|
Isn't it strange?
• Almost all people agree that it is interesting to have a variety
of birds at our feeder. We think forests with mixed species are healthier
environments than single specie woods. No one would like all flowers
to be tulips or all tulips to be pink; but lots of us are more comfortable
with one human colour, shape or age.
• When we speak to someone who doesn't speak our language
we feel a compulsion to yell at them?
• When we want someone not to think about 'green' we
say, 'Don't think about green'.
• Reflecting on how our thinking affects our communication will
result in higher quality of both thinking and communicating.
Tell them to go fly a kite
Stress is a big issue for many people and organizations. We spend a
lot of time and money testing, training and compensating people for
stress related problems. That's why we were very interested to
hear about the nursing program in California which after some research
has decided to include kite flying on their approved list of stress
reduction programs. 'I'm just going out to fly my kite
for a few minutes' sounds cost effective!
The right verbs cut verbiage
make use of .....use
conduct an investigation ...investigate
make an adjustment ....adjust
placed an order ...ordered
make contact with ...contact
give an explanation ...explain
Making your writing more reader friendly and forceful starts with well-chosen
verbs.
Miracle questions
Questions and how we phrase them are very important to business communication
and problem solving. Try this one out to trigger problem solving by employees,
clients or your ten year old.
Ask: 'If you woke up tomorrow morning and the problem you have
told me about was gone how would you know?' Follow up with, 'How
would your boss know?' or 'How would your team know?' or 'How
would your teacher know?'.
We spend too much time solving people's problems for them. This
little tool is remarkable for helping people discover their own solutions.
Share your favorite
tips and tricks with us!
Please submit your favorites,
and we may use them on future updates of this page!
|
