I have been involved in some very interesting but quite diverse training recently. I have run a two-half-day Selling and Negotiation Skills course in Castlemilk, Glasgow with an assorted mix of individuals, ranging from several sales professionals to a few business start-ups desperate to learn anything at all about selling. Using a mixture of well known sales techniques, some tips from the field of NLP and practical exercises, the aim is that everyone should leave more able to persuade their customers to buy.

I also worked with a group of first-line supervisors from a medium-sized manufacturing company near Glasgow. They are following a training course which will last for a year and will enable them to get more out of their teams and prepare them for the next step on the management ladder. Some are obviously happy where they are and just want a few tips to make them better. Others are clearly ambitious and the mix of the two made for a demanding but very satisfying day's work.

I also ran a business planning session for a group from GGNSE which is a network of organisations offering support to employees of people with a variety of disabilities. I was recommended for this work by someone who attended a similar session I facilitated last summer. I have just been asked if I can help a third group with the same agenda. I must be doing something right.

Over Christmas I picked up a copy of the long out of print Trans-formations by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. This is a fascinating glimpse into the early work of the inventors of NLP which has made sense of some of my NLP training which just left me confused. As trainers/presenters Grinder and Bandler are so powerful. That is my inspiration and aspiration .

Firstly may I wish everyone health, wealth and happiness for 2006. We took some time off over Christmas and New Year to recharge the batteries and are back full of energy for the year to come.

Previously I mentioned my work with Turning Point Scotland. I am glad to say that I have been asked to do further work with the Employability project managed by Aileen Reid. Her intention is to have at least one person in each of the organisation's services trained by me so that they can use these techniques with service users and, where appropriate, teach service users to use the techniques to improve their own lives.

Back in August I mentioned the work I had done with a group of Direct Payments users in Renfrewshire. Unfortunately the local authority has decided to keep the work inhouse so the user group does not have a role. However, from my point of view, I have been asked to do a similar training session for another group in Glasgow because someone who attended the first session liked what I did and recommended me.

I am also involved with an old friend in developing the ideas generation/creativity part of the business. We have set up a separate business, ICE, and are busy developing a programme for the coming year. We hope to host a major conference on creativity in Glasgow and will publish our book, The Beauty of ICE, to coincide with that.

Finally I met someone over the Christmas break who will help me to take forward the recycling project. Watch this space for more news, although I suspect it will be 2007 before the actual even happens.

In my next newsletter I plan to recommend some books and websites which those interested in this kind of work might care to have a look at.