Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
by Milena McRae, www.milenamcrae.com
According to Mayo Clinic research, embracing forgiveness and relieving yourself of past pains plays a vital role in our Physical, Emotional and Spiritual health.
On the Physical level, letting go of the past boosts your immune system, lowers your blood pressure improving heart health, relieves acute and chronic pain, improves digestion and balances your hormones. Emotionally, forgiveness reduces stress, anxiety and hostility, enhances self-esteem, increases compassion and opens us to better relationships. On the Spiritual level, we feel re-connected with our closer and wider environment, our world expands and we are open to hear the innate guidance on how to proceed every day in alignment with our greater purpose.
Yet for many, forgiving and letting go doesn't come spontaneously. I would like to share with you the practice I have developed and find really easy to follow.
Photo credit: CNN
By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications
The Greeks got it right 2500 years ago. If you want to influence or persuade people you have to show ethos (character), pathos (emotions of the audience) and logos (the logic of the argument).
This principle – known as Aristotle’s Golden Triangle – is the cornerstone of powerful oratory – used by politicians, leaders and laymen when speaking in public.
So on the day we bid farewell to President Obama and usher in four years of Donald Trump as US Commander in Chief, I thought it would be interesting to briefly assess his inaugural address and see how he applied the golden triangle.
Aristotle argued that ethos, pathos and logos were not only equally important but also mutually supportive. For instance, a speaker would be more likely to sweep his audience along with his emotional appeal, if he had previously established his credibility and constructed a robust argument.
But does this hold true with Donald Trump, known for his pathos but not necessarily for his ethos and logos?
To date, Trump has made very few scripted speeches. At many of his rallies he spoke off the cuff, playing to his unstructured conversational style.
Would he have less pathos when constrained by a speech and a teleprompter but more ethos and logos?
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
Happy New Year and what better way to start the New Year with an uplifting piece on Happiness!
American and Israeli teacher, and writer in the areas of positive psychology and leadership, Tal Ben-Shahar, was born 1970. As a lecturer at Harvard University, Tal created the most popular course in Harvard's history. Influenced by the pioneering work of Dr Martin Seligman, the world-renowned founder of positive psychology, Tal Ben-Shahar states that his goal in teaching positive psychology "is to create a bridge between the Ivory Tower and Main Street.”
In addition to his work at Harvard, Tal consults and lectures around the world to executives in multi-national corporations, the general public, and at-risk populations, addressing such topics as happiness, self-esteem, resilience, goal setting, mindfulness, and leadership. I was incredibly lucky to have interviewed him: as you will read, he really walks the talk! Enjoy!
Having booked our Christmas holiday to Saas-Fee in July 2016 with the knowledge that it was probably our last Christmas in Switzerland, we had no idea that it would prove to be such a poignant visit.
Looking back over 2016, we can’t help but find ourselves reflecting on the many celebrities who passed away. The death of George Michael on Christmas Day was one of these sad moments. It was only upon arriving in Saas-Fee on the morning of 26th December that I heard the news. It soon became apparent that Saas-Fee had a strong connection with the singer, and after a quick internet search I discovered that the music video for Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ had been filmed there back in December 1984.
Originally planned to be shot in the Canton of Bern, a last-minute change of location occurred due to a lack of snow, and Saas-Fee became the new setting. In case you are curious, the group and crew stayed at the 5-star Hotel Walliserhof, now renamed the Hotel Ferienart. Another piece of trivia is that the well-known scene in front of the open fireplace was actually shot in the current culture centre, rather than the chalet shown in the video.
With this knowledge in mind, and having watched the video again, our stay in Saas-Fee took on a new meaning. Although I cannot claim to have been a huge Wham or George Michael fan, I cannot escape the fact that they were a constant part of my teenage years, and thus, were indeed a part of my life that had come to an end.
By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications
Emmanuel Macron, the French presidential hopeful, was getting ready to take the stage, and all I knew as panel moderator was that he was meant to sit in the chair second to the left.
He and I were taking part in the Women’s Forum for Economy and Society in Deauville. I had no idea what he would say on our panel discussion about the economic advancement of women. His PR team were nowhere to be found.
So when the makeup artist whispered to her colleague that she was about to go upstairs to do his make-up, I followed her into the inner sanctum.
I needed to know if he was willing to speak in English – a red line for some French politicians – or whether he would be speaking through an interpreter. I wanted to briefly introduce myself and the first topic for discussion – the gender pay gap between men and women. From experience, I know it is important to build rapport with high-level panelists, and to sense if they get my British humour.
He did – peering over my clipboard and asking what questions I would be posing – in perfect English.
