Category Archives: Communication

Hard truth

September 5, 2015 7:04 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Sometimes people don’t listen.

You can be all logical and present your arguments in a well thought out fashion and still they won’t listen.  I’ve found that when people have an idea fixed in their mind that nothing will push them away from that idea.  No matter how well-reasoned out your statements are, no matter how large the preponderance of evidence.  They will stick to their position no matter what.

Maybe it’s an important matter, maybe it’s a difference of opinion.  But whatever the case may be, this person won’t listen to anything that you say.  So what to do?

Sometimes logic and reason just won’t do the job.  You have to think of this as a sort of sales pitch or a play or a presentation.  You have to think about the audience and what might motivate them.

Sometimes you might try a shocking statement.  Something to snap them out of their train of thought and make them take notice.  Sometimes humor will work.  Make them smile, put them at ease.  They might be more receptive this way.  Sometimes you might have to sneak your point in the back door through some convoluted logic or go the roundabout route to get them to see things your way.

Sometimes it’s fierce yelling that will do the trick.  Not very much in vogue these days but sometimes you have to do what works.

Again, not everyone is like you.  You need to consider the person or people who you are talking to and consider what their point of view is.  If they’re being defensive, what are they being defensive about?  Avoid that and go round.

They won’t all respond to the same stimuli or logic and if the matter really is that important and you really do need to get your point across, then isn’t trying an alternate method worth it?

Posted in: communication, ideas, life in general

keep in touch

June 17, 2015 6:36 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Business is an ever-changing and an increasingly difficult endeavor.  What were good and preferable business practices 20 years ago either no longer apply or are actually detrimental.  All of us have to keep our eyes open and try to notice the latest trends and keep up with the new opportunities presented by modern technology.

The fundamentals however still apply.  Some business practices will always be there no matter how much the world changes.  One of these practices is maintaining the lines of communications with your client not only open but fresh.

By open I mean that before, during, and after a project your client should be able to get a hold of the sales team, the production team, and the management.

Before the project begins when the sales team is the point of contact the client should feel comfortable to ask all relevant questions and get answers if not instantaneously then extremely quickly.  This is achieved by having a sales staff that is fully conversant with the products and services being offered and if they cannot answer a question then the production team should be available to answer these questions.

During the project the client needs to be able to maintain a constant flow of communication with the production team.  The management staff needs to be in the conversation in case problems arise or if the client wants to alter the parameters of the project.

After the project the sales team resumes communications with the client.  Firstly they need to assess if the client’s experience with the process was satisfactory or whether some aspects need improvement.  Next the sales team needs to begin broaching the subject of future or follow on projects.  This is the best time to do this with a satisfied client.

Keeping these lines of communications open and making sure that the client has the best possible experience possible will go a long way in turning a new client into an old and repeat customer.  This will help expand and solidify your core business base.

Posted in: business, communication, sales

Discussions that we should have but we’re not having

June 9, 2015 6:46 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I rarely watch TV anymore.  I don’t find all that much that excites my intellect or that is thought provoking or that I can respect.  I find the opposite to be true.  I feel that most television programming is an insult to the viewing public.

I find most programming to be a waste of time.  Most programs pander to the lowest common denominator, sex and violence.  They rehash or rework tired old ideas and concepts and expect the viewing public to not notice that the plot lines are painfully and ridiculously predictable.  But what I find most disturbing about television is how it serves as an electronic anesthetic and distraction for the public when real issues come up that need to be discussed.

The viewing public would much prefer to pay attention to the most vapid and banal television shows rather than to become informed and or take action on matters which direct or indirectly affect them.  Matters which they very much need to voice their opinions, yet they don’t.

So it’s worth noting when a program comes on that at the very least brings some of these topics up and captures the public imagination in an entertaining yet informative format.  The program that I am thinking about is Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Episode dealing with Net Neutrality

For those that don’t know, John Oliver is a British comedian that emigrated to the states and began writing material for comedy shows like The Daily Show with John Stewart. After a successful run at the Daily Show he decided to try his hand at his own news oriented comedy show on HBO.

