Below you will find a selection of the most recent entries from bloggers in our Work/Business section.
To view the entries from individual bloggers, click on the links below:
- Claire Doole - Claire Doole Communications
Claire is a former BBC correspondent and international spokeswoman who is passionate about helping people communicate with confidence. Since 2006, she has successfully trained hundreds of professionals in the art of presenting and public speaking, talking to the media, managing communications in a crisis, and writing for the web. In addition, she has coached C-level executives and public figures to give powerful TEDx and TED style talks in Europe and the Middle East. A Swiss and UK national, Claire trains and coaches in French and English.
- Elizabeth Ballin - Life Coach
As a long time member of the international community in Geneva, Elizabeth Ballin has been coaching adults and students from all parts of the world. She has coached business professionals, musicians/artists, couples, families and adolescents. She is a fully accredited Life Coach by the International Coaching Federation. Elizabeth Ballin, Life Coach
- Patrick Hoza - US Tax & Financial Services
Since 1990, Patrick has many years of experience with US individual expatriate taxation under his belt, including High Net Worth Individuals, streamline/voluntary disclosure filings and tax consulting, as well as working with large multinationals like Novartis, BP, Hewlett Packard and General Electric. He has extensive knowledge in serving both US expatriates and resident and non-resident aliens with their US tax-related issues. Patrick Hoza is a Tax Director at US Tax & Financial Services, with extensive experience in all aspects of Individual US tax and Expatriation, including Hight Net Worth Individuals and large multinationals.
Patrick started his career in 1990 in California, with Westpro Ltd., as a Senior Tax Consultant, then spent the middle part of his career working at KPMG and Ernst & Young. During his time with Ernst & Young, he worked and lived in Russia, France and finally Switzerland. He has gained a valuable working knowledge of the respective income tax regulations in all of these countries.
Patrick holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and is a Certified Acceptance Agent.
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Melitta Campbell - Business Coach
Business Coach and Mentor with nearly 3 decades of business experience and a passion for helping women confidently build a business they love. She is also the founder of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Club and president of the Swiss Riviera Toastmasters Club in Montreux. Originally from Wales, she now lives in Montreux in a chalet she has renovated with her husband overlooking the Swiss Alps. - Sunita Sehmi - Walk The Talk
Founder of Walk The Talk, Sunita has been training, developing and now coaching Business Communication skills in both companies and educational establishments for over twenty years. She has a passion for helping people to maximise their potential and created Walk The Talk with the sole aim to drive each and every client to perform their best.
- Robert Harris- Forth Capital
With over 25 years experience working for some of the major financial institutions in the City of London, Robert is a founding partner of Forth Capital, the leading expat financial advisory company in Switzerland. Regulary quoted in newspaper articles and magazines, he is well placed to advise expats on a variety of financial issues that may arise during their time living in Switzerland.
- Debbie Croft - Croft Coaching
As the founder of Croft Coaching, Debbie has a passion for helping people overcome challenges, embrace change and live life to the full; with an ethos of “work hard, play hard”.
- Sarah Santacroce - Simplicity
A certified social media, internet marketing, and virtual event specialist, Sarah enjoys every aspect of small business marketing. Through her own business, Simplicity, it is her mission to help other small businesses and solopreneurs increase their visibility and use social media tools as part of their marketing strategy.
- Diana Ritchie - SSC Sàrl
A Director at Swiss Career Connections, Diana will provide you with some useful tips for job hunting.
Moderating a Q&A style panel discussion for the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications
After a busy month of moderating for the UN, European Commission and trade federations in Brussels and Geneva, plus running how to moderate workshops for public and private sector institutions, I wanted to share my top 6 tips for stimulating panel discussions.
The common theme is that while a professional moderator always adds some sparkle, it is difficult to wave a magic wand, if the event organisers have not thought editorially about the panellists and format.
