Please download these free reports and articles. They are in PDF format. Thank you for respecting my copyright and of course, any comments and feedback would be most welcome.
An adventure to show how time travel can increase turnover.
A chilling drama to explore the power of language.
An insight into the creative process.
An experiment using a narrative to impart a skill - feedback invited.
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The Truth
about the Digital Economy
A review of a presentation by Danny Meadows-Klue of Digital Strategy Consulting on the impact of technology on consumer culture and corporate communication.
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Change
Your Luck
Did you realise that some people are statistically more lucky than others and that you can improve your luck by following four simple principles? When Professor Richard Wiseman spoke to CoF, the experience was magical.
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Social Network Analysis
Research has shown that as much as 79% of the work in organisations is conducted via informal channels so perhaps companies should be looking at ways to oil the wheels of social discourse.
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Knowledge Management
If you are in the business of managing knowledge, you are in the business of managing people, because that is where knowledge resides. But KM is not for the faint hearted, read on to find out why.
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Appreciative Inquiry
AI is a radically alternative approach to change management that accentuates the positive, rather than taking a problem-fixing approach.
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Open Space
Technology
Commonly described as a large scale intervention technique, Open Space Technology is used to great success and acclaim to enable groups large and small to draw on their creativity and ideas to solve problems and develop strategies.
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Emotional Intelligence
EI is a popular concept, but what does it mean and does it have any practical applications?
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Corporate Social
Responsibility
Is corporate social responsibility (CSR) more concerned with massaging an organisation’s reputation than promoting more responsible entrepreneurship? Can being socially responsible increase shareholder value? And is it okay for a company to do the right things for the wrong motives?
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Coaching goes Mainstream
Coaching has become a major industry in the UK, though so far completely unregulated. Now that companies are recognising that management coaching can help the bottom line, there is a need for greater clarity and accountability.
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The Beermat
Entrepreneur
Forget the back of a cigarette pack as the cauldron of creativity, if you've got a great business idea, all you need is a beer mat. Mike Southon, co-author of the Beermat Entrepreneur, the antidote to dotcom madness, gave CoFers his formula for business success.
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Meteorites in the Marketplace
Can evolutionary theory show businesses how to succeed or avoid extinction?
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Do you
believe in miracles?
Peter Haine is Director of IT Architecture Services at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. He believes that it is only during this millennium that the IT industry has finally abandoned its belief in miracles and got religious about project management.
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So what is NLP?
This controversial therapy is subject to scorn from the medial profession and admiration from its many devotees, so who's right? Practitioner Penelope Else attempts to put the record straight.
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Natural
Leadership
We have much to learn from people who have learned to live in adverse conditions. These skills of survival and leadership can be applied to modern day business challenges, according to business shaman and leadership guru, David Hill.
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What's the big
idea?
NEW
If you want to make an impact with your communication, you need a big idea. Professional creatives seem to come up with big ideas with relative ease. In fact, a lot research and analysis underpins the creative process.
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Pitching to
Win
Do you have to pitch for business? These are the lessons I have learned from the top producers and agency directors. Though aimed at the creative pitch, there may be lessons here from everyone.
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Selling
- A Ballet in Three Acts
Are you any good at selling your professional services? Me neither. Mike McDonald tells us where we've been going wrong.
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The Brand
Conundrum?
Thousands of companies seek access to a space in our minds. We work hard to keep them out. Those that stay out are weak brands and the ones that get in are strong brands. John Moore and Thomas Gad, co-authors of Beyond Branding explore the differences.
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Narrative and the Challenge of E-Learning
Is something crucial missing from e-learning or is holed below the water line? E-learning is no different from any form of communication - it can only work if there is a relationship of trust between trainer and trainee and that the user experience is shaped by narrative.
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Communication
Health Check
Self diagnostic tool for assessing effectiveness of your communication. Simple guidelines that provide an aide memoire for
anyone with a communication project.
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Successful Business Communication
Get your communication project off to good start. This is concerned mainly with the challenge for business managers who are tasked with commissioning creative services, the problem being that they often don't know what they have bought until it's too late.
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Effective Speeches and Presentations
Stand up and knock 'em dead guide to public speaking. Starting with the guidance of Winston Churchill, the article takes you through the basic elements of a successful speech or presentation.
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Corporate Video
In spite of all the advances in technology and online communication, good old fashioned corporate video refuses to go away. The main reason is that it has a job to do, and can do it very well. The fact that there are some appalling videos out there is due to a mix of corporate vanity and sloppy production.
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Treatments,
Scripts and Storyboards
In the unlikely event that you ever need to commission a corporate video, read this first to avoid tears.
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Editing on the
Web
Post production can be the main bottle neck in the creation of TV programmes and corporate videos, with the endless delays associated with getting the rushes to the editor and for the various stakeholders to review the edits and approve them. That is all going to change when editing across the web replaces today's decidedly clunky process.
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Putting a New Perspective on Business
Visualisation can be a powerful tool to help companies realise their potential. One of the leaders in this art is Group Partnership Ltd who provided CoF with an eye-opening presentation.
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Curriculum
Vitae -
Reductio ad
absurdum
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Sample
Scripts -
Video
scripts in drama & documentary style
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Copywriting
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Examples of brochures
- Terms of Business - Sign on the dotted line
Fun stuff
MailWasher Pro Jot+ Notes WebCEO
TWinXpro Site upgrade by
World Without Walls
Recipes
for cheap eats.
The Joy and Science of Riding. If you have never
ridden a horse, here's my attempt to describe the experience and
some of the science that underlies the extraordinary relationship
between man and nag.
A book to change
the world of corporate communication, if only I could get round to
writing it.
Favourite composers in birthday order - but
only
if it turns you on!
Great software tools
This is a highly effective spam filter that also intercepts likely
viruses. Used with Outlook, Outlook Express or Hotmail the programme
presents a list of your pending emails. You can then choose to delete
before you download with your normal email programme.
Click here to see screen shot and more
info.
Here's a program that could change your life. Jot + is the perfect tool for collating information, pasting downloads from the Internet and even doing some serious writing. It gets round the limitations of the basic file-based structure of the traditional word processor, and allows you quickly locate the information you are looking for.
Click here
If you run a web site or
manage them for others, keeping your position on search engine rankings is a
constant challenge. WebCEO is a remarkable package that enables you
optimise, submit and track your site's performance.
Click here
If you want a file manager that allows you to open up two windows simultaneously and memorise the file locations for stuff you have downloaded or those difficult to find Windows configuration files, I highly recommend Twin Explorer from Pepsoft. It also features an image viewer for fishing through all those images you have saved from other web sites.
Click here