The results have been significant.  Not only is the show extremely popular but several of the topics that he has covered have been given closer scrutiny by mainline news organizations and his efforts have gone viral on social media and have arguably helped promote some changes in some contemporary topics.

Oliver has covered topics such as the above mentioned Net Neutrality, FIFA, the wealth gap in America, police militarization, and the prevalence of Sugar in the American diet.

Now, I don’t happen to agree with everything he does.  I don’t agree with all his view points, as a comedian he tends to frame the debates in humorous ways, and he doesn’t cover all the topics that I wish he would but I have to give him high marks and praise for bringing these topics to light and giving them the attention that they are due.

I think that in an age where too often television executives don’t want to bother with sophisticated or thought-provoking television shows and would rather just distract the public, that we need to give praise and promote shows that at least encourage the public to think and start important conversations about topics that affect us all.

Posted in: communication, culture, current events, life in general, politics, review, television, thought

Empathy in business

February 25, 2015 6:47 AM , Leave a Comment ,

The cold season struck my house and I was at a local pharmacy picking up some cold medicine.  I picked up what I needed and headed to the checkout line.

Up ahead of me in the checkout line was someone who had worse problems.  A guy wearing construction gear was buying some gauze and tape.  He had his bloody arm up in the air.  He got to the front of the line and the checkout clerk started asking him if he would like to fill out an application to get a pharmacy loyalty card.  Poor guy is bleeding and wants to buy his stuff and tape himself up but this clerk wants to talk about filling out forms.  Was this clerk blind?  Could she not see that saving a couple of cents on his purchase wasn’t the guy’s prime concern right now?  Couldn’t she intuit the poor man’s situation and help him get on his way?

Unfortunately this is not something rare or just limited to checkout clerks.  Too often when talking with business professionals, with contractors, with other salesmen I get the same type of treatment.  People just going through the motions of doing their job and not really getting a feel for the other person’s situation.

We’ve instituted procedures, scripts, and ways of doing our jobs that take out most human thought and decision-making out of the process and taken the individual out of the equation.  Why have people if you’re just going to make them act like robots?

On the other hand I’ve been mildly amused and somewhat taken aback whenever I get praise from a client or potential client for “listening” and tailoring solutions to meet their needs.  I’ve always been somewhat shocked by this and thought to myself that I hadn’t really done anything special.  As it turns out maybe I had done something special without knowing it.

As I see it if you are in a position where you meet the public in any fashion whether you’re a salesman for a company, or a technician or even just a checkout clerk, part of your job description is to interact with the public and engage in an interactive give and take that actively tries to meet the client’s expectations.  You don’t just read from a prepared set of responses or follow set procedures.  You need to think, react, and maybe be a little proactive and actually think through a situation.

Posted in: business, communication, sales

alternate sources of news and information

September 4, 2014 6:38 AM , Leave a Comment ,

[Author’s note:  This is part of a writing challenge that Leslie Farnsworth issued.  We will both write about the same subject and compare notes later on.  She wrote her version on the 3rd of September, 2014.  If you get a chance head on over to her blog at www.lesliefarnsworth.com and read not just her version of this topic but all of her postings.  They are thought-provoking and well written articles and she loves to discuss the topics with her readers.]

 

I heard about 9/11 online.  I was in an online chat room at the time when someone typed in that a plane had struck the first tower.  I guess that make’s me a bit of a cultural cliché.  Part of a generation that matured alongside with the internet.  If I had not had internet access I might have not found out till I drove home in the afternoon.

My experience with alternate news sources isn’t just confined to this one example.  I have been searching out unconventional news sources since my college days.

