Have you subscribed to Communication FUNdamentals’ RSS Feed? Don’t miss a post! x Last week I shared about speaking up to praise and support and lift others up. This week, I'd like to share a bit on just the opposite: when to keep silent. Today I'm going to talk about when it's best to keep silent and on Wednesday, I'll talk about just how we can accomplish this. The Lord tells us that there is a time to speak up and a time to keep silent: "A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;" -Ecclesiastes 3:7 When are those times? * When you should be listening * When you...
Have you subscribed to Communication FUNdamentals’ RSS Feed? Don’t miss a post! x Continuing with Grace Month this week, I'm going to share a few excerpts from my article, "Ten Quick Rules for Disagreeing in Grace" and examine them each a bit closer. 1. Don't Accuse Instead of coming out and saying someone is wrong, just share what you know. Nobody wants to hear they are wrong and if they hear it, they are likely not listening to anything else you say. They may indeed be wrong, but you need to ask yourself if you want to be right or if you want to be heard! Mildred told Agatha she'd been to Geraldine's house yesterday and saw her new Labrador...
There's No "Busy-ness" Like Slow Business! By JoJo Tabares If you have ever been on the receiving end of the kind of communication where you felt nobody took the time to listen to you, you might be tempted to utter this common phrase: "You're so broke you can't pay attention." Even before the bottom fell out of the economy, people were busy. The culture of life has changed in the last hundred years from those close-knit families who spent time with their friends and neighbors eating home-cooked meals prepared by moms who spent hours with their daughters cooking and learning together. In the modern world, moms work either away from home or from home. We don't have time to spend...
Are We Just Too Broke to Pay Attention? The economy is down and, it appears, we are all just too broke to pay attention. In today's microwave society people are always looking for ways to save time...but are we actually spending more time because of miscommunication? You know that old phrase, "Do it right the first time and you won't have to spend time doing it again." I think our nanoseconds would be better spent if we heeded this time honored time saver! I don't know about you, but I have had a tough time communicating lately. Folks are busy and they are trying to find short cuts for whatever they do. I can't count the number of times I...
Over the last several years, I have written a great deal on the topic of listening. Most people know that listening is an important skill but they don't really know why. Here are a few of the sayings I have used in various articles over the last several years. JoJo on Listening: "1 speaker + 1 Listener = an effective communication equation." JoJo Tabares "Sometimes the most intelligent thing to say is…nothing." JoJo Tabares "When your audience is no longer listening, it’s always best to stop talking!" JoJo Tabares "You will not persuade another by cutting off his argument. You will only stifle your understanding of how to answer him." -JoJo Tabares I cover this topic in depth in an...
