 Framing things positively has enormous advantages… and there is one negative word you should consider banishing for good…
If you ask someone at Disney what time the park closes, they don’t exactly tell you. What they say is that “the park is open until 10 PM.” This is an example of what Debra Jasper, CEO of Mindset Digital, refers to as “positive priming.” And she thinks it should be applied to virtually every interaction. “Start with what you can do, not what you can’t,” she advises. If a client asks if you can meet at 2 PM Tuesday, they do not care or want to hear that you are busy. Instead counter with when you can meet: “I can make Wednesday morning work.” Or, instead of saying, “I can’t get that to you until Friday,” try, “I can get that to you on Friday.” Above all, Jasper says, there is a word you might want to banish from your vocabulary. That word is unfortunately. If you look up synonyms for “unfortunate” you get words like “grievous”, “dreadful”, and “disagreeable.” Is this really the tone you want to set? The next time you are tempted to begin a communication with “Unfortunately, I can’t…”, pause and rethink. How can you frame this communication positively? Hint: Start with the words, “I can.” How often do you find yourself using the word “unfortunately” and what could be your substitute? To join the conversation, click on "comments" below. We'd love to hear from you! Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022.
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 Regardless of whether the word “writer” is in your job title, we are all writers—creating email, cover letters, reports, speeches, blogs, newsletters. Here are four tips to help you do it much better…
It’s easy to feel frustrated by the writing process, but it's also easy to boost your skills through some simple practices. Mastering the art of writing will help you be persuasive and prompt others to view you as smarter and more insightful. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Samantha Amber, author and host of the podcast How I Write, offers these tips:
What do you have on deck to write next, and which of these tips might help you most? To join the conversation, click on "comments" below. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022.  When it comes to staying healthy, science shows that social connection is as important as diet and exercise…
The Harvard Study of Adult Development has been minutely tracking the lives of some 724 original participants (and some of their descendants) since 1938. One of its biggest takeaways is that the greatest predictor of health and happiness isn’t a factor like cholesterol levels or blood pressure. It is the strength of a person’s social ties. But social fitness, one of the study’s directors said, is just like physical fitness: You must work at it. Harvard-trained social scientist and author Kasey Killam has a framework for doing so, calling it the 5-3-1 rule. At a minimum:
Of course, these research-based guidelines can be flexed, depending on circumstances like age, lifestyle, and physical limitations. However, the 5-3-1 rule makes for a great baseline. Offering some helpful tips to get started, Killam suggests putting some friendships on auto-pilot with a weekly or monthly dinner, walk, or other activity. You can also put a post-it on your bathroom mirror reminding you to reach out to someone. You can volunteer in your community, or commit to a set number of 10-minute phone calls each week. These strategies can help you create new habits that, in time, will become self-reinforcing. Are you getting your 5-3-1 in, and, if not, how can you create a new habit to do so? To join the conversation, click on "comments" below. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. |
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