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Schroder appoints critic of reforms

CHANCELLOR Gerhard Schroder extended an olive branch to the left wing of his party yesterday, bringing one of his fiercest critics into government.

Secretarial: So you want a pay rise...

Then loosen up. Your body language could be blocking your promotion.

Era of the sensitive civil servant dawns

AMBITIOUS CIVIL servants will need to discover their "feminine side" if they want to emulate Sir Humphrey Appleby. But unlike him they must not be afraid to cry. The Civil Service College, where high flyers train, is to spend thousands of pounds teaching future permanent secretaries to say: "No, Minister - I have a bad vibe about this."

Head to head: A touchy subject

Is office flirting normal and healthy, or potentially threatening and innapropriate? Flirting guru Peta Heskell takes on ex-model Judi James

Education: Bring it all back home

School project work has a lot going for it as a teaching method, but it is also a font of parental cheating, rampant copying and a resourcing nightmare.

Officers are racist admits Condon

SIR PAUL CONDON, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, will admit that a number of his officers are intentionally racist when he appears before the Stephen Lawrence inquiry later this week.

The Knack How to make a speech. By Hugo Summerson

First of all, be prepared. Research your audience in depth. Why are they there and what do they expect to hear from you? Then tailor your speech to that particular audience. Know your purpose. Why have you been invited to give a speech, what are you trying to do? If there are several speakers, be absolutely certain that you're not speaking on the same subject as any of them. Get material from as many sources as you can: friends, colleagues, books, magazines, the Internet. Decide on the points you want to make and work your material into a logical structure. Tell the audience what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you've told them. Your opening words should be guaranteed to grab the audience's attention. Make your points clearly and succinctly, in a logical order. Remember that a good speech is heavily weighted toward example and illustration. You've got to help your audience visualise what you're saying. The conclusion should be strong, to hammer home your message so the audience remembers both it and you. Use your body language, it will help you emphasise the points you are making. If you're nervous, let the adrenalin help you, that's what it is there for. The knowledge that you've spent hours preparing will give you confidence. Put yourself in the right frame of mind and say to yourself: I'm looking forward to this, I'm going to give this speech and nothing is going to stop me from getting my message across. Fiona McClymont

The Human Condition: The wrong side of flirty

Has being PC made us forget how to have fun? asks Hester Lacey

LETTER : Unfair test

No need for any reader to feel ashamed for not recognising who was doctor and who the patient in your perception problem ("Are you thinking too much", 25 May). It was nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with body language.

Matthew Bourne's triumphant return

When Adventures in Motion Pictures' corps of 18 male swans first spread their wings in the autumn of 1995 the media wilfully dubbed it "the gay Swan Lake". Yet the show's reappearance in the West End this week ruffled no feathers among traditionalists. Following its sell-out first season and tour, word has got out. Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake isn't a parody or a subversion: it's an hommage. And far from making light of Tchaikovsky's score, it plumbs depths uncharted by Petipa's original. What's more, Bourne's meticulous attention to dramatic nuance allows him to give his love-story-cum-thriller all the psychological complexity a modern audience craves but rarely gets from narrative ballet.

Theatre: Bowing before the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie never do the demi-monde by halves

Violetta's a cross-dresser, but who exactly are the other denizens of this demi-monde? Edward Seckerson relishes the detail in Jonathan Miller's new staging of 'La traviata'

Why justice is blind but there are no blind justices

The Lord Chancellor's adherence to a 50-year-old edict shows a lack of vision, according to campaigners
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Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

Babies behind bars

A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

The art of living in small spaces

Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
Special report: The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

After four 'nice' years as Governor of Bank of England, things turned decisively nasty
Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

Can technology lure us back to the high street?

The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
The 10 Best new smartphones

The 10 Best new smartphones

Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

James Lawton

Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over