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 Claire Doole, Doole Communications
Have you seen the play, “Six Characters in search of an Author” by the Italian dramatist, Luigi Pirandello? Actors rehearsing for a play are interrupted by six unfinished characters in search of an author to finalise their story. It was first performed in 1921 and is part of the absurdist genre – breaking down the barriers between fantasy and reality.
Unfortunately, a century later, it is the absurd reality that many moderators can find themselves in when confronted with a cast of speakers selected by the organizers of an event. We struggle to work out why they have been chosen, and what they bring to the subject under discussion. We are then left to build connections between the speakers to create a narrative flow that makes sense to the audience.
Believe me, this can take hours of head scratching and sometimes the connections are just not there, particularly if an organiser has selected someone for non-editorial reasons such as an important donor, someone they want to do busines or engage with in the future or because we must have a representative from all five corners of the globe.
Start with the what and not the who
Organisers often tell me they want a BBC-style discussion. If that is the case, they need to follow the principles of BBC news and current affairs programmes. You start with identifying the news of the moment – for event organizers – this translates as what is top of mind and relevant for the audience.
A lot of events today are focusing on building back better after the pandemic, asking if the world can be more sustainable. The BBC would take an opposing view structure bringing someone from the government to explain how they set new environmental targets to achieve net-zero emissions, and then an environmental activist who says the targets are inadequate. The BBC might also put into the mix an academic who can give context.
By Trudi Hayes, Swiss Language Centre
We are super happy to have Trudi Hayes as one of our new bloggers. To get her started, she has introduced the company she is working for and her blogs will be centered around Languages and Learning.
Why learning a new language is a necessity
The current pandemic has nudged people to research and try out new activities to ‘mentally escape’ the day-to-day monotony we can sometimes feel during these restrictive covid times.
It has given some people the chance to finally tackle lifelong goals or has made others recognize the value in growing and improving themselves, and in giving themselves new opportunities that will help them succeed both during and after these times of uncertainty.
One of the most popular activities has been learning a new language, with mobile apps reporting huge increases in users, and schools dealing with unprecedented demand.
But why would language lessons suddenly become so important?
It basically comes down to the fact that being able to converse in and understand a foreign language helps in both your personal and professional development.
As Manager of a Swiss Language Centre in Geneva (Ecole Suisse d’Allemand, Swiss French School and Wall Street English), I have seen large numbers of students who are now “reinventing” themselves.
They are reconsidering (by choice or by force) their professional or academic plans and they understand now just how important mastering a new language can be.
We are so excited for one of our regular knowitall.ch bloggers, Melitta Campbell, as she has recently wrote and published a book. A Shy Girl's Guide to Networking is ready to order right now. She has kindly offered 5 signed copies for a competition; read on to find out how.
If you’ve ever wondered how some people network so effortlessly, while you feel awkward and out of place, this book is for you.
Written from a shy girl’s perspective, in this book Melitta Campbell shares the exact steps introverts can take to master the three phases of networking, both online and in person, to build powerful and lasting relationships.
As an introvert herself, getting out into the ‘networksphere’ was always a battle for Melitta until she created her innovative VICTORY Formula. This laid out her own rules of engagement, enabling her to embrace her natural abilities as an introvert, grow in confidence and shine while networking. In learning this formula for yourself, you’ll be able to enjoy the same results.
This small, but mighty book will help you:
- Overcome your networking fears and hesitations
- Create your personalised networking vision and plan
- Manage engaging conversations and move on politely
- Leverage the three phases of networking for business success
- Build your personal brand through your in person and online networking
- Embrace your natural (and powerful) skills as an introvert
- …and much more!
by Lee Eldridge, The Athlete Tribe
We all have stress. We all need stress. It does not matter what job we have, our family situation, our personal life, or our training programme. Stress is around us.
Stress is essential to change us as human beings. We either adapt to the stimulus that is put in front of us, or we don't. Some people argue that it is not the fittest who succeed; it is the most adaptable. I would say both.
Therefore, it's vital to think about stress-coping methods, such as:
1. Improving stress resilience
2. Improving stress management
High levels of stress can ultimately cost companies profits, jobs and lives (in the extreme).
If we think about it, there are two ways to reduce this, either become better at handling stress or reduce/manage stress. Let's start with stress resilience.
Stress Resilience
How much stress can you take? This can be a very open question to answer. Is it the amount of stress you can take but still keep performing, or the amount of stress you can take and survive?
We need to understand the two situations and recognise which one we are in. Think about professional sport — in and out of season: stressful games or stressful training.
As an athlete, it is impossible to keep training at preseason levels all year round. Otherwise, there would be an increased risk of injury and a drop in performance. Therefore, we design into the programme deload weeks to allow the body to recover.
In-season we are looking to make sure that we are ready for the competition. We can still develop an athlete, but the priorities switch to games/the event.
Now relate that to your situation.
How can we be expected to work on high-pressure projects all year round? It's impossible. We need to build in deload weeks and the opportunity to adapt.
By Claire Doole, Doole Communications
Organising a virtual press briefing is to coin the Thai-English phrase – “same same but different.”
The basics are the same. You need to have news, which is impactful, timely and ideally topical. It may seem obvious, but too often press briefings are organised solely to “educate” the media about an issue. I can’t tell you how many I have left as a BBC Foreign Correspondent without a story to broadcast!
But there are many differences; while virtual briefings have many advantages notably cost, convenience, geographic reach and you could argue carbon footprint, as with all digital events they need to better prepared and moderated.
For the past year I have been moderating virtual media briefings for the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations on COVID 19 – last week was my 6th – and also advising companies and organisations on how to run and speak at them.
Preparing a virtual press briefing
Based on my experience on both sides of the fence as a moderator/media consultant/trainer and former journalist, here are four key questions you should ask yourself:
