Effective Communication Blog

This blog is a mini-journal about improving communication in the workplace.

In this blog you can also find out what's new here at people-communicating.com, without having to search through the site to find the new material.

To subscribe to the Effective Communication Blog, right-click on the orange RSS button to the left, and paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or just click on the Google, My Yahoo!, My MSN, or Bloglines button right below the orange RSS button, if you keep a personalized home page there.

Once you subscribe, you can keep up with all the updates to people-communicating.com without having to check the site every so often to see "What's New". New pages and updates to old ones are released through RSS.

And the best part is, there is no need to give out your email address to receive RSS feeds.

Feb 14, 2010, The Mock Job Interview

Added another page to the Job Interview section. The page shares information about the mock job interview, which is a great tool to prepare for a job interview.

Think of the mock interview as tough homework. You may not like it but when you complete it, you are fully confident and ready for that important test.

Prepare and practice until you do a mock job interview well and you'll shine at the real job interview.

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Feb 10, 2010, Defensive Body Language at Work

Even before we acknowledge that we are getting defensive, our bodies begin to tell our story of defensiveness.

We may start by crossing our arms, or we may hold our hand out, as if trying to stop the perceived or real attack.

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Jan 29, 2010, A Story about Appreciation for a Teacher

I received a story from a teacher that was shown appreciation in a special way.

The fact that the memory of the gift stayed with her through the years shows how powerful an appreciation gesture can be when it's genuine and specific.

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Jan 29, 2010, Diferencia entre Oir y Escuchar

El entender la diferencia entre oir y escuchar puede ayudar a mejorar las habilidiades de comunicacion

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Jan 27, 2010, Contributions to the Site

The site now has a couple of articles that were written by people other than yours truly.

The first article talks about Why Business Coaching makes Business Sense. The second article talks about Ways to Deal with Verbal Conflict.

Check them out...

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Jan 14, 2010, Language Differences

I received a question about language differences in communication at work.

You can read the question and my answer on the full post. The question struck a cord with me, it reminded me the many struggles I went through as a non native English professional trying to make it in the US workplace.

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Jan 11, 2010, Are Business Jargon Words any Useful?

Business Jargon Words - Here you can find a list of jargon words that are being used in the workplace today

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Jan 10, 2010, Emotion Faces - How Facial Expressions and Emoticons Communicate Emotions

Reflecting emotion faces through emoticons to convey feelings while texting and emailing

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Jan 8, 2010, What is Good Communication?

What is good communication? The easiest way to answer this question is to contrast the habits of good and bad communication.

Check out the comparison chart in the full post.

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Dec 31, 2009, What writing skills do entry level employees need?

I teach communications courses and I want to provide students with real-world examples of the kinds of writing skills they will need on their first

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Dec 8, 2009, New Spanish Section - Nueva Seccion en Español

I'm starting to add pages in Spanish, in case you're interested.

El sitio tiene ahora paginas en espanol, arrancando con el tema de Barreras de Comunicacion. (Perdon por la falta de acentos y tilde, cosas de la computadora)

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Dec 4, 2009, Become a Communicator

If you'd like to become a Communicator and start publishing your articles in people-communicating.com, please fill out the form below and submit it for consideration. We'll review your request and get back to you within a day or two.

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Dec 2, 2009, Jealousy at Work

A quote from Jennifer James:

"Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them."

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Nov 27, 2009, They Won't Listen

I have spent most of my life in the construction trades. I have worked for several small construction companies and owned a couple. The

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Nov 26, 2009, My Boss Is Failing At His Job. How Can I Help Him Before He Gets Canned?

My boss took the job because he wanted a raise. The company gave him the job because there were no other applicants. He is inexperienced,

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Nov 24, 2009, Job Interview Body Language

Job Interview Body Language: Nonverbal Communication in Interviews

Being able to decode the job interview body language is very useful, just don't make it the center of your attention.

Focus instead on preparation to build up your self confidence.

Check out the guidelines provided here and if you can, video record yourself while you rehearse your answers to possible interview questions.

That way you can determine if your body is sending the right nonverbal cues.

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Nov 23, 2009, Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote

Con lo que haces, haces tanto ruido que no me dejas oir lo que tú dices. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

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Nov 21, 2009, Job Interview Dress Code: What's the proper dress for job interviews?

Is there a job interview dress code? If so, what is it? What's the job interview attire that will work?

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Nov 21, 2009, Top 10 Interview Questions and Answers

I compiled a list of the top 10 interview questions and how to answer them so you can ace the interview and get the job offer.

The most important point of reading these questions is to focus your attention on preparing for the interview.

The questions may be asked in various different ways, but in the end, the questions are all asked to find out if there's a good fit between the job opening and the candidate applying for the job.

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Nov 15, 2009, FAQ About Communication in the Workplace

The website has a new section called Workplace Communication FAQ, where I've started a list of the most common questions I get asked about communication at work.

I invite you to submit questions that you think need to be included in the FAQ section.

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Nov 13, 2009, Self Expression at 51

A few days ago I turned 51 years old.

A year ago I quit my executive position in local government to start a business on my own. The timing couldn't have been worse, with the economy tanking in a way I hadn't seen in my entire life.

Despite my poor economic timing, my decision to go on my own was right. I'm having the best time ever, I feel I've finally found my life purpose, which I've been looking for ever since I was 17 years old. I know now, with a conviction of the heart, that my purpose in life is to help people find their own greatness and express it in whatever way they see fit, so they can be a contribution to society.

When I was young, I got a degree in Computer Science just because it was a "promising field" to get into, I didn't really know that's what I wanted to do. For the next 30 years, I worked in Information Technology, where I discovered that I'm a geek at heart and an idealist that believes that people can live in peace and be good to one another.

Putting two and two together, I recently started this website and a consulting practice to help people communicate more effectively in the workplace. My intention for this website and my consulting practice is to create a space for people to express who they are and what they think, and to find common ground to work well with each other, so they can be a contribution to this world.

I love what I do, my kids told me that they don't think I'm working, they said I looked too happy in front of my laptop.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Confucius: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life"

Nov 2, 2009, How Breaking Workplace Rules May Lead to Conflict at Work

Breaking workplace rules - purposefully or unknowingly -may lead to conflict in the workplace.

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Nov 1, 2009, Favoritism at Work

Work favoritism can sneak up on people and start a chain reaction of ill will against the favored employee and the unfair manager.

Find favoritism at work and stop it as early as possible

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Oct 31, 2009, Passive Aggressive Behavior and Communication

If someone driving you crazy with their passive aggressive behavior? You know they are being aggressive, it's just that they don't do it openly

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Oct 28, 2009, Managing Conflict in the Workplace

At work...are you dealing with backstabbing, or bullying, or favoritism?

Or perhaps you're dealing with disagreements that have escalated into heated arguments.

Any of these communication problems can grow to create other problems, that in turn can develop into full blown conflict at work.

Check out this new section in the website about managing workplace conflict.

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Oct 25, 2009, Communication Barrier Prejudging and Filtering

This weekend I caught myself being judgmental about a lake that I visited in Arizona.

I realized I was putting a label on everything: That mountain is beautiful, it looks like green velvet. Or This water is amazing, it looks like melted glass. I even started thinking Why does the water look like melted glass?

At some point I realized I had stopped taking in nature's beauty to label it, compare it and analyze it.

We sometimes do this with people. When they are telling us something, we start putting labels, analyzing and judging what we hear. We stop listening and communicating.

The lake experience led me to modify the page "Communication Barrier - Prejudging and Filtering".

I added an exercise that helps control our internal judge, so to speak.

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