 Hi, I'm Geoff Watts and this live Bob talk is about swatting your actions. Have you ever found that you have good intentions but don't follow through? You make a plan to do something but then don't get around to doing it. Well I've found that people are much more likely to act on their actions if they swap them. Firstly make them specific. Lots of teams come up with something like we should communicate better and that's great. Better communication is almost always a good thing but that statement is often too vague. Who do we need to communicate better with? What do we need to communicate better about? When do we need this communication to happen? These questions make it a lot more actionable and increase the likelihood that it will happen. Secondly, it's important to write them down. Social scientist Robert Cialdini discovered that doctors in the NHS could reduce the number of people not showing up to their appointments by 18% simply by asking the patient to write down the appointment date instead of having the receptionist write it. It turns out that patients are much more likely to keep their commitments if they're actively involved in making them. If I write down what I'm going to do then that's a commitment I've made. If someone writes it down for me then that's a commitment they have made for me. Thirdly make them attractive. One of the biggest factors that affects the chances of people taking action is because they haven't clarified for themselves why they should bother doing it. Changing habits, behaviours or practices takes time and effort, both physical effort and mental effort. So there must be a benefit to doing this. Take some time to think about what you hope to achieve by doing that thing. What do you hope to achieve from improved communication? Tell me about a time when communication is perfect. How do you feel about that? How will you feel in three months time if you haven't made that change? Who else stands to benefit from you making this change? And why is that important to you? Finally, tell somebody. If I say out loud that I'm going to do something I'm more likely to do it. Part of this is down to feeling accountable to the person we're telling and this feeling is increased dramatically if the person we're telling is someone we care about or whose opinion we respect. The biggest part of this though is a sense of personal responsibility to live up to the kind of person we believe we are. Are you the kind of person who keeps their word? I hope this light bulb talk will help you get better at putting your great ideas into practice. I'd love to know how you get on. Happy swatting.