I wonder if you've seen the new look home of my home page? Check it out at www.shirleytaylor.com.
So many people have been commenting that they love my new look, new funky hairstyle, new eyebrows (lol!) Well I have to say all the praise is due to my hairdresser and Glamour Studios in Suntec City, Singapore. They did my make-up and took the photos, and afterwards they digitally 'touched up' the photos using Photoshop! Ah-ha... now I know how those models and movie stars always look so gorgeous! Really underneath they are just the same as all of us, spots and all! Anyway it was nice to feel like a movie star for a day, and I can well recommend it. Now if only it was so easy to remove the wrinkles in real life!! :-)

I'm delighted to be co-facilitating workshops at ASSAP 2007 with Alison Lester and Ricky Lien. Every day is separately bookable, so you can easily choose the days you wish to attend.

On 26 April in Workshop A 'Successful Business Communication Skills', Alison and I will share with you some powerful tools that will help you build better relationships with bosses, colleagues, clients and friends. You will be able to use these skills immediately to create a more supportive and co-operative working environment, as well as propel you along the path to career success. We will show you that successful communication skills surely are the key to your success!

On 26 April in Workshop B "Emotional Intelligence in the Office', Ricky and I will walk you through our most common inhibitive emotions and get you to look at them from a different perspective. We will take a look at the six key modules of Emotional Intelligence, and show you some essential fundamental skills that will help you to understand yourself and others better. You will be able to put these techniques to good use in your daily work routines so that you bring out the best in yourself as well as everyone else!

ASSAP 2006 was very motivating and energising, with all speakers really getting participants involved and creating a lot of interest, discussion, and yes lots of laughter too! This is what made ASSAP 2006 so special, and I know it's going to be just the same in 2007.

Is ASSAP 2007 just for the girls?
Absolutely not! Today's offices are full of men and women who fall into the category of 'support staff' - executives, administrators, customer care staff, sales staff, office managers, secretaries and PAs too. The topics at ASSAP 2007 are relevant for all these special people! Men and women, guys and gals! Inexperienced or mature!

What else can we look forward to?
To show appreciation for all the hard work and invaluable support provided by this special group of people who work so tirelessly in today's offices, ASSAP 2007 includes some special surprises and unique features to make this event all the more exciting, including:

• fantastic door gifts
• superb lucky draw prizes
• exclusive exhibition
• empowering unique performance by STIX
• motivating open forum with all speakers

Many thanks to Annie Ang, Senior Human Resource Executive (Recruitment) at CAAS, who wrote to point out an error in last month's article "Are you working smarter or harder?" Point number 5 should have read:

Categorise tasks according to priority, for example:
1 = The task is urgent and important
2 = It's important but not urgent
3 = It's urgent but not important
4 = Its not urgent and not important

I've corrected this error and it's on my website for you to check out. Thanks for being so eagle-eyed, Annie.

This is me and Manaia at Christmas last year. We would both like to wish all my readers a very peaceful and happy festive season, and all the very best for a fantastic 2007!

This year we will be spending the festive season down under, in Christchurch, New Zealand. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful country with Manaia. So as this year comes to a close, the final word goes to Manaia ... Thanks for making 2006 special and I can't wait to see your country with you and start the new year off in style. Here's to a great 2007 together... and beyond!

Shirley xx