Deborah Khan -- Creative Inspiration: Those really nice people at Innocent really are nice

What my clients say about me

John Birch - BA
“I was really impressed with the way Deborah Khan delivered training on the subject of communication skills to us at BA Pensions. She took time to fully research and understand how we worked and what our specific concerns were. She designed a programme that matched not only our collective requirements but was also flexible enough to cover individual development needs. Her methods, being performance based, ensured that even the most introverted of us participated in the programme and our subsequent delivery in formal presentations has improved significantly"
Tom Powell - DLKW
"I participated in a one-day session with Deb Khan last year and would strongly recommend it for both novice speakers and those looking to hone their skills. She (gently) picked apart our strengths and weaknesses and by the end of the day, the results were tremendous. Everyone left with a range of practical skills and it's been a huge benefit for presentations"
Kai Vacher - Specialist Schools Trust
"Deb has incredible foresight, emotional intelligence and a razor sharp focus on specific outcomes to plan programmes/workshops of outstanding quality. Her ability to work with a group of people so that very quickly they feel at ease with each other is unsurpassed in my experience. Deb uses a varied range of interactive strategies to provide the prefect balance of challenge and support for workshop participants. Post event, course participants often contact me to express their overwhelming sense of achievement having worked with Deb, and want more; for themselves and colleagues.”
David Mikhail - RHM
Deborah is fantastic. I’m afraid she had to suffer both of our last pitches – but after her input we just flew, winning really important work from both of them. She is practically our fourth partner now. In spite of all our training (7 years at architecture school) I realise now we were taught nothing about presenting. Deborah helped us to communicate successfully, but she is about much more than communication skills. She goes straight to the heart of what we are trying to say, what are our best ideas, and feels her way into the audience. She works us hard but she’s great fun and our business is booming thanks to her.
Simon Beckett - Five TV
"..this morning was most useful – so often in my experience creative workshops are all enthusiasm and no substance but yours was a refreshing change and I actually had to work at thinking about what you were saying and what I was thinking (I love metacognition)"

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“People have said some very nice things about us”

I bet they have. So here’s a bit more. I’m sure will be lost in the waves of quirky, warm comments that appear to hit those very nice people at Innocent on a daily basis. I remained cynical, particularly from such a spectacularly successful brand (they have to know exactly what they are doing) run by an ex ad man

Innocent’s Richard Reed kicked off the Young Entrepreneurs competition at Roehampton University last Friday. I was shot after leading a three day residential course but this turned out to be one of those days that remind you how lucky you are to do what you do.

Excellent event organised brilliantly by the university, trying to define what is and how can I be an entrepreneur. Practical too, culminating in a competition responding to a creative brief. The kids loved it, exceeding expectations with some great ideas for genuinely innovative products.

Richard’s opening presentation was pitch perfect. Not just a coup. More pertinently, a consummate delivery of persuading an audience to adopt your point of view. Richard put every ounce of his being into encouraging several hundred teenagers to make the most of opportunities A poignant and passionate challenge to engage with and change this amazing world for the better.

Beyond such vital, slightly idealistic rhetoric lay specific strategies that had everyone of us in the audience gripped. All gold dust for my sessions with the students on how to present. What did he do? Well…

He personalised. The slides related to this audience, today. No money it for him and sure, I do not doubt they were on file. Devil is in the detail, always, and little touches like ” prepared for the the nice young entrepreneurs at Roehampton” resonated with us. And their brand, obviously. He used story- the story of the product, his journey as a (slightly disturbingly savvy) 4 year old entrepreneur. He humanised and contextualised all of his thinking in the stories of the three original partners. He made us laugh. The slides were simple, creative, direct and ruthlessly edited. He urged social action, defining entrepreneurialism beyond the Sugar-esque money grabbing clichés. He encouraged teenagers to seek and seize opportunities, relating personal and professional values to wider initiatives – Peace One Day a pertinent example. With of course the obligatory Angelina Jolie Reference.

He cared that we cared.

Unquestionably formative stuff for the audience. Extraordinary how many of the students could deconstruct how and why he was effective.

Richard was joined by Eleanor Ford from Likecube. A different perspective- a start-up but again the enthusiasm Eleanor oozed was infectious. Fascinating web based product too- less tangible than smoothies sure but I bet lots of the audience have logged on since.

I care deeply about both of these products.So did all of us. Big lessons.They did this for free, motivated by a sense that they want to make a difference.

Altruism is always worth it.

Believe the hype. Sometimes brands do deserve their reputation.

Welcome

A fresh, raw idea is our most precious commodity. I run workshops aimed at developing the inherent ability we all have to be creative. With 20 years personal experience of the arts, education, lateral thinking, coaching and consultancy I create bespoke, practical sessions tailored to my client’s particular needs. I then deliver support and advice to help practice and inspire creativity in the workspace. I achieve this through active learning sessions. Where people really understand what it means to be creative – a unique fusion of the intellectual, physical and emotional. With the emphasis on active. It’s about learning by doing. For me there is no other way. Getting off your chair, rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in. It’s dynamic, fast-paced and fun. Many workshops on creativity are often more form than content. I hope mine has the balance towards the former but has a great latter. For more information email me and I will send you a full description of what I do.

Comments

Hi Deb

Ever the linguist, I just reached for the dictionary to see its definition of altruism: "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others". Hmm... I think business will always struggle to meet that criterion outright however 'nice' the company. I guess it's always going to come down to a balancing of priorities... and perhaps authenticity is being open about this process of navigating the path between the two ends of an 'us' to 'them' perspective on who benefits the most. I guess that's maybe what the guys at Innocent figured when they 'fessed up on their blog as to why they'd decided to do the McDonald's deal. By this thinking, Innocent are 'nice' because they at least bothered to consult their consciences before they proceeded. 'Proper' baddie archetypes don't analyse their actions: they just reach for the gun.

Ethics in business is an interesting area especially as it often requires a creative response to a complex situation. Keep the posts coming...

From Emily

Posted by: Emily | June 13, 2007 at 12:42 PM