Intercog Ltd

30/07/2024

I'm excited to announce that I have a new one-day workshop coming later this year!

The workshop is for anyone who talks to other people about data and how they can help those people to properly understand what that data means for them and what actions they therefore need to take.

The first delivery of the workshop is on September 25th at BusinessLodge Stoke and you can find more details here: https://lnkd.in/gbwP7Meq

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch!

Oh, and members of Staffordshire Business and Environment Network, Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry can get a discount too!

09/10/2023

Intercog are returning to Summit Hospitality on November 15th for another delivery of their Networking Skills Workshop.

In essence, it's an interactive session that will help attendees to get more out of the networking events that they go to in the future.

The workshop includes both effectiveness and confidence considerations and more details can be found here: intercog.co.uk/networking-skills-workshop/.

Intercog are also offering a member-to-member discount for members of: Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Finest, Future Finest and Staffordshire Business &Environment Network.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send Intercog a message via [email protected]!

19/04/2023

How to Boost your Business by Networking Confidently and Effectively

- Wednesday, June 7th, 2023 (09:15 – 12:30) at Summit Hospitality, Newcastle-Under-Lyme
- Friday, June 9th, 2023 (09:15 – 12:30) at Stapeley House, Nantwich

If you would like to get more out of the time that you spend networking, this half-day training course can help you to do that!

Delivered by Mike Grocott from Intercog Ltd, this interactive and practical course guides participants through a number of proven techniques, practices and approaches for networking effectively and with confidence.

You can find out more details on the course here: https://www.intercog.co.uk/how-to-boost-your-business-by-networking-confidently-and-effectively/

As a previous attendee said: “Mike shared practical advice and tips that are quick and easy to implement and will make a real difference to getting the best from events.”

The course is also designed to maximise participant engagement and learning by limiting the number of places on the course to 12.

To request a place, please email Mike Grocott ([email protected]).

Networking can be one of the most powerful and productive activities an individual can do to develop business relationships and future opportunities. Unfortunately, many things (like a lack of confidence, planning and/or know-how) can get in the way and reduce the effectiveness of people's networkin...

21/07/2022

Attending networking events are key to growing business through connections and relationships. But what about events that help to grow the business from within?

Other events such as breakfast meetings, team building sessions, and social gatherings can build relationships both within, and between, your teams. The better the connection between colleagues, the better their understanding of each other and the greater the potential for improved communication, which can only be a good thing.

And bringing people together to build those connections is especially important now as we live in an age of hybrid working where people might not actually see each other for days, weeks or even months!

So if you’d like to chat about how you could bring your teams together with an event, please feel free to contact me here:

https://bit.ly/3PehC93.

14/07/2022

Communicating your skills and how you will apply them to a role is critical in job interviews and doing that well requires preparation.

Firstly, understand the role for which you are applying so you properly know what’s required to do it well.

Then think about the questions you might be asked and how you will answer them, including evidence to show that you have the skills to do the job.

With proper preparation you can therefore make it easy for the interviewer to see that you fit the role well which is, after all, the main point of the interview!

I’ve created some resources to help with this preparation and you can find them here

https://bit.ly/39lB3ge

07/07/2022

It would be great to be able to get to every networking event that you wanted to but sadly that’s very unlikely to be possible.
And that’s where doing research, including talking to connections made at previous events, can help you to figure out which events will be the most beneficial for you.

It really all comes back to having clear goals for your networking so you can choose events that are likely to help you to achieve those goals.

And after attending an event, don’t forget to reflect and evaluate, so you can determine which events you get the most out of, and which ones you don’t!

Building on the above, I’ve got some more thoughts on how you might effectively approach networking here

https://bit.ly/3Pgqye4.

30/06/2022

When creating a presentation, make it interesting, understandable, and memorable for your audience

By keeping an eye on these considerations as you create your content you are increasing the likelihood that your presentation will be well received.

Of course, to allow you to do this you will need to firstly consider what you know about them, what they know about you and what they know about what you’re talking about. It’s what I call my YAT Triangle and there’s a handy worksheet here to help you with those considerations:

https://bit.ly/3zvnXaT

23/06/2022

When presenting, technology can be a double-edged sword. When it works well it greatly enhances your presentation and the confidence with which you deliver it. But the wrong cable, a badly placed laptop or a crackling sound system can all undermine both your presentation’s effectiveness and your own confidence level.

If you’re presenting in-person, take control of what you can and take your own cables etc needed to provide you with a backup plan.

Also, work to eliminate surprises. Contact the venue in advance, to ascertain what the environment will be. Don’t be afraid to ask for modifications to suit your requirements. The worst that can happen is they’ll say no!

Knowing that you are prepared and have eliminated any surprises where possible will help you to feel more confident about your presentation, helping you deliver it more effectively.

Getting to the venue early is also a good idea so you can deal with any surprises in a timely manner.

Of course, if you are presenting online from home or the office, then the environment is much more under your own control and so you can take actions to make sure that it best suits your needs.

Similar to arriving early to a venue, make sure you set everything up well in advance of your presentation.

Having had to do this myself, I’ve created a video with some practical thoughts on how to set up an environment for presenting online:

https://bit.ly/3srjp0O.

17/06/2022

Helping people to understand things is a common reason for communication. Unfortunately, it’s not always straightforward to achieve that goal.

This is particularly true for job roles that handle technical information such as in IT, engineering, or finance. While you might understand the information, consider your audience — do they have the same level of expertise and knowledge as you? How can you effectively communicate the information so that you not only ensure that the audience understands but also so you can help them to use what you’ve said to make informed business decisions?

To help with this, here’s an article in that talks about communicating in “layman’s terms”. Whilst this article refers to the fuel retailing industry, its points actually apply to communicating any sort of technical information.

You can read the full article here:

https://bit.ly/3xwvtzO

09/06/2022

Anytime you post on social media you are networking because you are interacting with people, which is the simplest definition of networking. A big difference though, when compared to in-person networking, is that social media has a far larger potential audience — it is not limited to those in the same room as you.

Therefore, it is even more important to define and seek out your target audience and this will require you finding out which social media platforms they use most often. It’s the same principle as working out which in-person events they might attend and which set you up for the best potential access to your target audience.

Also, research your audience before you connect with them on social media so you can create a more personal and focused introduction.

Here’s a link to a Target Audience Preparation Worksheet that can help with this process: https://bit.ly/3M286Ds