As a researcher, coach and facilitator you learn to remain curious for that little bit longer. But have I always done this? No, I have not.

In my pre coach years I thought I was present, listening and communicating well, but I could have been so much better.

Lots of assumptions would pop into my brain which, at times, would result in a range of scenarios: sometimes they would take me down a path of unhelpful thinking or it would trigger a negative feeling, which in turn, would sometimes lead to a reaction that was unhelpful. Or lots of well-intentioned advice would spill out, in a desperate desire to ‘help’ others, when all the other person wanted in that moment was to be listened to.

So, perhaps pause for a moment and consider (on a good day and a not so good day) if you really do take the time to think, to remain present and curious, to listen well and to check in with the assumptions you are making before you respond. If we continue to improve on this, it will impact on the way we interact with others hugely.

This is what Speak Easy is all about to me: enquire first, devise and deliver later.

Enquire first via our research survey, via our qualitative research groups, listen well, ask great questions, find out what people really think first, be curious about what is really going on. Speak Easy is about taking the time to get some hard evidence first from the people that we want to enable and then devising an approach that is addressing real need so we can create lasting impact.

So, when Nigel and Simon discussed wanting to collect some hard data to work with before we did anything, I was all in, and the fact that I was going to meet regularly with them both to make it happen, sealed the deal.