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You are likely to encounter statistics in vast amounts both in your work and in your daily life. It can be daunting to process all this data while remaining accurate when reporting on them. To get the most out of statistics, and the data they provide there are three convenient self-defence mechanisms you can use.

It is for example important to remain vigilant of a phenomenon known as the Polluted Poll. A statistic might for example claim that 85% of the members of a certain committee all agree that a certain policy is a terrible idea. This number may seem impressive at first. Without further digging though we do not know anything yet about the size as well as the type of people in the questioned group. Who specifically is not on the committee, as well as data about the scale of the agreement can be crucial in determining if a statistic is anywhere near as meaningful as it might appear at first sight. A good general rule of thumb when defending against statistics is that you will want to gather as much data about your data as possible.

Statistics also often seem engineered to trigger some sort of emotional response. It is best to remain vigilant of these kinds of Emotional Stats. On closer inspection statistics are rarely as fun as these triggers seem to suggest. If numbers seem too good to be true, there is always the distinct possibility that they indeed are too good to be true. Either way, some further digging into the matter stands well recommended.

Finally, there is the trap of the Cocky Correlations. Always keep in mind that correlation and causation are two fundamentally different creatures. Though data suggesting a link between national chocolate consumption and its amount of Nobel Prize winners can be entertaining and interesting, a healthy amount of scepticism still seems warranted. It might be a better idea to instead look for lack of association rather than causation, because these are much harder to find in nature.

Armed with these tools you should be able to navigate the treacherous landscape of statistics and help you to practice defence against them. As a final word of advice, it is worthwhile to realise that it is much better to know everything there is to know about one number, rather than to have a haphazard spotty knowledge of many dozens of them.

Be ware of:

The Polluted Poll, Emotional Statistics and Cocky Correlations

Who is Iulia?

Iulia Grosman is our key R&D specialist and researcher at AIM & Associés. Researcher and trainer, she provides training on Unleashing your memory and somatic education through Physical Wellbeing Pillars and Teleworking! You still have a body. As a trainer she works on all preverbal content, the movements within our body. As a speech scientist, she work on all verbal and musical content. Her passion is to bring both together.

Rethinking a problem draws on two different strains of thought. On the one hand a very precise analysis of the problem is required to know what the problem even is and how it needs to be tackled. On the other hand, creative input is essential in order to open up less conventional, potentially more effective ways out of the problem. Effectively rethinking a problem therefore requires you to stimulate both halves of your brain to act in tandem to come up with a tangible solution.

There are several questions that need to be answered with precision before tackling a problem. These include the exact nature of the problem, who the stakeholders in the problem are, and what avenues of action the various stakeholders have. This type of precise problem analysis can be practiced by analysis existing cases, or by engaging in exercises of mental, intellectual, and even physical problem solving.

Finding, knowing, and being able to creatively assess the tools you can use in this case is a vital skill to have. This all should help you to creatively rethink the problems you are confronted with.

Who is Léon?

Léon Parez is one of our key trainers at AIM & Associés. He delivers the Analysing and Solving Problems training course as well as its online version at the European School of Administration, . “Learning and Sharing” is his vital passion: he delivers Collective Thinking for the European Institutions, agencies and bodies.

Contrary to how people may see themselves, their personal effectiveness at the tasks they are doing is usually already quite impressive. The trick does not lie in jumping from a supposed situation of full-on ineffectiveness to a mythical state of effectiveness. Instead making smaller adaptations to further increase your effectiveness on a daily basis can have great effects. Feeling more comfortable and in control  can greatly contribute to your own personal effectiveness.

Some of these steps that can be taken to improve your personal effectiveness include more effectively managing your workflow, as well as coping with and potentially avoiding interruptions. Avoiding procrastination, as well as more effectively managing the precious resource that is your time are also part of this process. It can even include such mundane but nonetheless crucial things as more effectively managing your inbox. In doing all this you will become more in control and comfortable with yourself and your workflow and will also appear more in control to the outside world.

Who is Katie?

Katie Challans is one of our key trainers at AIM & Associés. She delivers the Personal Effectiveness course at the European School of Administration, as well as its online version. She can help you master your day as well as your outlook on things ;).

Understanding our own process of thinking and the principle behind divergent thinking can be extremely valuable for your mental well-being. It is worth asking ourselves: do our thoughts control us or do we control our thoughts? To do this taking a step back and stripping a situation of all the drama attached to it. Out of the box tools are given, such as divergent thinking that can generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions.

By making use of this toolbox a situation can be effectively reframed and thus dedramatised. In doing this you will also gain greater insight into your own process of thinking, which is an immensely valuable asset.

Sharing this with your co-workers, as well as them sharing their thought processes with you, can further help to approach a given situation with greater regard for everyone’s mental well-being. This does not just improve your relationship with them, but also allows you to take a step back in the case of stressful situations. The pure act of thinking something along the lines of “I want/have/can do this task” can even have a noticeable influence on other aspects than our mental well-being, such as our physical well-being.

