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Richard Walker
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For a better life!
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Hi!
| So you think you can't teach an old dog... ? |
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'For decades we have thought that the
cognitive capacity of our brains is
genetically determined, whereas it's now
clear that it's a lifestyle choice. What we
eat and drink, how we learn at school and
what type of moods we have are all crucial,'
says David Horne, a business lecturer at the
University of Central Lancaster, and
authority on thinking and learning.
'Teach Yourself Training Your Brain' gives a
wide range of suggestions, including cuddling
a baby, cheating at school, reading out loud
and doing your university degree in business
studies. Co-authors Terry Horne and Simon
Wootton say their recommendations are based
on and backed by the latest research by
leading experts around the world.
'People can make lifestyle choices that will
not only prevent what used to be seen as an
inevitable decline in cognitive [ability]
after the age of 17 - something that IQ tests
seemed to bear out - but will constantly
increase our cognitive capacity throughout
our adult lives. Our far-reaching suggestions
will empower people to develop their
cognitive capacity or just let it decline.'
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| Upcoming events |
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Training
Practitioner Foundation Training in
Clinical Hypnosis One weekend in three
(approx),
starting 26 Jan 08. Book
now and save! More
details
NLP and Time Line Therapy
Practitioner
Now
booking for Feb 08. More details here.
Learn Time Line Therapy Techniques
to
add to your NLP skills! 28&29 Feb 08 - call
Richard
to find out more.
Featured article
How to get testmonials, by Bernadette Doyle of Client Magnets. See article at my newsetter weblog (below).
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| In brief... |
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Harassment or uncivil treatment of
women at
work is bad not only for female employees,
but for the productivity of the whole
organisation. More
When we praise a child, our wording
can either be specific (e.g. "You did a good
job drawing") or generic (e.g. "You are a
good drawer"). Research shows that this makes
a big difference to children's motivation
when things go wrong. More
Blame Dad It's thanks to Dad that girls
are more cautious than boys - not just
biology. More
Unhealthy alliance Drug Companies and
the EU will render health supplements
useless. Together they will set limits that
make carrots and brazil nuts look dangerous.
More
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It's a good time to plan a New Year!
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Brr! Bit chilly recently! Why not make that
decision now to follow up your interest in
hypnosis? Our Practitioner Foundation course
is going from
strength to to strength, with the next one
scheduled for January. I'll even give you a
10% Christmas discount on any training booked
before 25th Dec!
Did you know that
the BMA (British
Medical Association) approved hypnosis as
'orthodox' treatment, as opposed to
'alternative' or 'complementary'? In 1955 the
BMA advised that 'all physicians and medical
students receive fundamental training in
hypnosis.'
And don't miss out on the next NLP
Practitioner booking now for Feb 08! Enjoy
this issue's fascinating news items and have
a Happy Christmas and New Year!
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Featured Article
How To Get
Testimonials
Whatever business you are in, one of the best assets you can build is a
databank of testimonials from satisfied clients and customers. But exactly how
do you get those rave reviews that you can use to attract more
clients? Here are my 6 top tips for collecting and using effective
testimonials.
1. Deliver a great product or
service
I know it's stating the obvious, but the first step in
getting testimonials is to have satisfied customers and clients. That means you
need to make sure you have delivered on your promises and at least met, if not
exceeded, your customers' expectations. Don't try to collect any testimonials
until you have met this criteria!
2. Ask!
The big
secret of getting testimonials is no big secret at all. You've simply got to
ask. If you've been in business for any length of time at all, you probably
already have satisfied customers who would be more than willing
to give you an endorsement, if only you ASK them. I understand that you might be
self-conscious about asking, so why not send a note or email along these
lines.
'Can I ask a quick favour? I'm in the process of updating my
marketing materials and want to include examples of people I have worked with
and how I've helped them. I would love to include you. Would you be willing to
jot a couple of lines about how my (service/product) helped you? I'm planning to
get this completed in the next two weeks, so if you could reply by (deadline) it
would really help. Thanks in anticipation!'
There, now that wasn't
so difficult was it? Try it. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the responses you
get!
3. Use full contact details
Have you ever
seen those testimonials that are signed by someone like 'J.V,
Leicester'. Do you believe them? I don't. They scream 'made up!'
Testimonials simply aren't worthwhile unless accompanied by full contact
details: name, company, location, age, profession. Include as much relevant info
as you need to prove that the testimonial was provided by a real
person.
4. Use examples of your target
audience
If you're targeting single 20 somethings, then it
doesn't make sense to include a testimonial from a 50 year old married woman.
The unspoken question many of your prospects have in their head is 'Will this
work for me?', so they want to see case studies and examples from people who
started out in a similar situation. Adapt your testimonials to make them
relevant to your target audience eg if you are targeting working mothers include
information like, 'Sarah Smith, mother of 3'.
