Q: How long have you been established?
A: Our history can be traced back to the forming of CREDO (Centre for Research, Education and Development of Organisations) Malaysia in 1977 by Dr. Peter Shephard. In 1993, shortly after Terry Netto and Marianne Vincent joined the organisation, a new entity was formed: CREDO Consultants. As our work evolved, we decided on a name change in 1997 to reflect our shift in focus to 'human potential development', hence the name 'People Potential'. Peter, Terry and Marianne are the principal partners of the firm today.

Q: Your mission reads, "To turn everyone into competent & compassionate leaders & people developers". Does this mean you conduct only leadership programs?
A: Our areas of specialisation are in Leadership and Trainer Development. The scope for both these two is wide, and this is reflected in the range of services we offer. In the Leadership model we use, there are 7 Levels of leadership and everyone is a leader. In this model, even entry-level staff are leaders (Level One) with specific leadership Skills to develop, Values to uphold, and Time Applications to maintain.

Q: Do you offer customised programs?
A: All our programs have to some degree industry-specific and/or organisation-specifc customisation. The degree of customisation is driven by client needs.

Q: What corporate culture do you promote?
A: We promote a culture that is people-centered. In our own organisation, part of our identity statement reads "…and we are an organisation in which diversity is valued, with people laughing, learning, and moving towards self-actualisation".
While the level of 'people-centredness' is, of course, partly dictated by the industry one is serving in, we encourage and help organisations develop greater appreciation of the potential within their people for true professionalism, high team performance, and personal fulfillment. A happy employee working in a great team produces outstanding work.

   
 

Q: What's the difference between a speech and a presentation?
A: A speech is speaker focused, is usually academic, and requires no interaction between speaker and audience. The speaker is usually not too concerned about the outcome of the speech on the audience. A presentation is customer focused and usually involves participation from the audience. The presentation aims to give the audience what they have come there for.

Q: Can I put my hands in my pockets?
A: That depends on what message you want to give your audience. If you put your hands in your pockets and rattle keys and change in there, it'll be a dead giveaway that you are nervous. If you understand how powerful gesturing with your hands are to emphasise your points, you'll want them out of your pockets. If you want to signify authority, out of your pockets. If you want to tell them that you are "just one of those guys" you can be casual and put them in your pockets (but only briefly and definitely no rattling of keys or change!)

Q: How do I know how many slides/transparencies are right for the presentation?
A: There is no hard and fast rule of "ten percent of your presentation must be slides". It depends on the time you have, the setting, the purpose, the audience. Remember that audiovisuals are there to support you. Use them only when you need to emphasise key points.