But why turn to alternate sources of news if we have such a robust news industry out there?  Firstly, precisely for that reason.  It is in fact an industry.  The days that news reporting was strictly just about presenting facts are long past.  News agencies and newspapers are owned entities.  They have their owner’s slant stamped on everything that they produce.  Even if they don’t have a particular slant, they have an obligation to be a money-making organization and that means entertaining their subscribers.  Just as much entertainment as it is information and this tends to tinge news.

Another reason to check alternate news sources is embodied in a quote from the character Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse.  When asked how he knew so much about communism Jeeves replied “It’s good to know what tune the devil is playing.”  Meaning of course that if you don’t know what arguments that someone with an opposing view holds that you would not be able to counter them.  If you stick to main line news sources then you will find that your world view is going to be somewhat narrow and that you’re going to be missing out on a lot of things.

So where to find those alternate sources of news?

Well the first and best place is going to be with those people around you that you know.  Not necessarily your best friends but maybe your casual acquaintances.  Those folks that have radically different life experiences.  They can view the same event as you do in a different light and can guide you to resources that you might not know about.  I know people from all shades of the political spectrum, from different religions, and economic groups.  They all have opinions and valuable input to provide.

Next would be to step out of your comfort zone and actively seek out publications and websites you would not normally look over.  I usually don’t have interest in things like fitness or fashion magazines but through them I’ve read articles on politics, technology, and social issues covered from new perspectives.  Sometimes they reinforce my beliefs, sometimes they make me question them.

The last source of information is to be your own reporter.  You may have a unique question that no one else has ever asked and maybe no one knows who or what to ask.  It’s up to you to dig out the truth.  Talk to people who normally don’t talk to strangers.  Request information that isn’t normally requested.  Your own patience and will to find the real story is your only limitation.

I find that going the extra mile and finding things out for myself rather than relying on the word of others usually leads to getting a much more precise and detailed picture of what’s happening in the world.

Posted in: communication, current events, news

speak up, quiet down

July 8, 2014 6:17 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I find personal communications to be extremely important to most things that I do.  If I can’t express myself properly to others around me then it really doesn’t matter how good my ideas are. No one will listen to them.

I feel that my main problem is that my voice is too high-pitched and quiet. I don’t believe that gives my ideas enough weight or gravitas. I often find that I get much better results when I present my arguments in a written form.

If I find that I must discuss an issue orally, specially with people who I don’t know I find that I must force myself to deepen my voice and speak more forcefully.  This “voice” seems to fit my appearance and personality a little better than my normal speaking voice.  The voice lends the necessary force to my words and imbues them with the importance that they deserve.

At the same time though I don’t like to use this ‘voice’ when dealing with people I know on a personal level.  They seem more reluctant to open up about themselves if they feel that I might dominate the discussion.  So in those situations I tend to quiet down and let them carry the conversation.

I hope to one day refine and find a happy medium that I can adopt and don’t have to “assume”.  Something that I don’t have to don and find natural enough to wear every day.

Posted in: communication, relationships

eyes or ears

October 8, 2013 12:47 PM , 1 Comment ,

How do you take your information?  Through the written word, through the spoken word, through the personal interaction?

Some folks don’t like one but prefer the other, some are more balanced, and some don’t listen at all.  How you relate information to others is important if you want to catch their attention.

I sometimes find that I am more successful in conveying my meaning if I just alter the method of delivery.  I don’t change one word but if I write it down the message gets across where otherwise it might be ignored or it might not make the impact that I wanted to.

In today’s business and social media world we all need to be fluent in all methods of communication if we want to make an impact on those around us and we need to be able to switch methods almost instantly.

More and more I find that the successful people out there are successful not necessarily because they are the best or most innovative or brightest person in their field but what they really are is successful communicators.

Tomorrow’s world will belong to the media savvy.

Everyone has a unique balance of how they prefer to take in ideas or information.  For me its a 40% spoken/ 40% personal/ 20% written

Posted in: communication, life in general