Tip number 1
Select the right panellists for the topic. It sounds obvious, but too often panellists are chosen for political reasons rather than for what they bring to the discussion. Even the most seasoned moderators find it very hard to stimulate an engaging discussion with people who don't have opposing views or different perspectives.
There is nothing worse than a panel where everybody says the same thing. In this case, as the moderator you have no option but to play devil's advocate. I was once forced to do this during a discussion on refugees. Afterwards, a young student in the audience came up to me and accused me of not liking refugees. I told her that I used to be a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency but my role was not to like or dislike but to stimulate discussion.
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
Sally Helgesen’s mission has always been to help women recognize, articulate and act on their greatest strengths. Her previous books include The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work and the best-selling The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership, hailed as “the classic work” on women’s leadership styles. Her ground-breaking The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations was cited in The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership ever and is credited with bringing the language of inclusion into business.
In addition, Sally delivers workshops and keynotes in corporations, partnership firms, universities and associations around the world.
With Marshall Goldsmith, she co-authored the new book, How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job.
Sally Helgesen successfully shows how female professionals can change self-limiting behaviours. For me, the quote from Maya Angelou sums up the essence of the overall message.
“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within”
I was so very fortunate enough to interview her. Enjoy!
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
Snuggled in Chêne-Bougeries, La Maison de Tara offers an alternative to hospitalisation for people nearing the end of life who are unable to stay at home but wish to spend their final days in a non-medicalised atmosphere surrounded by warmth, care and tenderness…. a home from home. They offer to any person, young or old, who is seriously ill, a place to stay and be cared for in a family atmosphere. La Maison de Tara commits to bring each resident the same quality of care that a family can give.
I am very proud to say that I am part of the volunteer family at La Maison de Tara. I was welcomed and trusted to be part of the family from the very beginning. People say to me: “It must be so depressing to work there”. They could not be more wrong. The atmosphere is caring, loving and bright.
I sat down with the founder, Anne-Marie Struijk, and asked her to tell us more about her mission, her vision and her desire to let people die in a loving atmosphere.
I hope you enjoy the interview with the wonderful and wise Anne-Marie, who is also the spiritual care educator and President of La Maison de Tara, and if you like what you see please donate to this exceptional foundation.
Photo credit: CartoonStock
By Claire Doole, Claire Doole Communications
As a journalist, I knew immediately what sound bites I would use in my radio or television reports for the BBC. They were the couple of sentences that made for lively copy and were instantly memorable.
What I may not have grasped in my rush to hit my deadline was that the speaker or in some cases their communications teams had carefully crafted that sound bite with the express intent that I would use it. They knew that sound bites serve as a perfect delivery vehicle for their key messages.
Speakers, who want their messages to be memorable, ensure that they plant at least one sound bite in their media interviews and speeches to illustrate their central idea. They then use them again in their Tweets as 280 characters are the equivalent of around 50 words or 17 seconds of speech.
By Diana Ritchie, www.scc-centre.com
In today’s business environment, how to persuade and entertain an audience is of paramount concern and there are a large volume of books and articles out there on how to give a great presentation. But nothing replaces the opportunity to learn, practise and get feedback on delivering powerful presentations in a safe environment of like minded peers, who equally want to learn and grow professionally.
We’ve all attended a training session, a meeting or a conference where the presentation was, shall I say it – awful.
I was at one yesterday, where there was so much text, and we were sitting so far away that everything was a blur and my frustration started. I paid to be here, and I was spending my time to learn something and it was not happening. I was at another presentation earlier in the week, where the presenter was speaking to the slide, even though the slide was only a picture – what did he need to read? It was disturbing. Rule number 1, also face the audience and keep them engaged.
A presenter should speak to the audience not the slide. But how many of us have done that? Another speaker at the same conference had 4 points to share with the audience and gave us time to discuss, then ran out of time after point 2, rushed through points 3 and 4 and told the audience it was our fault that we ran out of time, as our discussions took too long.
How did that make me feel and what impression do I have of this guy’s organisation?
