March 3-9 is Words Matter Week! What does it mean to make words matter? Well, so glad you asked! To matter is to have some importance, some significance. Your words are important to you and to those who will receive them. The significance of your words comes through in how you use them. Those words […]
Unhoused Food insecure Unbanked Economically challenged Random Acts of Kindness Week is coming up (February 12-18). Of course, we should always try to be kind and to perform kind acts, right? So how kind are we being to those who happen to be a little less fortunate or a little more challenged in their lives, […]
When someone comes to you with a story of stress, sadness, or disappointment, your first reaction may be to say “I know how you feel.” You’re attempting empathy and that is to be commended. However …. Those words can backfire. Do you really know? Have you been in the other person’s position before? If you […]
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” –Winston Churchill When we think too much about what we are going to say next, we are not able to listen to what is being said to us. Listening requires focused attention. While we […]
Some form of social media can be found throughout history, dating back to the drawings on caves. So, the theory goes, when we are focused on (obsessed by?) sharing everything about our lives on social media, we are simply doing what humans are wired to do. Tom Standage, in his book Writing on the Wall, says […]
When we think of business communications, we think of strategies that will further our success. Efforts to engage team members, employees, and customers might involve choosing the right words and saying (or writing) them the right way. Choices around whether to call, email, text, or speak face-to-face are focused on how the communication method will […]
We often regret it when we’ve said too much. Sometimes, though, it’s what we don’t say that haunts us. Most of us have left a conversation thinking “I shouldn’t have said that” or “I wish I’d thought to say something more.” That flash of brilliance — just the right words or a snappy comeback — […]
Why is content important for your business? What makes a good blog post? How did the word “blog” come about and become so popular? You might be surprised to learn that blogging, in its original form, actually dates back to 1994. That’s long before social media and probably long before many people even had anything […]
Because it just can’t be emphasized enough When we think too much about what we are going to say next, we are not able to listen to what is being said to us. Listening requires focused attention. While we may hear the noise of the words (think Charlie Brown and any adult), we don’t always […]
Wrapping up a series of workshops on re-engaging and reconnecting in today’s challenging environment, one of the most important lessons we covered was how to listen with intent. Participants admitted they were not good listeners. Being in leadership positions, they were mostly talkers and “fixers.” If someone came to them to talk about an issue, […]