Art of Eloquence Blog — relationships RSS

Relationships are All About Communication! By JoJo Tabares Good relationships rely on effective communication skills.  It's a huge part of our friendships, our parenting and our professional life.  Studies have shown that effective communicators have better relationships, closer friendships, make more money and are generally happier people.  Why?  Because effective communicators have the ability to relate with others, the confidence to express their needs/desires and possess the ability to persuade others to adopt or otherwise act on their ideas. Our marriages suffer for lack of effective communication skills: "An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of the citadel." Proverbs 18:19 The reason most often cited for a failed marriage is...

As is our custom, Communication FUNdamentals blog takes each Friday to deliver some Friday Funnies in order to bring to the forefront the need for effective communication skills.  And this Friday is no different. Sometimes when folks communicate, we have no idea what they are trying to get across.  Other times we have an idea but it may not be the correct one.  Even though we may know what someone is trying to say, there are times when miscommunication can have a negative effect on someone's credibility or just cause enough confusion to warrant some unnecessary fine tuning at which point there is a possibility that it could cause some ill effects or hard feelings. As we head into 2010,...

It's that time of year again when people make New Year's Resolutions and don't keep them. "Lose 20 pounds by July." ....."Start a new business and become independently wealthy." ......................................"Organize my closet alphabetically and color code." ........................................................................................................."Quit smoking, again." I'm poking a little fun here, but these are all admirable goals.  The problem isn't that they cannot be accomplished, but that we aren't always serious when we make them.  And sometimes we aren't always making New Year's Resolutions about the things which are the most important to our lives. First, most of us want things, but we are not always that willing to do what it takes in order to accomplish them.  We want to lose weight as long as...

Monday Q of the Wk. Here’s how it works: Each Monday I ask a thought provoking question about life and language.  Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question.  Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone’s answers!  It’s been a lot of fun getting to know my readers and their readers and so on and so on.  This is a great time to connect with others but it’s also a fun way to build your writing and communication skills.   Grab your teens! This week’s question: What does it mean to be a true friend? This...

I wasn't aware, but I guess, family reunions are big this time of year.  I just spent an amazing weekend with my sister and her family.  Our families hadn't seen each other in a year since they helped us move to Arizona from California.  I learned three vitally important lessons from being so far away from most of my family this past year. First, relationships cannot flourish without communication.  You cannot develop, strengthen or grow a relationship without communicating with each other.  You cannot let too much time go by without picking up the phone, typing out an email or writing a letter before you feel disconnected from your loved ones. Second, relationships are built much easier, faster and deeper...