Posts Tagged ‘conversation’

Back to School: Talk to Your Professor!

For university students around the US it’s time to go back to school, or go for the first time for freshmen. European and other students might have a while before the next school year starts up, but this advice is for them, too.Talk to your professors!In one of my earliest posts here at Lifehack, I explained how to talk to a professor – today, I want to talk about… Continue reading

Ask Questions

Children learn by asking questions. Students learn by asking questions. New recruits learn by asking questions. It is the simplest and most effective way of learning. People who think that they know it all no longer ask questions – why should they? Brilliant thinkers never stop asking questions because they know that this is the best way to gain deeper insights.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said… Continue reading

Be a Comment Rockstar: 10 Terrific Tips!

by libertyandvigilance"Social media" has numerous definitions, and all of them share the principle that the Internet has given us a lot of cheap ways to communicate with each other. As computers have gotten cheaper and broadband pipes have become fatter, we've expanded the multimedia involved: text has been prominent since the BBS glory days, but pictures are up there too, and making your… Continue reading

Determine Intent & Destroy Misunderstanding

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Robert J. Hanlon In the classic 70s sitcom Three's Company, many punchlines were the result of misunderstanding: whether it was the late John Ritter as chef Jack Tripper being mistaken as a gay man by his landlord, Mr. Roper, or a later landlord named Mr. Furley overhearing innocent talk and mistaking it for sexual innuendo… Continue reading

How to Be Awesome at Followup

Photo by MarloesMost people are unexceptional at following up: it sounds obvious, but it shouldn't be this way, because followup (I spell it as a single word) is key to combining smaller achievements into bigger ones. Actively following up on conversation is also a trait of people who're successful, focused, and relentless about living their dreams. Lofty yet elegant — and if you excel at followup, you can be… Continue reading

How to Spam

In my last post, I talked about how to get the most out of social media sites and services like Digg, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Entirely coincidentally, Thursday Bram write a post about marketing yourself shortly after.Unfortunately, any medium that makes itself so easy to use to promote yourself as today’s social media also makes it easy for idiots, jerks, and scam artists to promote themselves. As the… Continue reading

How to be a Brilliant Conversationalist

You probably shy away from some people on social occasions. Their conversations are tedious. You groan inwardly when they approach for you know that they are unremittingly dull company. Equally you may be fortunate enough to know some brilliant conversationalists who can enliven any discussion and who are excellent company whatever the circumstances. In what category would other people place you? How can you improve your conversational skills to become… Continue reading

Using Questions To Control Communication

Photo by -bast-
Through reading numerous books on communication and field testing hundreds of techniques, a few fundamental patterns have become very apparent to me. If you've ever been on a date, an interview, or a networking event, you may have noticed some of these social patterns as well.Before getting involved in an interaction with someone, ask yourself a couple of questions:
  1. How can you make a person feel important

Using Compliments To Control Communication

Over the past few years I have been reading books on personal development, relationships, communication, and the power of manipulation. I took things a step further, when I began to experiment with some of these techniques in real conversations. The thing to remember when your experiments involve other people is to have fun, treat it as a learning experience, and not be harmful or disruptive to other people as… Continue reading

Advice for Students: How to Talk to Professors

A while back, I recommended that students get to know their professors. I realize, though, that many students are intimidated or put off by their professors. This is especially so when students need something -- a favor, special help with an assignment, a second chance on a test.It doesn't need to be that way. Professors are people, just like everyone else, and if… Continue reading

Confrontation is the Big Brother of Productivity

No. I repeat this simple word many times each day, in a variety of volumes and with relative efficacy. My three young children are used to me saying no but are keen to keep me in line in case I abuse the word or just get in the habit of saying no under the banner of being a “good parent”. When I’m at home, no is easy… Continue reading

8 One Liners That Stick

One liners are the stuff of effective communicators and though we are seldom aware of it, each of us can use them to our advantage. The “art of delivery” is not just for a skilled politician who is running for reelection but can be mastered, over time, by just about anyone. A good one liner doesn’t click immediately but leaves its mark, silently accomplishing what the deliverer has in… Continue reading

How To Exit A Conversation

We've talked about making yourself more approachable and initiating conversation. Now, hopefully, you've gone and got yourselves into some conversations you wish you hadn't.There are 3 reasons you might stay in a conversation that you want to leave:You're too polite - Many of us feel like it's rude to leave someone alone after talking to them for a few minutes. It isn't. People have things to… Continue reading

How To Initiate Conversation

The hardest part of socializing, for many people, is initiating conversation. However, it is a big mistake to go about life not making the first move and waiting for someone else to do it [in conversation or anything].This isn't to say you must always be the first in everything or spark up conversations with everyone you see. What should be said, though, is once you get good at starting… Continue reading

The Art of Humble Confidence

To be confident or not to be confident, that is the question. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve been a bit confused about all this discussion about the subject of confidence. Do you really need to be more confident or should you try to be more humble? I think the answer is both – you just have to know where to use it.East VS West… Continue reading

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