This past weekend, I was recovering from oral surgery that left it difficult for me to talk or to get much work done. As a result, I spent a lot of time sitting on my couch watching television. (Here’s a pic from my vantage point on the couch.) As I caught up on my favorite […]
Every time I teach a “Making Meetings Work” workshop, I ask the group, “How many of you enjoy going to meetings?” Can you guess how many hands go up? You’re right — none! Since so many of us don’t like to go to meetings, I think we’ve developed some bad habits as a subconscious rebellion. Unfortunately, […]
Technical expertise isn’t enough to ensure career success. You must have excellent communication skills to achieve career longevity.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that there are two types of people when it comes to the issue of accountability. The first is the accountable person. This is the person who is self aware and understands his or her role and responsibility in a problem situation. The accountable person is someone who learns and grows […]
Most of the conflict I have experienced in my life, both first and second hand, has not been the result of factual disagreement, but of differing perceptions. Every day we interact with others, “notice” their behavior, and then proceed to draw conclusions about what it is, what it means, etc. Our interpretations, and thus our […]
When you accept the title of leader, manager, supervisor, or any other title that puts you in charge of a group of people, you also accept the responsibility of providing feedback to those people. Great leaders accept this and take steps to learn to do it well. Cowardly leaders find all types of ways to avoid […]
From advice that says you should imagine your audience naked to make yourself more comfortable when giving a speech, to the “fact” that 93% of all communication is nonverbal, communication myths abound. When I decided to do a blog post about communication myths, there were so many I had a difficult time honing in on […]
As January is a time for reflection on the past and planning for the future, I decided to go back through every blog post I’ve written since I began the Practical Communication Blog on May 31, 2011. In reviewing where my blog began and thinking about where it’s going, I came across this particular post […]
An assertive, professional, business handshake helps create a great first impression. Here are some tips for achieving handshake success!
Every year, many people resolve to make the coming year their “best ever” by making resolutions for better behavior. The most common resolutions include losing weight, exercising, stopping bad habits (smoking, sugar, etc.), getting a better job, etc. As this is a communication blog, over the past few weeks I’ve been collecting reader-submitted suggestions for […]
