The Tutor Podcast

In light of the recent Ed Sheeran’s recent success in court defending himself against a spurious copyright claim, Neil takes a look at Intellectual Property and Copyright in the UK and how it applies to tutoring in terms of teaching tools and materials.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Tutors get to add their flavour and slant to the materials they teach. These materials are a tangible asset to you and your busines...

Neil shares his evil genius with you in this episode explaining how, when you overturn your student’s expectations, difficulties and complexities so extensively that they sit there open-mouthed, it really makes your tutoring job worthwhile.     KEY TAKEAWAYS Simplify. Simplify. Simplify. Peel away the complexity and present the core of an idea. Resistance exists when there is no clarity. BEST MOME...

Neil addresses the myth of getting rich quickly and explains the reality of getting rich slowly.  He’s done the latter himself so he’s here to explain to you how.  KEY TAKEAWAYS From today you could decide to become wealthy, whatever that means to you. Write down your target, think medium to long term, and remind yourself daily.  Discipline and dedicate your efforts to achieving this, keeping up y...

The people in your network, your friends, your family, your students and anyone who positively knows you, can not only be a social support but a business one too. Neil explains how people you know can recruit students for you with a little incentive.  KEY TAKEAWAYS You can turn your friends into recruiters by providing your network with a reward for finding you students or allowing them to offer f...

Neil explains The Benefit Trap, the mistaken belief that you have to accept any idea that has any kind of benefit to it despite the amount it offers or its compatibility with your current methods. He urges you to raise the bar when you consider a method and think carefully if any idea is worth including in your tutoring tool kit.  KEY TAKEAWAYS A technique that has some benefit may not have enough...

Neil expands on the concept of ‘The Work’ and how, rather than being a source of angst and torture, it can be the main source of fun and joy in your life.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Neil is compelled to teach. It is his reason. Tutoring is an opportunity to spend time with people you love. The job is to help people to shine a light in their darkness.  BEST MOMENTS ‘If someone else’s idea of a bad night is sit...

What is the difference between tutors that are struggling to make ends meet and always working, ever popular, always booked tutors? Neil identifies the ‘special sauce’ that turns clients into raving fans whereas someone with the same technical skills can struggle to make a living.   KEY TAKEAWAYS You are the selling point of your business. You are the unique offering. All your skills and experienc...

Neil has come to realise there are 2 kinds of work. The first is bookkeeping, routine admin, scheduling lessons, lesson plans etc, the everyday routine work that is so regular that it does not require 100% focus. The second kind is ‘deep’ work, the most challenging, energising, absorbing and ‘time-distorting’ work.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Deep work is characterised by a total focus on just the work at hand...

Neil explains the meaning and regular usage of his IDGAF muscle. As an entrepreneur and someone making things happen for yourself, you have to be willing to go against the grain of mainstream thinking. Listen in to find out what the ‘F’ stands for. No prizes though. KEY TAKEAWAYS 80% to 90% of people really dislike what they do for a living. Do not give a …. for what the world thinks. Use your IDG...

Neil introduces a few techniques to build rapport and increase the effectiveness of teaching to any student. If used well, they can be used to improve communication and ease, increasing your chances of making good progress with even a difficult client.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The more like us we perceive a person to be the more we like them.  The Neurolinguistic Programming Techniques of matching and mirro...

There is the fear of failure and the fear of success. Neil examines both of these fears and how they can leave us stuck with his own story of encouraging success, how we jump through hoops to fool ourselves that doing nothing is a good strategy, and how we can fight the urge to take an apparently ‘safe’ route and defeat the fear.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The actual task, goal or dream is in itself not scar...

Neil has been producing The Tutor Podcast for five full years, every Monday, every week, without fail through pandemics, and economic crises, as well as running three successful businesses. In this episode, he shares why, and what he has learned from the experience.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Nearly everyone struggles with self-doubt and a fear of failure. People feel guilty about success and money.  Educate...

