Nobody likes to be lied to. Too bad there’s not a phone app that flashes green or red on the screen when someone is hiding something from us. However, there are behaviors that you can watch for that can tilt…
It’s a fair question: “Just how much does a person’s body language reflect their attempts to hide things, and just how accurate are those indicators?” When you are involved in a confrontation, it’s to your tactical advantage to have some…
Effective communication is absolutely essential to maintaining any relationship. And when a relationship is strained or conflicted or broken in some way, it can’t be healed without skillful communication. Carl Rogers and others were able to identify at least a…
Carl Rogers and others have identified at least a dozen very common, but destructive roadblocks to communication. And these dozen roadblocks can be divided into three types. The first is “Judging.” Communication Killers: #1 Judgments The second is “Forcing a…
Effective communication is absolutely essential to maintaining any relationship. And when a relationship is strained or conflicted or broken in some way, it can’t be healed without skillful communication. It’s a mistake to assume that just because you can talk…
All conflict resolution workshops emphasize that part of the process may be to allow the angry person to vent. Sometimes that means taking abuse from an angry person in silence for a limited amount of time. So, after the venting…
Conflict is inevitable! In fact, sometimes it’s absolutely necessary. However, much conflict is generated unnecessarily by deeply ingrained toxic communication habits. There are certain phrases that are simply poisonous to the communication process, yet I hear them over and over…
Mark Twain’s observation is true: “The difference between the right word, and almost the right word is like the difference between ‘lightning’ and ‘lightning bug’.” When you must confront someone, there are certain phrases that stop the communication process in…
The vast majority of us unthinkingly sabotage our own attempts to communicate with ingrained knee-jerk communication habits that contaminate the communication process with defensiveness before it even gets started. On a daily basis, managers and supervisors must request changes in…
You probably have some “nice” people in your life. You know them: They smile a lot, but not a big smile. Just a small smile. Nice kids are quiet and no trouble. Nice adults go along with the wishes of…