The Tutor Podcast

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...

Neil diligently battles through his fly to bring you this episode on diligence! As he defines it, it’s the ongoing execution of right action in the pursuit of worthy goals. Describing how to stay around the straight and narrow, Neil explains the advantages of being diligent about timescale and your attention and to be sure that what you are aiming for is worth your efforts. KEY TAKEAWAYS A lot of...

We all have one. Yeah, you do! It’s the stupid idiot part of us that keeps on doing stupid things even when we know for sure it isn’t going to help us move forward, stay in shape, maintain our relationships and do better business and make more money. Neil is going to help you kick out that inner moron.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  The little inner voice that tells you deserve a Mars bar because you’ve been to...

When trying to challenge students' ideas of their own identity, or even one's own, there are 3 parts to this easily applied psychological method to make your efforts flow much more easily.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Absolutely ; find what the student believes is absolutely true for them. For example ‘I’m tone deaf’ or ‘I have no rhythm’. Always ; find something the student believes they are good at, but have...

These are the two elements that being a successful teacher really hinges on, but which has the greatest affect on the student, imparting skills and knowledge or the ability to change their belief systems?    KEY TAKEAWAYS Your communication skills are your ability to present, demonstrate and explain practical skills in a way the student can understand.  Ultimately the imparting of skills will lead...

Pacing and Leading is a concept within Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP, which is applied linguistics and psychology to alter or set patterns of human behaviour.  Pacing and Leading is a great way to gain rapport and trust with students and allows you to take an unmotivated, stressed out student and move them to a more positive position. Neil tells you how.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Pacing is where you...

In this episode Neil leads you through how to identify the right price to charge for your tutoring sessions and what factors to consider and ignore when reaching your decision. Pricing matters, but maybe not in the way you think.    KEY TAKEAWAYS It is not greedy to charge as much as people are willing to pay for what you do, its just sensible. People don’t pay just for your actions but for your k...

Many people think they are not creative, devoid of inspiration or don’t have the required skill or natural makeup to even improvise. Neil disagrees and believes that all of us are creative to a greater or lesser extent and it is a skill that must be practiced to be developed. He explains how he encourages and teaches his students to move beyond their own narrow definitions of themselves.   KEY TAK...

Neil explains ‘The Great Escape’ or ‘The Great Retreat’ as a preventative measure for those who get swamped, overwhelmed or over absorbed in their business or work. Here is Neil’s method of getting back to the big picture, the long view, and strategic planning if you get caught up in the nitty-gritty, everyday grind of your business. KEY TAKEAWAYS We tend to miss small details, trends and shifts i...

A ‘brand’ is a product, service, business or even person that is easily identified and widely known. But what is it that makes a brand and how do you become one? Neil takes a look at how you can get started on the road to being well known for the services that you offer. KEY TAKEAWAYS A brand is not simply a logo or a slogan. These are all just signifiers, signposts for the potential customer to f...

If you are in business for yourself your are in a significant minority with currently only 13.7% of working people self employed, the lowest since 2011. There is a lot of peer pressure to get a job and be miserable. However, Neil urges you to carry on with your own business and keep your time and happiness under your own control. KEY TAKEAWAYS Avoid the ‘loser speak’ because that’s what you are go...

If you are listening in the UK this episode may trigger some of your British reticence. This ones all about negotiation and selling, so steel yourself to have the nerve to ask for what you are worth. Neil explains how good sales is actually providing a service that people really want and negotiation is just the pathway to it.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sales is often seen as a shameful occupation dedicated t...

Neil talks about wealth, what it is and what it ain’t. Different people have different concepts of what it is to be wealthy, so what do they mean when we talk about wealth?   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Money is just a small component of the whole ‘wealth ecosystem’. Friends and people you love are part of a rich experience of the world.  Time is your most precious and your most finite resource.   BEST MOMENTS...

The easiest person to lie to is you. We tell ourselves reassuring stories of how great we are and how we are productive and doing our best while binge watching the latest Netflix drama. Neil gives his tips on how to avoid long bouts of indolence and denial and keep asking the right questions of yourself.   KEY TAKEAWAYS We can all distort reality to reassure ourselves we are progressing. It is not...

As a guitar tutor patience is not only a virtue but a necessity. After being asked by his students how he never loses his temper, Neil shares his tips on managing your emotions in this episode.    KEY TAKEAWAYS Recognise that you are having an emotional reaction and identify it. If you can’t recognise it, you can’t manage it.  What you call the emotion will affect your response to the emotion you’...