educational Speech
Introduction “Laura McHarrie, is here on her 2nd official visit to the club in her role as Area Director. Laura is close to getting her AC Silver award this year. […]
The Flip Side of Passion
Can you remember having to do your job with one hand tied behind your back? I bet it was one of the reasons you chose to ‘go it alone’? Run […]
It’s All About the Numbers – a Toastmasters Successful Club Speech
How to be a distinguished club Take your felt tip pen and change the Goals Met in the top right-hand corner from four to five! As of 6 pm tonight […]
Entelechies! A Toastmaster’s Area Director’s Diary
Interesting how the half way point creeps up whilst you were snoozing over Christmas and slap bam wallop two clubs in the area have achieved Distinguished Club Status with a […]
Satisfaction Guaranteed?
A ‘just’ satisfied customer isn’t really good enough, only delighted ones will spread the words that encourage others to have the same experience. So how do you know what your […]
Three Commercial Love Stories
Advertisers know the phenomenal power behind telling a story. Indeed the reason we call Coronation Street and East Enders ‘soap operas’ is because washing soap advertisers used to sponsor TV […]
The Flood – Interpretive Reading #3
Laura McHarrie has chosen The Flood, one of The Vagina Monologues, a compilation of plays written and performed originally by Eve Ensler in 1996. This is one that Laura thinks […]
Step Out Tuesday – An Area Directors Toastmasters Diary
I mentioned Blue Monday in a blog post yesterday, it affects many of us in business when all the good intentions of our new year resolutions have dissolved. My antidote […]
Smile; It’s Blue Monday
Are you feeling a little overwhelmed with your stay of execution of this year’s resolutions? If, like me, you are experiencing a step back every time you take two forward; […]
David Bowie is … Interpretive Reading #5
For the purpose of this project, Laura McHarrie, self-confessed, Bowie-obsessed, fan from the age of 15 has chosen Tilda Swinton’s after dinner speech at the opening of ‘David Bowie is’. The exhibition has proved to be one of the most popular exhibitions in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s history. Moreover, Tilda Swinton’s contemporary speech has been voted as one of the top 100 speeches given by women ever. With this project entitled ‘David Bowie is’ please welcome Laura McHarrie
The 2015 Highlights
Gosh, I feel like a butterfly emerging from the caterpillar chrysalis of 2015. Well! That may be a little hyperbolic but I quite like the imagery. There was so much […]
A Season of Goodwill
I had a strange day yesterday. I drove for an hour to a networking breakfast without my purse. Staring forlornly at the Full English being served and desperate for a […]
Pah to the Pancreas – Storytelling #3
In 1980, (I know some you weren’t born then); Laura McHarrie was diagnosed with diabetes. She had just turned 18. Had she been born 100 years earlier she would have been […]
The Attention Economy by Devonport & Beck
The problem of information overload has a serious impact on economics. In their book, The Attention Economy, Davenport & Beck speculate that attention will replace finance as the focus of […]
Pit Stop! A Toastmaster Area Director’s diary
We are now a third of the way through our time as leaders of the Dorset Toastmasters clubs. How do you think we are doing? If you are anything like […]
The Priority Matrix
A useful method of planning your use of time is with a Priority Matrix. This depends on two criteria: Urgency; a job with a fixed deadline. The close the deadline the more urgent the task Importance; something that has a major impact on your job or which you put a high value on.
Going Public in Dorset – High Performance Leadership part I
Laura McHarrie has chosen this Contest to deliver the first of two speeches in relation to her High Performance Leadership Project. As its name suggests, the aim is for the […]
Be Bold! Be Brief! Be Gone! – A Toastmasters Area Director’s Diary
I think I’m addicted to the Corporate Club Meetings. Having been to three at Chaseside, the JP Morgan Toastmasters club – I think I should reveal their hidden secret. There […]
The Perfect Storm – Storytelling #2
Christmas 1997, I helicoptered into the best year of Excel Clothing’s 10 year history. Full of excitement at taking on my new role as Managing Director of this successful ladies […]
Create Your Business Vision
The vision statement defines the longer term aspirations for your business. The aspirations should inspire the people you work with, whether that is staff or supplier or investors. It is […]
The Golden Quarter – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
“Everything we do in the first three months of the year is amplified when it comes to our overall performance in the year. Every new member of an existing or […]
Stepping In or Stepping Up – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
I went to Ferndown Speakers in my official capacity as Area Director this week. An unbelievable example of people ‘stepping in’ at the last minute to ensure the meeting was […]
The Emperors New Clothes – Storytelling #1
Tell a folk tale that is entertaining and enjoyable for a specific age group; Use vivid imagery and voice to enhance the tale. For the purpose of this speech, Laura […]
Business Network Meetings – What’s Your Strategy?
Just imagine if you had a phone call when you were still half asleep telling you the breakfast meeting you were planning to attend that morning was cancelled due to […]
Follow Through and Follow Up – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
For a period of five years, I was the Regional Controller of what became a very successful remote team of New Look Area Managers. The success was theirs and theirs […]
Live Long and Prosper – Financing for Growth
As you get bigger, there are three key elements to managing business growth; the operations, the marketing and the finance. If finance isn’t your thing then recognise when you need […]
Laura McHarrie @ The Hidden Edge 