FAQ
Here are some questions people frequently ask. If yours is not answered on this page, do please get in touch.
Manchester, in the north-west of England
In normal times, I usually meet my clients at their workplaces (or homes, if they so wish). We need somewhere you can speak out without being overheard, big enough to allow us to visualise an audience. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter what kind of space it is.
If there is nowhere suitable at your workplace or home, we can hire a meeting room nearby.
While the coronavirus is still restricting movement, I’m doing almost all the coaching online, via Zoom.
It works well. I’ve got the pro version of Zoom and the connection is reliable. As long as you’ve got a webcam and a microphone, we can work together almost as productively as face to face.
In the worst cases, it’s about 90% as good as meeting in person. This is mainly because it takes a bit more time, adjusting camera angles and so on – which is why I’m offering up to half an hour of extra time for no extra charge 🙂
In normal times, as far as is necessary. I enjoy travelling and cover a great deal of ground all the time, both for work and for leisure.
Apart from public health, the only concern is to make sure it’s cost effective for you. If you’re a long way from Manchester, let’s discuss the options.
My standard is a session of an hour and a half. Depending on your circumstances and what we’re working on, it may make sense to book a double session (3 hours). If time and distance are not factors, you will generally get more benefit from two 90-minute sessions with a week or so in between than you will from one double.
It’s hard to say without knowing a bit about you and your objectives, but probably one or two 90-minute sessions.
About half my clients reach breakthrough in one session. Of the others, about half know they’ve got what they need to succeed and take it from there by themselves, while the other half have another session. It’s rare for someone to need three and I don’t think anyone has ever needed more.
Yes. The principles are very much the same whatever you’re presenting/teaching/selling. And it can be useful to bounce your talk off someone who isn’t an expert in your field, who isn’t immersed in the associated thinking and the jargon, who can give you an outsider’s perspective.
Yes. I have a background in teaching English as a foreign language, which gives me insight into the issues involved.
It depends. If it’s a language I know sufficiently to understand what you’re talking about (Italian, Spanish, French, German, Russian), I can help in pretty much the same way I could if you were speaking English.
If you’re a native speaker of English and part of what you want to learn is how to put yourself across in a foreign language, I can help you with that. If I know the language in question, I can do more but even if I don’t I can still give you a lot of guidance.
Yes. A lot of my clients feel this way and it’s fine. If I come to your workplace, I’ll simply say I’ve got a meeting with you and give my name.