By looking into your process of thoughts and your mental well-being as well as by practising techniques such as divergent thinking you can get have a great impact on an interconnected system of well-being.

Who is Iulia?

Iulia Grosman is our key R&D specialist and researcher at AIM & Associés. Researcher and trainer, she provides training on Unleashing your memory and somatic education through Physical Well-being Pillars and Teleworking! You still have a body. As a trainer she works on all preverbal content, the movements within our body. As a speech scientist, she work on all verbal and musical content. Her passion is to bring both together.

To many people public presentations can be very stressful events.  Luckily, there are many things you can do both before and during your presentation to minimise your stress levels and maximise the success of your presentation.

A first crucial point is to know your audience: There are vast differences between talking to an audience consisting of several dozen journalists or to a group of students. You will want to change your presentation, style and preparation accordingly. In order to facilitate this, it is important to ask several questions to the organiser of the event you will be speaking at. Such questions may include the size and composition of the group, as well as the prior knowledge and general expectations of which.

Now that you have the knowledge you need the next key element is to ensure proper preparation. To effectively communicate your message, you need to be keenly aware of what your main objective is, and what your specific key messages are. Key messages are best kept limited to about three or four to not dilute your presentation too much and to allow you to remain focused. It is also worthwhile to spend some time thinking about how to introduce yourself and think about how to make a link between your experience, the topic and the audience during your introduction.

With all the preparation done, the final moment of your actual public presentation is now dawning. You will also want to manage your stress levels on D-Day itself. An important first thing to realise is that contrary to what people often tell themselves, nobody in the audience wants you to fail. If you remember to keep on breathing and to keep your feet on the ground, things will go a lot smoother than you can imagine. Another helpful tip is to establish a connection with the audience in the early stages of your presentation, for example by actively asking questions to the audience, can be a great way. If you keep these simple tips into account, your presentation itself should also be smooth sailing.

Knowing your audience and ensuring proper preparation will allow you to manage your stress levels

Who is Jean-François?

Jean-François Bertholet founded AIM & Associés in 2000. He supports participants’ intercultural competencies with the topic at stake and the organisational culture of the context they live in. He delivers the Oral Communication at the European School of Administration, as well as Client Friendliness and Induction Training courses for the European Institutions, agencies and bodies.

We can all benefit from getting a dedicated space for becoming aware and sharing the tomes of our emotional wellbeing and existence. Determining that the needs behind our felt emotions are can be surprisingly hard. When identifying our emotions and trying to express these it becomes apparent that for many of us out vocabulary when it comes to expressing emotions is sorely lacking. Expanding this vocabulary, thus gaining the ability to talk about them more openly and effectively can be a greatly beneficial to our emotional well-being.

Taking some concrete examples of situations where emotions played a role, as well as talking about these with a colleague can be very helpful in giving these emotions a place. You may also wonder whether your response to these situations has perhaps changed over time: are the emotions still just as intense as initially? Do I allow my emotions to manifest themselves?

A final interesting point is the fact that often the visual signs of our emotions can be interpreted (sometimes vastly) different from what we are actually feeling, or what we intend to come across. Learning how to pay attention and analyse subtleties can help you to better analyse the needs behind felt emotions and improve your emotional wellbeing.

Who is Nicola?

Nicola Di Pirro is one of our key trainers at AIM & Associés, he provides training activities on the issues of relational skills in a multicultural context and organizational management. He delivers the Pillars for Emotional Wellbeing at the European School of Administration, as well as many intercultural competence building training courses for the European Institutions, agencies and bodies.

Knowing how to write well and with impact is an essential skill to flourish in the professional world. It can be very helpful to keep several things in mind when writing, as well as to apply a certain level of structure to the writing process. A first thing to keep in mind are the two very foundation stones of good writing. The first of these stones consists of being aware of why you are writing a certain text: what is your goal? The second of these stones comes down to being equally aware of for whom you are writing: who is your audience, and what are their specific needs or characteristics?

Once you have these two founding stones down you can start looking into streamlining the process of writing itself. Though it may be tempting to start typing straight away and to not ‘waste time’ on other things, this is not actually the recommended way of going about things. The process in fact consists of three distinct parts, all of them essential in their own way: planning, drafting, and editing.

By separating these out, rather than haphazardly garbling them together you can make the process significantly more streamlined, less stressful, and even improve your overall results. By keeping the founding stone and overall principles of writing into account, you can save a lot of time and achieve better results. Knowing how to write well and with impact is an essential skill to flourish in the professional world. 

Who is Neil?

Neil Urquhart is a veteran communication skills trainer, coach and facilitator with 20+ years international experience on four continents in Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Egypt, Sweden, Spain and the UK. He delivers the Writing with Impact training course at the European School of Administration, as well as its online version.He facilitates Develop your Assertive Communication for the European Institutions, agencies and bodies.