5. Make your
testimonials more believable with photos, voice and/or
video
We've all seen the 'testimonials' on tv that are actually
paid actors, so it's not surprising that many of your prospects are jaded and
sceptical. You can make your testimonials more believable by using proof in the
shape of photos, actual voice recordings of the testimonials and even video
testimonials if you can get them. Audio
Generator includes a feature for easily collecting voice testimonials from
your customers. They provide you with a phone number, the client calls to record
their message, then you get a simple code for uploading the audio to your
website.
6. Have a system for soliciting
testimonials
I know you've already got too much on your 'to do'
list, and the last thing I want to do is create more work for you. The key to
getting anything done in marketing is to put a system in place that automates
the process. For example, send a form letter or email a specific number of days
after the service, treatment or goods have been received verifying that your
client is happy and asking them to provide you with their comments.
Some
of the best testimonials I got for my first e-book came from a standard email I
sent to every customer 14 days after they ordered the product. I just set the
email up on my auto-responder so I didn't have to think about it. It generated a
steady stream of testimonials with no further action required on my
part.
The bottom line is that adding testimonials is one of the most
effective changes you can make to your marketing materials, so make sure you
start collecting and using testimonials, starting today!
© Bernadette Doyle, 2007
WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? See more articles at my
website
Want To Use This Article In Your Newsletter Or
Website?
You can, as long as you include this complete info with it:
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers,
coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you
want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free
tips now at http://www.clientmagnets.com/
Until Next Time!

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Richard Walker
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For a better life!
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Hi!
Well, we have a nice surprise for you next
month - Judy Rees, director and specialist
in 'Clean Language' training and consulting,
has taken up my invitation to come along and
present to in an open workshop on Wed eve, 3
Oct.
Judy presented at the conference 'NLP by the
Sea' in Bournemouth, and participants tested
out a
fascinating approach to solving problems and
enhancing personal capabilities, with an
elegant and powerful concise questioning and
exploring format.
Now you can discover it for yourself. Find
out more about Clean
here.
| Plain and simple self-development |
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Clean Language is causing a buzz in the world
of change work, as one of the most
sophisticated interventions to emerge in
recent years. According to Judy, 'This
approach works
elegantly in a massive range of
situations:
- with individuals and with groups
- in corporate work or in personal,
therapeutic contexts
- to model excellence or to facilitate change
- to heal the past, or to generate even
better results for the future.
Judy explains, 'Clean accesses and uses the
unique, individual metaphors which underpin a
person's unconscious wisdom, promoting
powerful, rapid and ecological change. That
means that changes tend to stay changed!
'
'By its nature, it's tailored to the needs of
the individual, because the process is
designed to cut out presuppositions,
suggestions and assumptions and to respect
the integrity of the client's system. And
that makes a facilitator's life easy - you
can sit back and feel truly confident in your
ability to deliver, even in new and tricky
situations.'
Judy, the 'online voice of Clean', works
alongside the leaders in this field to spread
the word about this beyond its home ground in
psychotherapy and into businesses and
communities worldwide, to 'change the way we
think about the way we think'. A former media
executive and news journalist, she is now a
director of specialist Clean Language
training and consulting firm, Clean Change
Company.
In this free event, you will begin you'll begin
your own Clean Language adventure. You'll
experience the unfolding of one of your own
powerful metaphors, to enhance and develop
your specific skills.
Contact
Richard to book your free place!
Space is limited, so book early!
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| Upcoming events |
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Training
NLP and Time Line Therapy
Practitioner
Now
booking for 27 October. More details here.
Learn Time Line Therapy Techniques
to
add
to
your NLP skills! 19&20 October - call Richard
to find
out more.
Experience The Keys to
Personal Power and Fulfilment
A two-day
event that could change your life. 'Thank you
ever so
much Richard for giving me my life back.' -
RL, recent
participant. 1 & 2 Dec 2007.
more details
Click here for
prices &
timings and on-line
booking.
Introduction to NLP & Hypnosis - learn to use
your brain! 8 eves - Mondays Luton adult
education course AESL251P7- link;
Tuesdays Oaklands College St.Albans - link.
Free Events!!
Clean Language workshop- Wed 3 Oct,
7.15pm -
see above.
Free Invitation!Experience Time Line
Therapy
for free on Fri 19 October. You will be a
client for a new
student, under supervision. Or learn to use the
techniques by staying for the two-day
training (see
below).
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| In brief... |
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Thinking yourself sick
Sometimes we expect medical treatment to
work - and maybe that's partly why it does
(the 'placebo effect'). But the reverse or
'nocebo' effect can occur, where symptoms
worsen, side effects are exacerbated and
drugs are rendered less effective. In other
words, you're as bad as you think - or
'expectation of sickness begets sickness' - more.
