Education

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] For many people, meeting someone at all is a major challenge. Today's exercise gives you an all-purpose introduction you can use in all circumstances. It's simple, requires no preparation, won't come off like a line, and starts conversations. I'm not saying it solves everything. You still have to keep the conversation going, which the previous exercises are for. But, assuming you're reasonably well-groomed and your body language doesn't shock people, no one will think ill of you for introducing yourself this way. The…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] The previous exercises work fine on their own. You can further use them as building blocks to create whole conversations that are intriguing, interactive, mutually satisfying. Here are some tips to use them together. Keep topics open by not closing all before starting new one Going from topic to topic by ending each one before starting the next results in lulls from which is can be difficult to restart the conversation. If you're having a great conversation with someone at a company you'd…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] Do you wish you could get the best advice for you, tailored perfectly to you, at the time you wanted it? This exercise gives you that, in a conversational way that helps build relationships too. The technique, called feedforward, comes from Marshall Goldsmith -- master author, executive coach, and happy, friendly guy. My advice is when his advice applies, use it. His two most recent books, Mojo and What Got You Here Won't Get You There, were best sellers. He was ranked the…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] UPDATE: See my February 2016 webinar video on the Meaningful Connection exercise. It goes into more depth. Have you noticed how some people, when they meet someone, draw the other person in, creating a great, meaningful conversation right off the bat? Do you wish you could? How much more valuable is a connection when the other person wants to follow up with you and appreciates you talking to them? How much more likely will you be to get a job offer, date, or…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] Storytelling is a fundamental element of human communication. Tell someone what you did the other day and they may end up bored. Tell them a story well and they'll hang on your every word. What makes the difference? This exercise teaches the structure of a story -- how to generate interest to hook the listener, then how to generate tension to hold them. Storytelling is an art. I'm not a master storyteller, but I've improved by learning structure. This exercise compiles exercises from…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] Do you ever start a conversation you want to talk to, then run out of things to say? This exercise will help. I adapted it from my friend Sebastian. When you do the exercise with someone who doesn't know you are doing it, they rarely sense you're doing anything other than conversing as usual. The exercise doesn't mimic a whole genuine conversation, just part of one, but you can use it in any conversation to continue a meandering conversation or jump start one…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] I love starting seminars with this exercise. It's simple and interactive. It gets people's blood flowing and meeting their neighbors. It works best in a group, but you can apply it on your own. The principles The principle is that your body language -- your position, motion, posture, etc -- influences your emotions and those of people around you. Likewise theirs influence yours. Since your emotions motivate you, changing your body language change what you and people in your environment do. Awareness of…

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] I wasn't born with great communication skills. I don't think I had great problems with communication, but I was behind the curve in many areas. As I learned to appreciate and value emotions and relationships, I worked on improving my social skills. People now sometimes compliment me on what I have today, so I believe anyone can develop great social skills. One seminar I give, sometimes in a series, is on communication and social skills for business, social, and any other interactions. It's…