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Category Archives: Effective Communication
Body Language #2: Keeping Good Eye Contact [Ideas for Impact #35]
“The eyes are the mirror of the soul.” – A Yiddish Proverb Our eyes play a major role in our interpersonal communication. The eyes express our moods and reactions more overtly than does other body language. By and large, observant … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #33: What the Deaf Can Teach Us about Listening
Lessons of Silence Bruno Kahne, a corporate consultant for the aeronautical industry, shares how deaf people helped his corporate clients be effective communicators. His article appears on the website of the strategy+business magazine, published by management consulting firm Booz & … Continue reading
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Ideas for Impact #32: ‘Pre-Wiring’ Presentations to Key Audience for Buy-In
In “The McKinsey Way,” author Ethan M. Rasiel presents numerous insights to problem solving, analytical reasoning and effective communication practiced at McKinsey and Company, one of the world’s foremost management-consulting firms. Pre-Wiring a Presentation Pre-wiring a presentation involves discussing your … Continue reading
The Risks of Qualifying Our Apologies
In our personal and professional lives, our reactions and follow-ups to errors and missteps reflect greatly on our character. Previous blog articles [1] and [2] have discussed the importance of recognizing our slip-ups, expressing regret and saying ‘Sorry.’ Quite often, … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #26: Active Voice for Persuasive Communication
Passive Voice Tends to be Indirect and Difficult Consider the following messages. In an email to a supplier, my engineer declared, “It was determined to use cast-iron instead of aluminum for this component.” In a thank-you card, my colleague acknowledged, … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #25: ‘Inbox Zero’ for Productivity with Email
Concept of ‘Inbox Zero’ In a seminar at Google (see video on YouTube or slides at Slideshare,) productivity guru Merlin Mann discusses the prevalent practice of misuse of email systems. A number of us check email too frequently, retain too … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #22: Establishing Credibility for Persuasion
‘Facts bridge the credibility gap.’ In “The McKinsey Way,” author Ethan M. Rasiel presents numerous insights to problem solving, analytical reasoning and effective communication practiced by consultants from McKinsey & Company, one of the foremost management-consulting firms. When a typical … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #21: An Essential Secret of Great Speakers—Pauses in Talking
Seven Steps to Better Presentations Jeffrey Veen of Adaptive Path, and now, Google, lists seven steps for better presentations here. Here is a summary. Tell stories Show picture and use good metaphors Don’t apologize for something out of order or … Continue reading
You Have a Pile of Reading Material at Your Desk?
In this ‘information overload’ era, you confront a sizeable quantity of reading material everyday: books, magazines, newspapers, memos, reports, and so forth. You are incessantly pressed for time. Consequently, you probably have a stack of reading material accumulating at a … Continue reading
Ideas for Impact #20: Stephen King’s Tips for Writing Better
Stephen King “On Writing” Blogger Henrik Edberg at the ‘Positivity Blog’ shares the following tips from celebrated science-fiction writer Stephen King’s book “On Writing.” Get to the point. Do not waste your reader’s time with too much back-story, long intros … Continue reading
