View All Posts of Diana Nadin

Whether you are lucky enough to have a room dedicated to being an office, whether you work in the spare bedroom or whether you have to work at the dining room/kitchen table – you should take steps to ensure that it’s an environment that’s conducive to concentration, reflexion and writing! If your desk is clear and free from clutter there’s ...

So, you’ve written your report – all the facts correct, written in perfect English and clearly set out – and then you’re asked to stand up and present it verbally, as well as distributing it on paper. I can hear you groaning! Many otherwise confident people start to quake when they know they’ve to address an audience. It’s a peculiar th...

Whether you’re a writer or musician wanting to promote your latest brain-child; the owner of a business that needs some publicity or a member of a charity or sports club where you want to raise awareness, one of the best ways to do this is to send a press release to your local newspaper/s. You can usually do this by post or email – but ch...

A good way to promote your work as a writer is to give talks – at your local library, in bookshops, at local lit fests, to church groups or in schools (if you are a children’s author). If you’re new to standing up in front of people and talking, it can be a daunting experience. But it does get better with practise (honest!) and here are some ...

Poems make beautiful gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and weddings – they are personal and unique. And, the joy of seeing people being moved, amused or surprised by your poetry is simply wonderful. Just think how much friends and relatives will appreciate a Christmas card with a slip of paper containing a poem that you’ve written. Or, a chris...

One of the best ways of ensuring the most effective use of your time – particularly for the technical or speciality sales person – is to work as much as possible by appointment. In fact, many companies now have a ‘by appointment only’ policy to see sales people. Also, when you are making a first call on a prospect, working by appointment ma...

I think people worry more about having to write reports than any other form of business correspondence. And here are two of the most common problems that people encounter. So if you’ve ever worried about getting down and actually starting to write a report or you’ve found it difficult to deal with the ‘conclusions’ here are my tips: "When ...

Competitions are fun! There’s no better feeling than getting your entry ready, sending it off and waiting in anticipation to see if you’re the winner. So why not improve your chances with the following tips:1. Be original! Competition judges spend many hours reading through poems and, we know from the comments of our own judges, that they...

Modern technology can be a blessing and a curse. It’s great for keeping in touch with friends by phone and online and it makes finding out the facts we need at home and at work easy. But there are disadvantages. Those emails keep flooding in whether you’re at work or not - you come back on a Monday morning and your inbox is bulging. Clients an...

1. Minutes are not a description of what happened at a meeting – they are the official record of decisions that were taken. So keep them brief and accurate. 2. Minutes usually cover the following: Apologies for Absence (read out by the Chairman on behalf of anyone who cannot attend). Minutes of the Last Meeting. If everyone agrees that they ar...