Interpersonal Skills | Varga & Associates

Words of Wisdom for 2025

by maripat | Jan 1, 2025 | Coaching, Communication, Engagement, Interpersonal Skills | 0

As we usher in a new year, I find immense value in the wisdom shared by others — thoughtful...

Are you up for an exquisite interaction?

by maripat | Sep 20, 2023 | Communication, Digital Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Listening, Personal Development | 0

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.”

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...

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...

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....

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.

I Miss My Colleagues and the Room Where it Happens

by Varg_Admin | Sep 8, 2020 | Communication, Employee Engagement, Influence, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership, organizational culture, Personal Development, Teamwork | 0

Lamenting this past weekend, I took liberties with Aaron Burr’s line in Hamilton and thought, “I...

Be Your Own Best Spokesperson – now more than ever

by Varg_Admin | Sep 6, 2020 | Communication, Influence, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership | 0

Recently my daughter turned 24 and we discussed the perils and privileges of being an adult. One thing she said struck me: “As an adult, you become your own spokesperson.” She went on to say that as a child or adolescent you find that other people are often speaking for you and interpreting what you say into messaging that may be more socially acceptable or conform to the sensibilities of the situation or even the preferences of the adult present. “What she means to say is…” or “She is attempting to communicate …”

It got me thinking about the world we inhabit right now in which we are flooded with conflicting and contradictory messages from innumerous pundits, experts, authorities, and let’s face it, a fair number of charlatans. In a time when political and social turmoil has reached a fever-pitch and true dialogue has seemed to virtually disappear – how do we find our own voice and become our own best spokesperson?

Be in the Conversation about Racism – even if it is uncomfortable

by Varg_Admin | Jul 16, 2020 | Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership, Personal Development | 0

Be in the Conversation about Racism – even if it is uncomfortable. I’ve always thought that the problems of the world could be solved if we would just be willing to enter into deep, meaningful conversations about them. The wise Fred Rogers once said, “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable, is manageable.” We are living through times none of us could have imagined. From the pandemic to racial justice protests to political turmoil – these have left many of us tongue-tied and unsure of how to articulate all that we are thinking and feeling. All of this is compounded by the fact that we are more isolated than ever before and yet communication – conversation – has never been more essential.