I have been labouring under the misapprehension all my life that a sentence must have a verb. Master McDyer told us this in the national school in Enfield when I was in 5th class. ‘Hogs grunt’, he would say, ‘that’s a sentence’. I have just finished a book called ‘The Elements of Eloquence: How To… Continue reading Writing As Art
How to Speak Like a Leader
How to convince and persuade by the use of words is something that fascinates me. Regardless of whether the words are written or spoken the power to move other people with your choice of words and formulation of what you wish to say has been evident from time immemorial. From Aristotle’s ‘Rhetoric’ (also known as… Continue reading How to Speak Like a Leader
Why I Rarely Answer the Phone
I rarely answer my phone. The reason is because I find it inefficient and wasteful of the scarce and decreasing resource of my time. It is interruptive, too, of course, and I can be caught off guard and I run the risk of responding or reacting to what the caller has to say without considering… Continue reading Why I Rarely Answer the Phone
This Might Not Work
Travelling east towards Dublin in the old N4 at Moyvalley you will see a piece of waste ground just off the main road. It is in front of what used to be ‘McGovern’s’ pub and just before you see ‘Fureys’ pub on the left. It is an area of approximately a half acre, I would… Continue reading This Might Not Work
Besmirching the Tricolour
Something I’ve noticed lately on certain social media sites, such as Twitter and YouTube, is the use of the Irish tricolour in the profiles of certain individuals who hold views ranging from xenophobia to racism. These keyboard warriors, most of whom hide behind a fake name, feel free to spout hateful bile about the State,… Continue reading Besmirching the Tricolour
Learning from Sherlock Holmes
I’m a firm believer in the immense value of reading and I’m not sure I can recall any book, no matter how poor, from which I have not learned something. I’m reading the definitive Sherlock Holmes collection at the moment and, surprisingly, I have come across a few unexpected gems. In the ‘Sign of the… Continue reading Learning from Sherlock Holmes
The Vital Importance of Signals in Your Business
Imagine you have had the proud pleasure of attending a child’s graduation from university. And imagine you book a table for 10 at a local restaurant, and look forward to the food, drink, company, and company of your family in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. Imagine, though, that the restaurant staff send out the wrong signals. … Continue reading The Vital Importance of Signals in Your Business
Bread and Blog Posts
Every Saturday I make a loaf and a blog post. The loaf I made is the white one you see on this page. The blog post is about the 6 month time limit to bring an employment claim to the WRC and how you can show ‘reasonable cause’ in order to get the time limit… Continue reading Bread and Blog Posts
Unfair Comments and Reviews-What You Can Learn From the Greats
Check out the reviews of books on Amazon. You will find it worthwhile and you will find some surprises. For example, a book like “To Kill a Mockingbird”, with 3,664 reviews and an average of 4.7 stars out of a maximum 5. Yet 2% of its reviews are 1 star. Of the 3,664 reviews 73… Continue reading Unfair Comments and Reviews-What You Can Learn From the Greats
The Most Powerful Tool to Persuade (No, It’s Not the Data)
The older I get the more I recognise the power of story and storytelling. Take a look at the world in the last few years and the stories that were successfully told: The story Trump told the blue collar workers in the ‘rustbelt’ states in the US during the 2016 presidential election The story Boris… Continue reading The Most Powerful Tool to Persuade (No, It’s Not the Data)