Are women more emotional?
Women do seem to cry more readily than men,
but is that because they are less able to
control their emotions? Brain scans show men
seem to 'out-think' their and 'outweigh'
emotion-associated activation - more.
Depression 'is worse for your health than
asthma or diabetes' This WHO study says
"doctors treating long-term chronic diseases,
tend to focus mainly on the physical diseases
- they are not looking for depression.Yet
it's a much more effective way to improve
people's health than just dealing with
chronic physical illness. Treatment of mental
illness is a necessity, not a luxury." -more.
Simple Techniques for Happiness
Marty Seligman and others identify two
techniques as being particularly effective
for long term (six months) happiness: (1)
Three good things in life: write down three
things that went well each day and their
causes, every night for one week. (2)
Character ('signature') strengths: take the
online inventory of character strengths and
then to use one of these top strengths in a
new and different way every day for one week
- more.
Check out your own current happiness and
approach to life:
Four-question
happiness questionnaire
24
- qn Happiness questionnaire
Approaches
to happiness 24qns
Work-life
- 5qns
Satisfaction
with life - 5 qns
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Discover hidden strengths - Wed eve Oct 3 free!
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Hope you found time to enjoy the little
Indian Summer!
Isn't the light terrific? - Like an
extended morning but longer and warmer!
So the theme this issue is about making your
life warmer and brighter and happier! You
are invited to a free event on developing
your strengths - no
previous knowledge or experience required!
Want to find out out how happy you
are - and your approach to happiness? I've
given you
some great links about happiness - with lots
of simple and quick questionnaires with free
instant analysis, by Martin Seligman, leading
author on authentic happiness and Positive
Psychology.
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Richard Walker
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For a better life!
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Hi! Richard,
Jon Bowmer, organiser of NLP By The Sea, wrote me
to say, "Thank you for being involved in this year's NLP
by the sea conference - your sessions are certainly
creating interest and excitement!"
He says, "We are very proud to be running our second
year, offering a space to test and explore the
applications of NLP."
Don't just take his word for it; here's what one
returning delegate said, "I'm really looking forward to
this years event Jon, because I know the sessions
you're providing will really stretch us".
For Jon, "this is what it is all about, people coming for
an experience, to discover more, an experience that
each of you will be providing in your own way. Another
comment from last year about seeing 'glimpses of the
wild days' of NLP was sublime as that is exactly the
atmosphere that NLP by the sea represents."
So if you fancy popping in to join us in lovely
Bournemouth, then now's your best opportunity - 'cos I
can now offer you 33% off - that's just £150 for the
whole weekend!
| NLP By The Sea Programme |
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Here's the list of events you can enjoy at Bournemouth!
- NLP and Creativity
- Influential communication made easy
(that's me!)
- What is NLP?
- How to get what you want when the world around
you is constantly changing?
- Successful selling to the not-so converted - putting
NLP to work
- "I wish I could draw but I can't..."
- Climbing Wall (!)
- Vocal Harmony Workshop
- Design your own session - get together to explore
and experiment with NLP
- Advanced Abacus - Brain Development
Programme
- The five-minute coach
- Beyond Milton : the real magic of metaphor
- Presenting without preparation
- Growing in uncertainty : a Clean experience
- Marketing Ninjutsu: The Invisible Offer
Full conference details at www.nlpbythesea.
com
To get 33% off, quote promo code 4happiness when
booking.
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Discover the
Secrets of
Motivation, Happiness and Fulfilment . 1/2 day
workshop Fri 21
Sept - it
could be the first step to the next level in
life. <more>
The Keys to Personal Power and
Fulfilment. A two-day event that could change your
life. 'Thank you ever so much Richard for giving me my
life back.' - RL, recent participant. 1 & 2 Dec 2007. <more>
See Quick Links for Prices &
schedule etc.
The NLP Conference, at Regents
Park, Nov
23-25.
40 great presenters including International Trainers -
Judith DeLozier, Shelle Rose Charvet, Charles
Faulkner, Michael Hall and Wyatt Woodsmall, and
Masster Classes led by Ian McDermott and Michael
Breen.
Meet the lead trainers from most of the
major UK NLP Training Institutes and many of the
foremast NLP authors. I presented at the conference
in April (see review), and
Im already booked to join in with this one!
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| News about life & stuff |
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Is psychological momentum like real momentum?
Would you say a sportswoman is more or less likely
than usual to win her next game if she won her last
game? This is the phenomenon of 'psychological
momentum' - the idea of being on a roll, or on song.
Researchers have shown the way we think about
psychological
momentum is like the way we think about the physical
momentum of objects. more
Why, when we're distressed, do we sometimes
smile? You might have found yourself doing it:
smiling when really you're upset or
distressed. Why do we do it? Is it to camouflage our
true feelings from others? Or is it because smiling
comforts us and protects us from our distress?
