Pond Life

Pond Life is a straightforward, no-nonsense guide to improving the way you communicate and interact with other people. Inside you will find a totally original approach to solving many of the most frequently made communication gaffs and blunders. Pond Life will help you boost your confidence and show you how to present yourself in a way you never thought possible.

Why Pond Life? Because every time you communicate, you start a ripple effect. Too often we sell ourselves short because we worry about being caught ‘on the hop’, let opportunities slip through our fingers or just plain send out the wrong signals. So come on in, the water’s warm…

• Discover your personal style
• Pick up lots of ideas guaranteed to enhance your day-to-day communication skills
• Stop your audience mentally ‘hopping away’
• Discover the power of passion in influencing people around you

Dip a toe and give your communication skills a splash of magic. Pond Life will help you to impress your colleagues and friends with simple, easy-to-learn and amusing lessons that you can use again and again to create that all-important ripple effect.

About the Author vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction: Creating the Ripple Effect xv

Why Pond Life? xxix

1 Ponds, Streams and Muddy Water 1

2 How Are You Unique? 13

3 Why Being Yourself is Key 23

4 The ‘What Ifs ’ 31

5 Prepare Well – Feel Good! 37

6 Deciding What You Are Going To Say 47

7 How Are You Going To Say It? 65

8 Going For It 79

9 Making an Impact 87

10 Losing the Distractions 93

11 The Obstacles 105

12 Continual Improvement 113

13 The Joy of Powerful Communication 125

The Pond Life D.I.Y. Map 129

The Future 131

In Search of New Ponds 135

Index 139

Jon Hammond has had an interesting career path, to say the least. Jon started out as a surveyor, before working as a DJ on the European circuit. He then ran nightclubs back in the UK, before moving into more mainstream media work (BBC Radio Leeds, Yorkshire TV, BBC North, BBC Radio 2 etc). He has worked on such shows as Children in Need, Crime stoppers and the Richard Whiteley Show, as well as having his own Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Leeds. Jon now works as a conference facilitator, compere and MC. Pond Life is a straight-forward, no-nonsense guide to improving the way you communicate, present yourself and interact with other people. Why Pond Life? Because every time you communicate, you have the opportunity to create a ripple of positivity that spreads and has lasting impact. Too often, we sell ourselves hopelessly short because we live in fear of speaking our minds, being caught ‘on the hop’, or just plain sending out all the wrong signals.

Pond Life invites you to:

• Take an amusing and engrossing journey to discover your ‘personal style’.

• Try out simple ideas that guarantee to enhance your day-to-day communication skills

• Learn how to avoid your audience mentally ‘hopping away’.

• And find out just how effective passion can be in influencing your audience

Pond Life is a totally original approach to solving many of the most frequently-made communication gaffs and blunders. It will help boost your confidence and show you a way of presenting yourself in a way that you never thought possible. Wow your colleagues and friends with the simple, easy-to-learn and fun lessons of Pond Life that you can use again and again to create that all-important ripple effect.