We are starting a new tradition on the Freedom Personal Development Blog -Top 10 Tips Tuesdays!  Every Tuesday we will give you the Top 10 Tips to become more effective in a particular area of your personal or professional life.

Today the tips have to do with effective communication.  More specifically, how to become a better listener. 

Why should I improve my listening skills?

It’s a great question. For the simple reason that a person’s listening skills are a central component to most of the activities people care about. Your ability to understand what others are trying to tell you, to grasp details about projects, to learn Read More...

By Lee McCroskey
http://www.swsalestalk.com/ 

I’ve been discussing how to generate confidence in a sales setting. As you recall, getting in a good, confident mental state is paramount, and you do that by;

 1) what you choose to focus on, and
2) what you do with your physiology.

Let’s talk about the second one.  That’s right-your thoughts, your mood, your mental state-all are hard-wired into your physiology. As a sales trainer at the Southwestern Company, i have seen this concept in Read More...

If you want people to tell you the truth, you have to provide a safe environment for that to happen. 

If you find people are lying to you, or not telling you the whole truth, on a regular basis, perhaps you should look at yourself.  How do you react and respond to situations when they are presented to you?

If you react in an upset or angry manner on a regular basis, people will feel uncomfortable and will soon start to hold back or omit certain details.  They will try to paint the picture in a way that is more comfortable and easy for you to accept.

Consider keeping lines of communication open by reacting to information in a calm manner, even when the truth isn’t Read More...

Persuasive writing follows a simple four part formula that, when executed properly, will persuade your reader to take the desired action you want them to. Your persuasive writing should contain these four elements: attention, interest, desire, action. When you keep it simple, it is very effective, especially in writing.

Attention
This is simply getting your reader’s attention. It is something that involves them personally. Get straight to the point with something that will grab their attention and make they want to read further. For instance, ask them a question, tell them something specific about a recent meeting or phone call the two of you had or share a relevant Read More...

To ensure the results you intend when you are communicating in writing, the key is to know your purpose from the very beginning of the process. Why are you writing? What is the point? What is the best way to get what you want? There are two things that come to my mind immediately.

First, it is essential that we actually know what we want. Both for us and what you want your reader to do. Too often we receive poor results from our efforts simply because we do not know what we want when we set out to write a letter or to write a request.

Without a clear target to shoot at or an end result in mind, it is difficult to lead others to see things your way and take action. Let us face it; writing Read More...

Download the 3 Steps for Running an Effective Meeting mp3
(1. Right click the link 2. Choose “Save Target As”)

When you hear people talk about meetings what do you normally hear?  Maybe, “a waste of time” or “nothing productive ever comes out of our meetings.”  I’m not ripping on the complainers because actually they have a point.  Often times there’s no focus during a meeting.  There is a lot of Read More...

Download the Effective Listening Exercise mp3
(1. Right click the link 2. Choose “Save Target As”)

Be interested rather than Interesting

Have you ever met a person who is an amazing storyteller?  They told great jokes, they had traveled everywhere and it seemed as though they virtually knew something about everything?  But, you couldn’t get a word in edgewise!  Or worse, as soon as you shared a story, they had a similar story that was better than yours?  The old one-upper.  That person Read More...

Reccomended Product – The Best-Kept Secrets of Great Communicators

When you investigate the most powerful and influential people in the world, you will discover that they all have something in common. Effective communication.

Whether they personally possess such skills or have hired a support team that did, ultimately, effective communication was one of the fundamental keys to their success. Using the Read More...

August 11 kicks off a week of articles, audio training and discussions regarding communication on the Freedom Personal Development Blog.

Part of being a great communicator is knowing what you are going to say. Preparation allows you to choose the right words ahead of time, and then speak with greater confidence and effectiveness. We are used to preparing for big presentations, but what about those little ones?

How often has someone asked you, “What you do?” Many of us answer briefly and accurately, but our answers don’t lead anywhere. Even worse, we stumble about trying to find the words. How about if you PREPARED for this?

It’s called an “Elevator Read More...

You have a deadline looming: sales copy for a new product; a presentation you are giving; a proposal for your boss or a client; maybe just a simple memo or email. As the minutes tick by, you stare at a blank screen or piece of paper. You have an idea of what you want to say, but not sure how to start……AHHHH! You have the dreaded Writer’s Block! What to do?!?!?!

To cure yourself of this aliment, I always use, and recommend two techniques – The “Questioning Technique” and “Finish the Sentence.”

The “Questioning Technique” is a very simple Q&A you have with yourself and your keyboard (or pen and paper.) This technique not only gets you Read More...