Your
attitude is
the first thing people pick up on in
face-to-face communication.
Just as laughing, yawning, and crying are infectious,
attitude is
infectious. Before you say a word, your attitudes can infect the people
who see you with the same behavior. Somehow just by looking or feeling,
you can be infected by another person's attitude, and vice versa.
When you are operating from inside a really
useful attitude, such as
enthusiasm, curiosity, and humility, your
body language
tends to take care of itself and sends out unmistakable signals of
openness, says Nicholas Boothman, the author of
How To Connect in Business in
90 Seconds or Less.
Silence
"A
good marriage would be between a blind wife and
a deaf husband." ~ Montaigne
"Money
will say more in one moment than the most eloquent
lover can in years," said Henry Fielding. Both in life
and business, money speaks sense most people
understand instantly. Just by looking at few digits
they understand much more than by hearing tons of
words. For instance, while bargaining with a street
seller on the price, show
s/him a banknote instead of articulating your
offer, and s/he is more likely to accept your price.
"I know that
you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize
that what you heard is not what I meant." ~ Robert
McCloskey
You can't multi-task speaking and
listening. If you're talking, you're not listening. This rule
also applies to the talking inside your head. If you're thinking
intently about what you want to say, you're not listening to
what is being said...
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or
clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and
hit it again. Then hit it a third time − a tremendous whack.
The power of the pen to
change the world should not be underestimated, as words
based on
truth can conquer the forces of vested interests and their
apologists.
