Nisha Pillai

“Oh, the UN is just a talking shop, ” is a comment I sometimes hear. But a talking shop which brings truly diverse groups together and then sparks a genuine conversation - is something different, surely? Well, I was ring-master at just such an event in Bangkok recently, entitled HIV and the Law – the Regional Dialogue for Asia and the Pacific, convened by the UN’s Development Programme. It was the first of a number of such regional events being planned by the UNDP and as such, no one knew quite what to expect – not the organisers, nor the participants, nor me, to be quite frank. The result was electrifying… (more…)

Oxygen surges to the brain via the simple act of standing up. So it follows that the best way to learn new skills is to do so upright, not slumped over a desk. In our last “Getting Your Message Across” workshop, Rob Geraghty and I didn’t go so far as to banish all tables and chairs, but we did use the vertical-learning principle over and over again. Here’s a youtube clip of some amazing feedback from just some of the participants in our session…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n72I6hFl11k&feature=player_embedded.

There were over thirty people in our masterclass at a Gartner Business Intelligence conference – and within minutes we had everyone up on their feet, putting all our ideas straight into practice. So by the time they left our workshop they were brimming with confidence, buzzing with energy and bent on getting their message across! I can’t wait to do it again.

Watching events in the Arab world move with cyclonic speed, I have the weirdest sense of deja vu – back to 1989, when as a young BBC journalist I covered the crumbling of the Iron curtain across Eastern Europe. In the space of just six months the Communist dominoes collapsed – first Poland, then Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and finally, Romania.  Who can forget Nikolai Ceausescu’s Christmas day trial and execution?

So my question is this: how long will it take for the Arab dictators’ dominoes to be swept aside by the forces of history? What will the political landscape of the Middle East look like by the summer of 2011? Answers on a postcard below please!

Speeches are all about old fashioned face-to-face communication, right? In this virtual era of  tweeting/texting/msm-ing, there is nothing so powerful as that face-to-face connection between speaker and audience. I dearly believe that, and base much of my work around that belief. So it’s come as a surprise to discover how distant friends can contribute to the business of crafting a speech… (more…)

 I’ve just spent three days at EuroDisney, and not been on a single ride. Can you believe that? What took me there wasn’t half-term but  a job like no other – hosting a conference for over three thousand partners of Ernst & Young. Yes, that’s right three thousand-plus people  under a vast Big Top. Now I don’t often feel stage fright, but this time was different… (more…)

September saw me visit St Mary’s Hospital, not once but on three separate occasions. What took me to this redoubtable Isle-of-Wight institution was an invitation to brush up the presentations skills of a team of specialists. Why would medics be interested in working with a tv presenter and performer? Because it turns out  doctors have to stand up and  present too – not the news, but research papers and best-practice, to colleagues and conferences. And what an international bunch  they turned out to be … (more…)

Summer on the Isle of Wight – what could be more traditional than that? “It’s like entering a time warp,”  visitors exclaim, “everything’s so slow, and quaint, like twenty years ago.”  But if you actually live the Wight lifestyle, nostalgia doesn’t play a big part.  What I’ve discovered is a  new media hub, brimming over with creative, co-operative, make-it-happen types. By leaving London and becoming an islander, I’ve learned how to crest the internet wave. Here’s how… (more…)

Twice in the last couple of months I’ve found myself on stage, grilling a CEO in front of his staff. Neither chief executive demanded I give him a sneak peek at the questions – which was just as well, as I never write them down. All in all I had a free rein to probe, and challenge, and raise a sceptical eyebrow. So why did they do it? Why let an outsider quiz them on sensitive issues, and query the corporate strategy?  (more…)

Few things beat connecting with an audience – especially if it’s a jaded bunch of people. Watching them sit up straighter, nod in agreement, smile in sympathy, start answering back - yes, even that!  -  is hugely motivating for me. It was the key to a motivational speech I gave to a group of project managers who’d survived a massive internal reorganisation. Ostensibly the speech was about me, but really it was about all of us in the room. All 250 of us. (more…)

Whatever happened to the romance of travel? Volcanic eruptions, cabin-crew strikes, congestion charging, trains without luggage racks…these are just a few personal  grouses. So I arrived in Leipzig (via ferry, a long drive + two flights) for the International Transport Forum’s annual conference feeling somewhat jaded. But what a surprise lay in store. And that surprise was named Bertrand Piccard… (more…)