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Do You Make a Lasting First Impression? 3 Key Traits of Those That Do…

I could tell many stories of feeling trapped in a networking situation with someone who never shut up and showed little interest in me. I never did any business with any of them. Welcome to my early days of attending business networking events. Having spoken on the subject to subsequent networking groups it appears that … Read Full Article…

All You Need To Do Is Get Me In Front of Investors!

The title of this blog is a statement that I hear many times. For me, it is the biggest red flag of all. I understand the rationale behind it: you have a brilliant idea and once you get the chance to talk about it with an investor, you believe that they will get it too, … Read Full Article…

Mental Health Interview With Monty Panesar

This week I was asked to join ex-England international cricketer, Monty Panesar, on his radio show. Monty has been to our business network and I have worked with him on his own pitch. He is a great guy and opens up a great discussion on mental health. In this interview we discuss how unmanaged stress … Read Full Article…

Pitching v Presenting: The Critical Difference

There is one critical difference between a pitch and a presentation A presentation has a multitude of purposes. It is a chance to educate, explain and captivate the imagination of your audience. Usually, the audience know that it’s a presentation, its purpose and the time limit allotted to do it. A pitch is a completely … Read Full Article…

Reflections on Life…And From The Sun On My Head!

According to my Myers-Briggs profile I am an introvert Only just, but 52% introvert none-the-less. For someone who loves people and public speaking, this also means that I love my down time and am very good in my own company, and in silence! Quite often I find myself in a situation where people talk at … Read Full Article…

All Feedback Is Positive, Even When It Seems Otherwise

I was once in a training programme where we learned the importance of feedback We had various tasks to do, which brought up a few personal issues for some people in the room. We then had the opportunity to take the stage and share what we had learned. One of the students used every opportunity … Read Full Article…

Is Networking Not Working For You?

There you are in that networking event and you ask a simple question The question could be anything, but in many networking events I have attended it is often “What do you do?” I don’t like this as an opener but I always answer it in a sentence. Then comes the almost obligatory riposte … Read Full Article…

Wanton Verbosity: The Death of a Sales Pitch for Investment

Last week I managed to open the door to an investor for an early-stage business The candidate came via a colleague I have known for a few years who I like and trust. During my 2 year stint as a funding matchmaker in my previous company, I know how rare it is to get businesses … Read Full Article…

TLA’s: WTF!

Whether it is a genuine interest in the subject matter or your alert profanity filter that brought you here, I invite you to share my thoughts on Three Letter Acronyms (TLA’s). On my first day as a student nurse actually on the ward rather than in a classroom, I was about to be briefed … Read Full Article…

Seven Big Mistakes People Make When Pitching For Funding

Seven Big Mistakes People Make When Pitching For Funding In an article I wrote for Choices magazine, I discuss the seven things I have seen that cause people to lose potential funding opportunities. Whilst this is just my opinion, it is based not just on my findings, but through speaking to other investors who … Read Full Article…

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