Advertise on podcast: How to Get Loads of Marks

In this episode I’m joined by Andy Cook. Freelance Content & TV producer, director, trouble shooter and all-round problem-solver. Andy has spent 15 years making everything from A Place in the Sun to Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and Eat Well For Less. (even the occasional dog show). We talk about the high-pressure world of short-deadline TV, the art of leading a team you’ve only just met, and how to prioritise under pressure. Also: the time a job to film "some royals" turned out to be slightly more than Andy was expecting. Loads of really useful tips which work for any projects where you have a team and time pressure. You can find out more about Andy on his website https://www.andycooktv.com/ ...or on his socials https://www.instagram.com/andycooktv/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-cook-31890bb/

Alex Fell has been teaching English as a second language for over a decade, working with everyone from business professionals to university students across multiple continents. In this episode, he shares some of the insights he’s gained from 11 years in the classroom—like how managing expectations can be more important than mastering grammar, why learning a language has more in common with going to the gym than sitting in a lecture, and how cartoons like Peppa Pig can actually be a great diagnostic tool for your English level. We also talk about the cultural nuances of teaching, how to handle feedback without feeling patronised, and the right (and wrong) ways to use AI tools like ChatGPT in language learning. Whether you're an English learner, a teacher, or just curious about how language acquisition works in practice, there’s a lot in here for you. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderfell1/

Something a little different in this episode. We hear from executive fitness coach Asher Kennedy. After transforming his own physique and mindset despite a demanding career, Asher founded LevelONE Coaching to help busy professionals achieve remarkable fitness results without extreme measures. In this conversation, Asher shares insights on how to prioritize workouts effectively, straightforward nutrition principles that don't require extreme dieting, and thoughtful perspectives on maintaining motivation long-term. His approach focuses on sustainability and efficiency—helping people transform their bodies without sacrificing their careers or social lives. What makes Asher's perspective refreshing is his emphasis on building systems that adapt to your life, rather than forcing drastic lifestyle changes that rarely last. Whether you're struggling to find time for fitness or looking to make your current routine more effective, this discussion offers practical wisdom for real-world results. You can hear more from Asher on his website , via his LinkedIn Page or on Instagram

Piers is a regular guest on the podcast and as his day job he helps students improve their study skills are Escape Studios. In this episode we talk about the idea of retrospectives and how they can be useful in both creative projects and everyday life. Sometimes it turns out we are a lot smarter after the fact.

With over a decade of experience working in a wide variety of sales organisations, Tom Parker combines technical expertise with real-world, quota-carrying experience. Tom has built an impressive track record of helping B2B start-ups and SMEs achive sales excellence. Tom’s industry knowledge (along with a first-class network of partners) makes him a valuable resource. He was generous enough to share some of his expertise on how to approach sales in this conversation. Far removed from the cheesy second hand car salesman, sales has developed into a complex business and Tom covers everything from c-suite level "revenue operations" to the techniques you can use to sell yourself in a job interview.

This is a bit of a bonus episode. I decided to see what an LLM could tell me about the uses of LLMs. Claude was happy to oblige so I took his parts of the conversation and ran them through elevenlabs. Then I recorded my bits and edited it together. It's a little shorter than my usual episodes as the AI voice can be a little grating, however I think there were some interesting points mentioned. We talked about the value of subjective writing, and about how Buzzfeed may have snuck into his training data. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this feedback form Notes: I've not changed any of the text, but I've trimmed it down a little. (This is nothing different to my regular conversations with humans) You can see the whole conversation here https://docs.google.com/document/d/15YpY0wGfbospInXOlsdB6FRQEjUz03fCDgMEKs-JrfQ

Andrew Griffith is a man of many hats, but all of them hang on the same sustainable business rack. Passionate about making a tangible impact on the world, Andrew simplifies the complexities of carbon jargon and advocates for supportive environmental policy. His work isn’t just about finding solutions—we already have many of those—but about bringing people along on the journey to a greener future. As a leader at Planet Mark, a community of over 800 organizations driving toward a regenerative economy, Andrew focuses on building powerful partnerships. He believes business is personal, with success rooted in genuine, human relationships rather than impersonal transactions. Whether it's business-to-business or community-focused, Andrew is committed to unlocking the potential of regenerative business and helping organizations accelerate toward net zero and beyond. Andrew is also deeply involved in celebrating and fostering sustainable communities. A self-confessed “community addict,” he believes that through connection and collaboration, businesses can do more good and create meaningful change. As an active Institute of Directors Member and Ambassador for over seven years, Andrew is a prolific networker. He attributes his recent opportunities to the meaningful connections he’s built, both online and offline, advocating for authentic relationships over empty networking. In this conversation Chris and Andrew discuss everything from the power of networking, to why gold mining companies have their eyes on landfill sites. You can find out more about Andrew on his linked in page here https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewthomasgriffiths/

