7 Tips to Become A Good Conversationalist

I'm a super social person, so I find it quite easy to strike up a conversation, even with total strangers.

Have you ever noticed how easily children communicate together? They are usually SO happy to talk and play together... and do so without the social strains that us "big kids" do!

(C)2007 Copyright, photo taken by Carolyn J. Clarke. All rights reserved.

How about you? Do you have ease in social contact with others?

Our world has gotten smaller and our proximity to others much closer than it used to be... creating an important need to learn the skill of meaningful sharing with people around us. Here are 7 tips to help develop your conversing ability;

Become a good listener!

Just listen and really hear what the person has to say. Be interested in what that person has to share and listen without pre-planning what you're going to say next. You will become an admired person for being a good listener.

Run a risk and break the ice!

Rather than sit in painful silence with someone, step up and be the first person to speak. Make an observation about something you notice or pay the person a sincere compliment (with the emphasis on sincere!), or ask an open-ended question to break the ice and get some dialogue happening.

Be as interesting as you really are!

Assume that there are things about you that others will find interesting... and share those things... such as the travel you have done, your greatest life achievement so far, a book you're reading and find interesting, etc. Most importantly, share positive things about yourself and your life experience... most people would rather not hear your complaints.

Leave out the personal details of your life!

There are parts of our selves and our lives that are not meant to be shared with just anyone... leave them out of casual social conversations. Discretion is a worthy trait to be aware of in life... it is not wanted or required to expose all of your dirty little secrets to just anyone.

Be curious about the person before you!

Most people enjoy having others curious and asking questions about their lives. Be inquisitive and ask questions that will generate interesting dialogue, but remember that the intent is not to interogate them but rather stir pleasant conversation.

Be aware of your body posture!

Your standing tall and confidently will make a much better impression than if you are slouched or flirty. There are literally only seconds before others make their inner opinion... much of it based on appearance and behaviour.

End the conversation on a high note!

When having these short 2 - 8 minute conversations, be sure to graciously finish the dialogue on an upbeat note before moving on... hopefully a good impression left with each other.

So, go and have fun... step out and be the interesting person that you really are!

I dare you.

Warmly, Carolyn

http://www.life-balance-success.com/

Office Communication 101

Hi again.

I found a good little article on the Internet this morning and thought it worthy to share with you... all about office communication etiquette.

Thanks to writer, Rachel Zupek, a CareerBuilder.com writer for the following good tips, entitled, "13 Things Not to Share with Your Co-workers." Have a read of the opening few paragraphs, then be sure to click the link to read the actual 13 tips she poses... they're good!

Here's what she says...

"It’s happened to everyone before. The constant flow of words that just keep coming, long after you’ve made your point (if there ever was one) and even longer after people stopped caring. The kind of gibberish that just won’t stop unless someone else starts talking. The type of chatter that inevitably ends with you wishing you’d put a sock in it.

Yes, verbal diarrhea is never a good thing – but it can be worse in some places more than others.

Like the workplace.

There are certain things co-workers need not know about each other – your baby-making plans and stomach issues, for example – but some folks just can’t seem to keep their mouths shut.

Some people talk to hear the sound of their own voice; others share because they don’t really have a life and, by revealing details you’d rather not know, they create the illusion of one, says Linda Lopeke, a career advancement expert and creator of SmartStart Virtual Mentoring Programs. “Then there is the person who believes gossip, even about them, creates instant emotional intimacy. It doesn’t.”

Now, to read the actual 13 valuable tips, click on this link...

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1219&SiteId=cbmsnhp41219&sc_extcmp=JS_1219_home1&GT1=10785&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=0527720cb7974398a0c01d2d703c46bc-253539458-WB-2

I'll see you again really soon!

Warmly, Carolyn
www.life-balance-success.com

Hello again!

I've been totally away from the world attending the 12-day Phase One personal development program in awareness at The Haven on Gabriola Island, B.C. Good to be home, I feel like a changed person.

(C)2007 Copyright, photo by Carolyn Clarke, all rights reserved.

How to share all that I have just experienced!?!?

Through incredible process exercises and being mirrored by some 30 wonderful participants, I have been opened into a much more communicative, authentic person with a sense of purpose now. I feel still inside, which is new for me, instead of my usual hyper, "doing-style" of personality.

The following quotation speaks to the quest for personal change. The stirring that is referreed to is what propelled me to go to The Haven... and for my sense of life courage and desire to grow and change, I am grateful.

"Eckhart Tolle says that the first step in awakening is realizing that you are not awake. For many there seems to be something, an urge, a persistent presence--that is arising from the very core of humanity that is stirring and nudging us to come awake. This awakening is not a next step to take but a profoundly different way of being. Are you ready to be awake?"
Quotation by Ric Beattie

(C)2007 Copyright, photo by Carolyn Clarke, all rights reserved.

If you are at a stale or inquiring point in your life, I highly recommend that you make a visit to The Haven. There you will meet many, mighty special like-minded people on a similar quest... and I am also certain you will reaquaint with a very dear friend again, yourself.

(C)2007 Copyright, photo by Carolyn Clarke, all rights reserved.

Set your Self free to fly in life!! I see the beauty of life with "new eyes" now... you can, too.

(C)2007 Copyright, photo by Carolyn Clarke, all rights reserved.

Warmly, Carolyn

For your copy of the Work and Life Balance BEST YOU eBook, go to

www.life-balance-success.com ... $27, that's it!

Retreat Programs for Personal Development

Welcome!

Richard and I recently facilitated a 3-day Inner Fitness(R) Personal Retreat Program for a couple wanting to better their relationship. They came extremely openminded and willing to look honestly at themselves and how their personal "stuff of the past" was contributing to their current woes.

It was such an honour to support them to go beyond their limitations into a new way of being together. They left with a much better understanding of themselves and felt excited about how they were growning in their love and relationship!

You might wonder what an Inner Fitness(R) Personal Retreat Program entails.

These personalized programs are designed in consultation with you to help you meet your personal aspirations for a more fulfilling life and relationship. Organic by nature, we would work to support you and your specific needs... each program being very different from each other, based on what each couple needs resolving in their relationship.

Our commitment is to help you grow free from historical patterning, strengthen new attitudes and behaviours, heal old wounds, improve your communication and interpersonal skills, increase levels of energy and peace of mind... and thereby recognize your greatest potential to live authentically together.

With almost 30 years of experience in our own loving relationship and in our counselling practice, Richard and I know that when we work to better ourselves while reflecting on how our individual "stuff" affects our significant relationship, this becomes an important combination for transformation!

Three full days spent working on your relationship can become a vital turning point for a new way of being together. $1995US includes the program and all of your lunches and dinners... transportation and accommodation not included.

Here is what one of our Retreat Program couples wrote about their time with us...

"Thank you so much for our (retreat) time. We cannot express how much this has helped us and we're so happy with what we have now started."

R & S from Washington State

For more information about our Inner Fitness(R) Retreat Programs, click this link...

www.innerfitness.ca/programs or give me a call and discuss your interest.

A little support to grow personally AND in how we relate with our beloved can make a life-changing difference... and all of us can use a little support at times! Is it your time to nurture yourself and your significant relationship? We have much to offer.

Warmly, Carolyn and Richard Clarke

www.life-balance-success.com

P.S. Our "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook offers an extensive chapter on improving relationships, if you're not ready for a retreat program yet.