What are the motivations of successful coaches and teachers? What drives those people that keep plugging away at the job and never seem to lose enthusiasm or energy? Neil is one of those people and has been teaching guitar since 1999 and is still loving it. He reveals his reasons for never losing his love for his chosen career. KEY TAKEAWAYS Neil has an addictive personality and wants to turn it t...

Change is the only constant in human life. Teaching is about changing students for the better and so tutors know more than most why change is so hard, and how and why we resist change. Neil explains how to break down that natural resistance and how to identify and remove a students limiting beliefs about themselves and what they are capable of.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Talent generally is irrelevant in guit...

The one thing that can bring your plans to further your tutoring business to a crashing halt is illness. No one can avoid this eventuality completely, but looking after your health and fitness is one of the highest considerations for anyone looking to mitigate the risks of debilitation. You need a healthy body for a healthy mind, and Neil is here with his tips on how to keep ahead and energised so...

Continuing with his examination of blind spots in business and life, Neil is here with a cautionary tale of an intervention by a friend to alter his trajectory when distracted and entranced by a bright shiny penny.  KEY TAKEAWAYS This story is about the value of getting someone else’s eyes on your blind spots, as well as the seductive power of bright shiny pennies, those alluring distractions that...

In this episode, Neil is going to take a look at your blind spots in business. These are all the things you constantly miss, action incorrectly or are unaware of. The only problem is, you cannot see your blind spots so your only option is to call for an extra pair of eyes! KEY TAKEAWAYS Usually, our blind spots are completely obvious to the people around us.  The outsiders’ view is vital. If you a...

In this episode, Neil deals with other people. Musicians are always looking for more information, more music to play, more riffs, more chords, more tunes, and more songs. There are a few problems that are encountered within a student’s constant search for knowledge and Neil has some sage advice on how to turn what looks like a potential difficulty into an advantage.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Being able to...

Mobile phones are divisive in that they offer us organisational convenience while simultaneously invading our private time and information. Neil gives his opinion on this constant helpful interloper into our existence and what we can do to fight its more unhelpful influences.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The dichotomy is that we run our lives via mobile phone tech but also suspect that it tracks your every move...

Neil explains the theory of Content Teaching and Principle Teaching, and the difference and advantages of the two compared or combined.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Principal teachers teach why. Content teachers teach by fact, writing and method.  The ‘why’ without the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ is as pointless as the ‘what’ without the ‘why’. The only solution is to be both kinds and present both.  BEST MOMENTS ‘(...

New Year is looming. What does that mean to you? Are you hoping for change? Well, Neil is here to remind you that nothing is going to change unless you do. KEY TAKEAWAYS Whatever it is you’re going to do, try not to start with a New Year's resolution. The vast majority of those are broken, and you want to make permanent positive change.   The biggest failure point of New Year’s resolutions is the...

Treat yourself! Get yourself a time travel device for Christmas. The single most valuable asset you have is time. You can always make more money and more friends but you can never make or buy more time. Time to plan!  KEY TAKEAWAYS  Just do it now! Take a few days off to think and plan. Execute the plan and measure the results. Your life will change! You will change because the planning, vision an...

Neil calls his teaching environment ‘The Vortex’ where he loses track of time, days disappear in what seems minutes and he never gets thirsty or hungry. Neil explains the theory behind this altered state of perception.  KEY TAKEAWAYS People are happiest when they are in a state of ‘flow’ defined as a state of concentration and complete absorption with the situation or activity at hand.  It is an o...

One of the aspects of tutoring students is having to manage the young ones’ parents as well. Part of being a parent can be to be nosey and interfering, but Neil has some ways to make the natural parental concern and control less intrusive.  KEY TAKEAWAYS All parents are going to be different but they all have one thing in common, they are all doing the best they can for their children.  Giving the...

As Neil sees it, the vast majority of people are lost. They’re caught up in the make believe world of state controlled news that leaves them terrified, dissatisfied, fearful and powerless, lost in the media circus of petty celebrity, tabloid news and social media. With so much attention given by the vast majority to the trivial and the inane, how many of us can claim to actually be paying attentio...