BLOG ARTICLES BY AMY
Stop letting people push your buttons!
Many of us walk through life thinking other people push our buttons. That guy who cuts us off on the freeway makes us mad. The woman who lets her dog poop in our front yard annoys us. The child who says he did his homework, but we find out later that he didn’t, disappoints us. We spend […]
In A Negative World, Why Not Try Communicating Positively?
One day, when my daughter was in college, she called me in a panic because that afternoon she was going to be giving her first campus tour at her university. As she did a “run through” of her tour stops and the comments she would make at each, something she said struck me. She mentioned that parents […]
Are you closing the communication loop?
Whether it’s listening talking to someone and assuming that because they say, “uh huh,” that they understand or sending an email and deluding yourself into believing because you received a read notice, that the person actually read your message, none of us can afford to ASSUME that communication has taken place in any situation. We […]
Five Ways to Stop a Conversation Dominator
We all know at least one. It’s that guy who only asks how you’re doing so he can jump in and tell you how he’s doing. It’s that gal who has to let you know all about the great things her son is doing, but never asks about even ONE of your kids. They’re the […]
Is it wrong or just different?
Greetings from Ireland! It’s about 5:25 am here and I’m getting to start my last two full days of my UK/Ireland adventure. Many people asked me to write about the communication differences I’ve seen while here. I wrote a little about that in last week’s Monday Motivation and will likely write more, in-depth pieces in […]
Here’s My Advice for Responding to Unsolicited Advice
When my brother and I were teenagers, we used to fight . . . a lot! I’ll admit that most of our fights were ones that I started and were probably unprovoked. In one particularly “lively” incident, I found myself trapped on our back porch, with my brother telling me that under no circumstances was […]
Can you say it in a nicer way?
I’m five days into my trip to England and other than the obvious differences, such as their very fine British accent and the fact that they drive on the opposite side of the road from those of us in the US, I’ve noticed another interesting difference in British communication- they’re awfully polite, but still clear in […]
6 Tips for Harnessing the Power of Nonverbal Communication
There are a lot of myths surrounding the subject of nonverbal communication. The biggest being the oft quoted statistic stating that nonverbal communication is 93% of communication, leaving verbal communication only 7% of our interactions. Despite the myths, I will agree that nonverbal communication is very powerful for many reasons, but two reasons really stand […]
You’re Right: The Two Most Powerful Words That Can Ever Come Out of Your Mouth
Think about the last time you tried to get a refund at a store, get an extension on a deadline, or even asked a child why he didn’t complete his chores? It’s unlikely that the response was something you wanted to hear. As such, we go into such discussions defensively as if we know conflict […]