20 Things You Should Say Today (Not Tomorrow)
We often wait to say things we should, thinking “there’s always tomorrow.” What if there wasn’t?
Four Steps for Conducting Challenging Conversations
Last week, I posed some questions you should ask yourself before initiating a challenging conversation. Now that you’ve had some time to prepare yourself for the conversation, here is a four-step process that will help you navigate through the most difficult conversations to a successful conclusion. However, keep in mind, no conversation will be successful if both parties aren’t […]
20 Visual Presentation Guidelines I Try to Follow
Many people say PowerPoint is dead, killed off by the new generation of online presentation tools such as Prezi. However, in most corporate, education, and other environments PowerPoint is still the tool of choice. I don’t think PowerPoint is going away anytime soon and having attended several presentations over the past few months that fell under […]
Six Tips for Better Nonverbal Communication
When I started the Practical Communication Blog, my second post was entitled, “What You Don’t Know About Nonverbal Communication Can Hurt You.” In it, I discussed the importance of understanding the powerful role nonverbal communication plays in our interactions. Today, I want to share five nonverbal communication tips taken from my book “Practical Communication: 25 Tips, […]
Stop Beating a Dead Horse: 5 Reasons You Should Stop Using Cliches (and Idioms)
At the end of the day, the bottom line with communication is to create a win-win situation between you and your audience. In a nutshell, you want to communicate your message clearly. Okay, how many clichés have you counted so far? According to Dictionary.com, a cliché is, “A trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, […]
The First Step in a Successful Job Search: Believe in Yourself
Whether you’re a first-time job seeker or a seasoned, professional job hunter, the first step toward getting the position you deserve is believing in yourself. My friend and colleague Monique Solomon Spence, Executive Recruiter and Business Coach, and President of Spence Staffing Solutions (www.spencestaffingandcoachingsolutions.com), offers the following tips for job seekers. Believe in Yourself “This is […]
Three Steps to a Great Conversation
Whether you’re in a job interview, meeting new people, or catching up with an old friend, a great conversation is more than just, “I talk, you listen. You talk, I listen.” The art of good conversation takes skill and practice. Here are three steps you can take toward becoming a great conversationalist. 1. Get to know […]
7 Rules for E-Mail Subject Lines
I’ve been on the road training for the past two weeks and will basically be gone for the next four weeks as well. Although I have e-mail access on my cell phone, I’m not always able to check it during the day and e-mails tend to pile up. Part of my sorting process is looking at who […]
10 Communication Tips in 10 Sentences
When writing this blog, I often get long-winded in my attempt to explain, define, provide examples, etc., so that people, “get it.” However, there is some communication advice that is so simple, so succinct, that it doesn’t require explanation. Here are 10 tips I’ve received over the years that can stand on their own. 1. […]
10 Tips for Improving Self-Esteem
When my college interpersonal communication class last met, we discussed the role of self-perception, in the communication process. Part of self-perception is self-esteem, which according to our class text is a person’s evaluation of his or her competence and personal worthiness. Although you’ve probably never thought about how your self-esteem affects your communication, it plays a role in every relationship […]