It’s astounding to me how many opportunities we miss to make communication easier. And by communication, in this case, I’m talkin g about applications ranging from simple hi-how-do-you-do interactions to business deals getting done, or NOT getting done as it relates to communication. I’ve found that lots of times, it’s a problem of omissions and…

In my opinion, it is hard to get a good conversation sometimes, because conversation involves more than yourself – both parties need to be aware of the pitfalls and work together to make the conversation enjoyable. A way to improve it is to send the following article to your friend. Marcus Vorwaller at Best Tool For…

I had a phone call yesterday with someone very important, and important to me. But for the life of me, I couldn’t recall a single word of what we’d talked about. (If I’d followed my own hack and written the conversation directly into the contact notes section in Gmail, I’d be saved, but I didn’t.)…

Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project has a nice take on making conversation. One reason I like it is that I tend to talk about conversations from the point of view of someone who’s not especially shy. Gretchen self-admits her shyness (and her boredom) with social conversation situations, and she gives you ideas. If, like me, out…

You’re meeting with more people, and having more phone and IM conversations with clients, and the information is getting harder to manage, especially the simple act of remembering what it was you talked about with who. Here are 5 reasons why you should use Google Calendar to log conversations: 1.) Search-rich metadata- You can search…

I’m running into a recurring theme when meeting new, interesting creative folks: they don’t know the first thing about how to promote themselves and what they’re doing. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but if you’re attending conferences or gathering with lots of interesting people to discuss your big ideas and future plans, a little self-promotion…

You have at least one Moleskine sitting around, don’t you? Aren’t they built right into the Lifehack.org action figure kits these days? Sacha Chua uses hers to keep track of people and conversations she encouters during a given day. It’s fascinating. I’m somewhat notorious for writing notes during conversations. I keep ‘minutes’ in a little…

Are you a bit awkward when talking with new people? Do you find yourself the person at the party checking out the bookshelf? Maybe you’re great in certain contexts but not in others. I have a few ideas on opening up conversations that will flow fairly well, and will make you come off as a…

You want an easy hack? Whenever you’re dealing with someone, especially in the service industry, use their name. When meeting your server at the restaurant, remember his name, and when you ask for things, say it back. “James, may I get another glass of water with lemon?” “Ramesh, this is the best aloo mutter I…

Paul over at Partial Lobotomy has a great post about the kinds of questions that can be helpful to an employee-supervisor relationship. Ok, maybe “interrogate” is a little strong. Ask questions. Ask questions! Not just the obvious ones, but probing questions about what’s going on in your and his world. Among the most revealing questions…

Adam at YouMeTips.com wants your next conference hallway chat to go a little easier. He’s worked out some ideas on handling conversation, and other areas where you’ll feel off kilter. That is basically six areas to talk about: name, home, family, work, travel, hobbies. Memorize that list of six topics, and when the time comes, the…

Presentation Zen has a great piece discussing how jazz handles the experience of connecting with other people. It’s really a great fusion of the concepts behind being a musician and also being a great communicator and social being. Most students of jazz will not go on to be professional players. And few students turned on…

Three of the most important things that you can do to strengthen your communication skills is to (1) increase your vocabulary, (2) learn to listen, and (3) practice your speech. If you’ve spent a fair amount of time in online discussion forums or chat rooms, you may have noticed that the cause of many electronically based…

Conversation is becoming a lost art, replaced by endless talk. To converse is to share ideas and learn from one another in the process. It demands listening and talking in equal degrees. Talk is one-way.