It’s one of the most pervasive and dangerous habits in America today and it's destroying your relationships! You see it all the time, but you probably never thought much about it. It's, unfortunately, at work in oral, face-to-face conversations and written exchanges over social media, text and email. I call it Conversational ADD. Here are a few examples: Mary posts on Facebook asking for help for problem X only to have Jane give her solutions for problem B. Jane didn't read Mary's entire post and assumed she knew what it was about. After the confusing exchange gets heated, Jane unfriend's Mary after six years of treasured friendship. Tom emails a company to report some problems with his product (or service) and receives...
Most parents today would probably say that the most important skills they want to make sure their children learn are math, science, history, and English. Back in the "Olden Days," people would have said the three R's (which don't all begin with the letter R), Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Most people surveyed say that the most important skills are the core subjects taught in school. I beg to differ and I believe the Bible backs me up on this. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of scriptures where the Lord shares why communication skills are so important, how we should speak to one another and what we shouldn't do when we communicate. Studies show that effective communicators do better...
April 1st has come and gone this year, but its lessons are timeless. How we communicate with each other is vital to our relationships. Real communication and just talking is the difference between explaining something precious and alienating a friend. Communication is the glue that holds a relationship together. Don't be an April Fool in your relationships! Here are some of my latest Visual JoJoisms as reminders of the ways we can be an April Fool talking at people instead of communicating with them. Technology doesn't do the communicating for you. It makes communication easier by giving you tools to do so over thousands of miles, but it takes a conscious effort and skillful technique to communicate in a...
I've seen complaints about what should or shouldn't be posted on social media. One thinks nobody should post controversial things. Another says how else are you going to affect change. I think we need to examine why we are on social media in the first place and that will tell each of us what we should post, how we should phrase it, and what responses to be ready for. Just as our communication can differ depending upon who we are talking to, our communication on social media should reflect our PURPOSE for being there. Here are six rules for posting on social media. 1. Consider your purpose. If you're talking to a child, your critique of their drawing isn't appropriate...
Blasting a sales message to everyone you can get in front of is like throwing spaghetti up on the wall to see what sticks. Mostly it just gets the wall dirty!If you are contacting people for any type of business issue (whether a donation, sale, or exposure), you need to make sure that you tailor your message to that individual or you risk offending them and wasting everyone's time. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. You can't simply throw a bunch of emails out and hope some of them will stick. Well, you can (and people do), but you shouldn't because most people will not feel inclined to respond unless you address them personally. Nor will your message be effective if you...
