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Huh? Addressing the Challenge of Heavy Accents Aug 18, 2014

When I tell people I help non-native English speakers to become better communicators, I often get this response -- “There’s this guy I work with … How do I tell him I can’t understand him without insulting him, or coming across as condescending?”  

Communication Breakdown

People often won’t say an...

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Sound is Touch at a Distance Jun 17, 2014

I heard that once, on the radio, and it stuck. It's so true -- We don’t just hear sound, we feel it. Sound doesn't just trickle into our ears, it goes straight to our guts -- and that visceral reaction communicates a myriad of messages, whether we mean it to or not.  

Picture yourself stuck in traf...

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Laughter Makes You Smarter -- And More Effective Mar 11, 2014
It's helpful, according to humorist Dave Barry, that “TV news personalities make sad faces for sad stories and happy faces for happy stories." Otherwise, he says, we wouldn't know how we're supposed to feel.
 
He might have been joking, but it's often true that a speaker's expressions and tone are...
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Uncovering Personal Presence Feb 27, 2014

When you think about people with enormous presence, who comes to mind? Nelson Mandela?  Hillary Clinton?  Morgan Freeman?  Who in your personal life has presence and why? 


In his book “Living Presence,”  Kabir Helminski describes it this way:

“Presence is the way in which we occupy space, as well ...

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