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Sunday 10 May 2009

As a professor of communications, I tell my students that there is an "art" to communicating. Our choice of words often defines our speak. What are yo

Alison's Contribution:

I recommend NLP as a methodology for effective communications, coupled with addressing the Fogg factor. In case I lost you, the Fogg factor determines how many years of education you need to understand what is written in a particular piece. Interesting read.

Gosh, my power words. Well, I'm a curious person, by which I mean I ask a lot of questions.

Asking Questions - Where to start? - Well the first thing to do is to get their attention - use a command voice.. tatatataa (falling inflection as in the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony). Then take a Deep Breath, Smile and ask with a speed of no more than 120 words per minute (and with the voice raising on the end). Practice this until you get it perfect and it is an automatic way of asking questions.

I find the following phrases useful to get the best response (when using the correct inflection and tone of voice)...

"Would you mind if I asked"
"I wonder"
and of course, combined,
"I wonder if you would mind if I asked you..." (Smiles helped too).
and always, "That's interesting. I never saw it that way. Thanks for sharing that."

As long as you are genuine, you will receive the best answer they can. What's the best way to be genuine? Well, it start with being interested in what they have to say.

"No" and "Not Yet" and "Not Now" are other power words. Which have very different meanings. So mean what you say when you say it.

All the best,

Alison
posted 19 hours ago

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