Research says the latter. more
How to Spot Mr. Right
Do opposites really attract? According to Paul
Dobransky, don't bother with those too similar to you!
more In
the meantime. until you get Mr(s) Right....
Dumped, But Not Down
Rejection is a fundamental
law of the (social) universe. But if you laser in on every
'dis', you'll likely trigger a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Rejection-sensitivity is on the rise, but you can learn to
brave even the biggest brush-offs. more
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Fun In Bournemouth
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What an up and down summer! For all kinds of
reasons.. rain, floods, cricket, business.. add your
own to the list. But of course, change - even disaster -
is a normal part of life.
But today I want to let you know that if you fancy a trip to
Bournemouth at the weekend, then I can get you in at
NLP BY THE SEA at a big discount. I
mentioned the meeting in my previous newsletter, and
I know some of you were teetering on the edge of
deciding to come along - so here's your chance to get
a whopping third off - as a special 'friend' of mine,
since I'm presenting.
It looks like a fun event - more of an experience than a
conference or workshop. A great chance to ask those
awkward questions you never dared ask about all this
stuff.
And don't miss my fascinating news
article summaries at the bottom of the page.
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Richard Walker
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For a better life!
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Hi!
You know the old saying - no-one ever looks back on
life and says 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office'.
You see, life is a happiness thing. Anything else is
just a bad dream. I have worked with
many hundreds of people, and had the opportunity to
figure out what makes them tick. It seems to me that
underneath it all,
behind any complaint, problem or motivational crisis -
even 'stuck businesses'.. is some unhelpful world
view
or perspective.
| Happiness in the modern world |
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"The Treasurer, Peter Costello, today announced
that Australia's ranking on the
Gross National Happiness index rose by 0.3 points
during 2010. Mr Costello said that
the rise was due to strong pro-happiness policies
pursued by the Coalition
government. He warned that Labour's policies would
jeopardise the happiness gains of
the past decade, leading to a sadder Australia."
The concept of 'Gross National Happiness' has been
creeping into the agenda in Australia for some time.
It's even on the UK Govt's minds, with senior Advisor
Lord Layard, of the LSE, advising happiness
lessons at
school! (That turns even me a bit pale, I have to say!)
Can we measure happiness? Should we
care? Existing surveys have posed
fascinating
findings. One
global survey
has Australia near the top and UK lower than you
might have expected. Another study published in New Scientist magazine
suggests that the happiest people in the world live in
Nigeria - and the least happy, in Romania. People in
Latin America, Western Europe and North America are
happier than their counterparts in Eastern Europe and
Russia. Now, whilst I'd agree that such surveys are
imperfect, I do think we might ask
ourselves, 'What's going on? What really makes us
happy?
Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert says
that Americans do a tremendous amount
of "miswanting" - wanting things that will never make
us happy. Studies show that having enough money for
the basic necessities of life - food, clothing, and
shelter, which cost maybe $40,000 a year - is all we
really need for happiness. The effect of the next $10
million is negligible.
The truth is that we usually don't know what will make
us happy. Worse, we don't know that we don't know,
so we ardently pursue the wrong things.
Well, I've got my own ideas too, based on experience
of working with clients over some ten years. I have
pulled them together into a concept that I call, 'The
Physics
of Happiness and Fulfilment'.
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| Physics of Happiness & Fulfilment |
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We might say that we really want something - but so
often we ignore the change that needs to come
with it. So what really motivates us? Ultimately, it's
when the payoff is better than the current 'pain'. Even
so, we tend to make
excuses. In my experience, there are only three
issues that can spoil your motivation:
- you really do feel you know what you want, but you
have self-doubt in the way
- you are not doing what you really enjoy, but your
head tells you that 'you should stick with it'
- you have never considered following what you feel,
or never felt it.
Consider this though: if you make all your important
decisions with your 'head' - ie based
on 'logic', then the best life will be is 'satisfying' - or 'not
bad'. On the other hand, if you make important
decisions based on how you feel, then you will create
a life that 'feels good'! Now that's logical.
You
might argue that that's fine and nice, but what about
the
'real world' you live in? Now, it seems to me that we all
have an idea of what the real world is like, how it
works, what's possible and what's not, what people
are like etc. But it differs enormously from one
person to the next. So where is this 'real world'? Who
sees it? To all intents and purposes, we cannot see
beyond our perceptions, or 'beliefs'.
So my
concept is based on motivation, feeling, self-belief,
and perceptions of what's possible and what it's
like 'out there'. Change these, and your world changes
with them.
Last, but not least, you need to know your 'purpose'.
Everything has a purpose | | | | |