Jamie Qiu is managing director and founder of Studio Zao. An innovation consultancy that focuses on helping the people in organisations and ecosystems to innovate faster and more productively. He has experience in both, having formerly worked at EY, but then leaving to found Studio Zao. We talk about how to be "interpreneurial", (entrepreneurial, but inside a large company) and we discuss how perhaps you don't create ideas, but rather "find them", in the landscape of possibilities. It turns out there is a lot more to innovation that just coming up with good ideas. You can find out more about Studio Zao on their website www.studiozao.com. And you can find Jamie on LinkedIn

I was lucky enough to get to know Thibau ‘T’ Grumett as a student. He caught my attention because he was trying to build a cryptocurrency index fund before the rest of the world knew what a bitcoin was. Since then he has been very busy writing a book. "The Money Bible" is a handbook for your financial life and it's the sort of book I wish I had when I was younger, but I'm glad I have now. In this episode of the podcast we talk about some of the topics the book covers. From taxes to risk assessment, from multi-million pound bonds to getting a better deal on a second hand car. It's a very interesting chat! You can find out everything you need to know about "The Money Bible" at https://moneybible.co.uk/ and buy lots of copies because every penny goes towards providing free financial education in the UK!

In this episode Chris is joined by Philip Allin. Co-founder and CEO of Overtone. Overtone is a company that is training computers to evaluate the quality of online content. This means he is perfectly placed to talk about the most recent shift in "content creation", generative AI. Chris and Philip talk about various AI concepts, including the "information density" of content, the strengths and weaknesses of new AI tools like ChatGPT, a deep dive into how technologies like Overtone evaluate written content and finally how you can use AI in your work. While this was recorded a few months ago it holds up well despite new developments in the field. Mostly because the core ideas behind this are more wide ranging than any particular tool. You can find out more information about Overtone here https://overtone.ai/ If you want more information on information density there is a very entertaining podcast here https://timharford.com/2021/05/cautionary-tales-fritterin-away-genius/ which covers all sorts of stories about Claude Shannon.

In this episode Mike Gulvin visits from Pearson College's Business Ethics course. We look at the extra steps needed to take an argument from descriptive to philosophical.  Whether it be automotive design or organ harvesting, Chris and Mike discuss the ways in which you can explain not just that something is wrong, but perhaps WHY it's wrong.   There is a reference to the Chevy Corvair at some point, you can hear more about that on this excellent episode of "The Car Show".   https://podtail.com/en/podcast/car-show-with-eddie-alterman/the-chevrolet-corvair-how-safety-failed-us/ Mike Gulvin lists himself as a bit of an all-rounder. Mike has three post-graduate qualifications, one in Marketing and Communications (Masters), Educational Leadership and Management (PCert Dis.) and an MA in Contemporary Popular Knowledges – or ‘gossip’ as Mike likes to say! Mike has lived abroad in Asia for much of his adult life returning to the UK in 2019 to do a brief spell at Nottingham University before moving onto Pearson. Mike spent 12 years in Japan before spending another 13 in Vietnam and has a deep understanding of national and cultural underpinnings related to Marketing, Ethics and Management having lived and worked for extended periods in these host nations as well as a very brief spell in Thailand. Mike’s areas of interest lie in marketing and the deconstruction of promotional communications especially. However, his main area of research is the internationalisation, globalisation and marketing of education. Mike is also a keen reader of philosophy bringing this knowledge to the area of business ethics.

Cajiten teaches a long list of topics at Pearson College, all focused around two main topics of economics and sustainability.  Our conversation covers everything from fixing world energy markets, to saving money on lasagne at the local Waitrose, to disposing of nuclear waste.   While we do touch on a few technical issues the general points we cover are more "ways of thinking" which can be applied across the board.  

Blayne is Head of Talent Development at Pearson College London. Leading our Workfit Programme, Guaranteed Internship Scheme and MBM Executive Coaching Programme. Alongside his leadership role Blayne teaches People Management and Leadership to Undergraduate Students at the college. In this podcast we discuss the best way to find and benefit from internships.  The growing role of Linked in and the awkward questions about money when it comes to internships.  

Back by popular demand, Piers Veness returns to the virtual studio bring with him Richard Allen.  Piers and Richard are both part of the study skills team at Pearson College.   In this episode we talk a lot about the reasons WHY academic writing sounds the way it does.  Since understanding the reasons behind the rules can help us know when to bend them.  

Dave Farley  is co-author of the Jolt-award wining book - "Continuous Delivery", and more recently "Modern Software Engineering".  He is the host of the Continuous Delivery YouTube channel and an all round clever bloke.   In this episode Dave talks about how some of the ideas he has promoted in software engineering can be applied more generally in any projects that are dealing with complexity at scale.  Covering topics like electric cars, Napoleonic warfare and balancing broom handles.   You can find more from Dave on his YouTube Channel and on his website.