Graham Shaw

Connector, Consultant, Educator/Teacher

Graham is an international conference presenter, communication skills coach and Managing Director of Vision Learning and Development Limited. He specialises in coaching people to enhance their personal presence and impact in talks and presentations. Many organisations worldwide have engaged Graham to provide coaching on how to use advanced communication skills to enhance working relationships and team performance. Graham is the author of the book; ‘The Art of Business Communication’ which was shortlisted for the ‘CMI Management Book of the Year 2016.’ He spoke at ‘TEDx Hull 2015’ on the topic of ‘Why people believe they can’t draw – and how to prove they can.’ The talk encourages the audience to discover hidden talents and explore their beliefs about just what is possible. As a former manager in Corporate Training at British Airways, he was responsible for the delivery of leadership and management development training programmes. He is known for cartoon drawing skills and is the author of the DVD and student workbook for schools; ‘Cartooning for Learning – Draw It Remember It.’ Both the DVD and workbook teach children and students how to draw easy sketches to enhance their ability to learn. Graham has significant experience in education and is a former school teacher and Acting Headteacher. He reserves time each year to work with children and students to develop self-confidence and study skills for success in examinations. Just some of the numerous organisations he has helped in his consulting career include: BP, Birmingham City University, BskyB, British Gas, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, HSBC Bank, Oracle, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the Samaritans, Specsavers, Tesco and the World Health Organisation.

Helping people discover they can draw. In doing so helping them to realise that they have many talents they never knew they had. It's a great confidence builder.

Everyone can learn to draw. By the same token, we are all capable of far more than we think. In my TEDx Hull talk I did my best to help the audience discover this for themselves. My aim was to help them appreciate that it is often only our own limiting beliefs that hold us back from achieving much more than we ever imagined we could do.

Communication skills coach e.g. coaching speakers., Drawing ideas 'live when presenting to audiences, How to draw easy sketches to make learning memorable.

I was invited to speak at TEDx Hull in the UK in February 2015. I am grateful to Helen Bissett of the company H&H who brilliantly organised this event. Helen saw me speak when I was running a workshop called; 'Cartooning for Trainers and Presenter' and asked if I would be interested in speaking at TEDx Hull. It was a wonderful opportunity. I had long been a TED fan and really appreciated the chance to give a talk. I knew immediately what I would speak about. I wanted to give the audience the experience of being able to draw. This was because I knew that most people do not believe they can. Therefore I hoped it would be a convincing example of being able to do something that we hitherto did not think was possible. I was delighted with the reaction of the enthusiastic audience and feel privileged to have had this opportunity. Then being subsequently invited by TED to attend the TED Summit in Banff 2016 was a wonderful opportunity for which I most grateful.

Making spaghetti bolognese