Communication | Varga & Associates

Martin’s leadership, learning, and sharing journey

by maripat | May 23, 2023 | Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Employee Engagement, Influence, Leadership, Personal Development | 0

I met Martin in the test kitchen at #fgf and the first thing he said to me with a laugh was: “I...

What you highlight is worth another look

by maripat | Apr 6, 2023 | Communication, Leadership, Personal Development | 0

In the new documentary series “Pretty Baby” actress and model Brooke Shields described her quest...

Bring story-telling into your living room – build friendships and develop skills

by maripat | Mar 31, 2023 | Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Presentation Skills, Storytelling | 0

If you are a fan of The Moth Radio Hour (https://themoth.org/radio-hour) as I am, you know the...

Jumping The Gun – 5 Ways to Avoid a Communication False Start

by maripat | Mar 6, 2023 | Communication, Effective meetings, Interpersonal Skills, Presentation Skills | 0

There is always the intense excitement when you see runners in the starting blocks waiting for the gun to go off to signal the race is on. There is also the heartbreak of a runner who ‘jumps the gun’ which is also called a false start. There is absolutely an equivalent of the false start in communication and five ways to avoid it.

Personalize your Presentation with a One Sentence Story

by maripat | Dec 19, 2022 | Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Presentation Skills, Storytelling | 0

When you hear a speaker share a brief snippet from their life, you instantly feel more engaged and connected to them. “That’s just like me!” “I have kids too!” It may be a simple reference to where they grew up, a sport they played, or how many children they have. When you share a bit of your human experience with an audience, you instantly become more relatable, and in turn, the point you are trying to make is better retained. Can this be accomplished in just one sentence? YES!

Strategies to engage the socially awkward: parlor game questions to break the ice

by maripat | Jun 20, 2022 | Communication, Effective meetings, Employee Engagement, facilitation, Interpersonal Skills | 0

Small talk is challenging for most of us – and yet, we are faced with times at work and in social...

Mother’s Day: Say the best of what you see

by maripat | May 5, 2022 | Communication, Mother's Day | 0

In the final episode of Pamela Adlon’s Better Things – the most authentic and life-affirming...

How to demonstrate EQ when you are ready to blow your top

by maripat | Apr 13, 2022 | Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Listening, Personal Development, Persuasion | 0

I like to think of myself as an empathetic person and someone who has a fair amount of emotional...

Infuse with a Muse for Presentation Confidence

by maripat | Feb 18, 2022 | Communication, Influence, Presentation Skills, Visualization | 0

What do Beyonce, Freddie Mercury and Christine Lagarde have in common? At first blush, not much...

Lead from the middle in 2022 – Larry David’s comical, yet sage observation.

by maripat | Dec 30, 2021 | Communication, Effective meetings, facilitation, Interpersonal Skills, Listening, Moderating a panel | 0

Rewarding dinner table conversations have a lot in common with effective facilitation skills....

How to Focus: Lessons from a Banana Cream Pie Debacle

by maripat | Nov 30, 2021 | Coaching, Communication, Focus, Listening | 0

I must acknowledge immediately that I do not count cooking or baking as personal strengths or talents. As a result, when the holidays roll around, I get a tad nervous about what dish I will be asked to make for potluck gatherings. This year’s assignment was to make a banana cream pie. I jumped in excitedly, because I love banana cream pie, but missing some of the key recipe details turned the pie into a soupy mess. Here’s what I learned about how to stay focused and attentive to the details. Critical for pie -making and any other pursuit you may have…

Listening re-visited: The closer you are, the less you listen

by maripat | Nov 15, 2021 | Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Listening | 0

Recently my sister shared with me a stack of letters sealed in a plastic zip-locked bag she had found amongst my mom’s possessions. They were love letters from my father written around 1952 in the year before they were married. The letters reveal sides of my father I did not know. Kate Murphy’s new book, You’re not Listening: What you’re missing and why it matters illuminated how “closeness communication bias” may have prevented me from learning more about this side of my dad while he was still with us.