• cultural body-language differences in their carry-on rather than a Berlitz phrase
• cultural body-language differences
• ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care … about them.’
• Human resources professionals who interview applicants and police officers who interrogate suspected criminals are trained to detect lies. They know specifically what signals to look for. The rest of us, although not knowledgeable about specific clues to deceit, have a sixth sense when someone is not telling us the truth.
• Whenever your conversation really counts, let your nose itch, your ear tingle, or your foot prickle. Do not fidget, twitch, wiggle, squirm, or scratch. And above all, keep your paws away from your face. Hand motions near your face and all fidgeting can give your listener the gut feeling you’re fibbing.
• You see, small talk is not about facts or words. It’s about music, about melody. Small talk is about putting people at ease. It’s about making comforting noises together like cats purring, children humming, or groups chanting. You must first match your listener’s mood.
• If you ever want to bring people around to your thoughts, you must match their mood and voice tone, if only for a moment.
• it’s not all what you say, it’s how you say it.
• How do you put people at ease? By convincing them they are OK and that the two of you are similar. When you do that, you break down walls of fear, suspicion, and mistrust.
• people tune in to your tone more than your text.
• Anything you say is fine as long as it is not complaining, rude, or unpleasant.
• Eavesdropping, of course, conjures images of clandestine
• Give the asker some fuel for his tank, some fodder
• Learn some history, geography, business statistics, or perhaps a few fun facts
• when I meet someone, I learn so much more if I ask about their life. I always try to turn the spotlight on the other person.’
• They know they grow more by listening than talking. Obviously, they also captivate the talker.
• What’s happening right now in the world – all the fires, floods, air disasters, toppled governments, and stock market crashes – pulverizes into great conversational fodder, no matter what crowd you’re circulating in.
• 85 per cent of one’s success in life is directly due to communications skills.
• employers choose candidates with good communications skills and attitude way over education, experience, and training.
• ‘How do you spend most of your time?’ is the gracious way to let a cadaver cutter, a tax collector, or a capsized employee off the hook.