Category: Digital Communication

Are you up for an exquisite interaction?

My mother raised me to be a curious, inquisitive person. I am much more comfortable finding out about another person than talking about myself – having said that, I’ve gotten rusty.
I had the opportunity to put my post pandemic introversion to the test on my recent vacation. I went on safari in Botswana with my sister. It’s one of those trips in which you are immersed in another culture and surrounded my locals and fellow international travelers – strangers.

While I have spent a lifetime talking to strangers it can be awkward and uncomfortable – and with ever-present digital channels and the isolation we experienced during the pandemic, that interpersonal communication muscle has gotten weaker. And you know the saying, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

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Communicate to Engage during COVID-19: 9 ways to make lemonade

Communication has never been more important than it is now as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaders are now recognizing that keeping their teams engaged and focused during this time period is essential – and for the most part, it must be done remotely.  It’s time to make lemonade. Here are 9 strategies.

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Is it time for a Communication Face-lift?

Are you experiencing wrinkles of confusion? Have you witnessed sagging relationships? Don’t panic, this may be occurring because your face has fallen into your phone.
Recently, I conducted my own informal research using Chicago’s Loop as my field of study and observation. I was in and out of meetings downtown and observed people at work, at lunch and traveling on the L. I would guesstimate that 80% of people did not go for more than a few minutes (at the most) without interacting with a cell phone or mobile device. Their faces mostly fell into their technology. I can’t remember making eye contact with anyone – I did get very familiar, however, with the tops of people’s heads.
What do we lose when our face falls?

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Resuscitate your interpersonal acumen in the digtal age

Over this past weekend, visiting with family friends, I noticed my friend David’s 10-year old son, Carter, immersed in his iPad during the entire afternoon’s get-together. Carter sat in the living room surrounded by guests but in his own separate world playing games on his device, never really interacting with the group. In an attempt to engage him, I presented him with a good-natured challenge – for every thirty minutes he did not engage with his technology, I’d give him a dollar. Excited to earn some money, Carter took the challenge and by the end of the afternoon, devoid of the temptation of technology, he was interacting with guests, played outside with friends and even managed to do some homework. He earned five dollars and remarked that it was “more fun than I thought it would be.”

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