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We all heard the phrase, “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.”  However, it is more powerful than most of us might think. Always “place your best foot forward” when making a first impression; otherwise, you will unfairly miss out on some great opportunities. It at least, makes sure you “go down swinging.” Often, we make decisions based on biased perceptions because we do not always take in enough information to make sound decisions.  There are two main reasons for this: one, there is too much information in our environment causing “information overload.” Two, we “filter” out unwanted information...

Keep Your Speeches and Presentations to Three Main Points. “Only use two to five main points” is the advice preached by most speech writing experts; however, I disagree.  I recommend you get more specific and not do two, not do five, but do three main points for speeches, meetings, and presentations.  The words, “Now for my third and final point” is music to the ears of the audience members.  If they were dozing off, they will perk up because they know the end is near, it’s almost time to eat, and “I can listen to one more point.”We, as a society, have an affinity to the number three.  Third time is a charm. We do things in threes: we believe bad things happen in threes, we believe good things happen in threes, and we believe famous people die in groups of threes.Since we like threes, people respond better to groups of threes, remember better when limited to three things, and are satisfied by three estimates.  There are three sentences to a paragraph, three paragraphs for the body of an essay, and three points to...

Unless you are a very rare sort of person, you may find yourself frequently suffering from the workplace “blues.” You may have tried a multitude of stress reduction techniques, or read self-help books, or even resorted to using and abusing various substances to get some relief. The relief, however, is brief; or there is none at all.Today’s high-intensity workplace demands “more, better, faster, now.” Coupled with constant, rapid change, the result can be high levels of stress, low morale and less than optimal performance.Not only does performance quality decline, the quality of interpersonal communication may deteriorate as well, leading to conflicts and unproductive interactions with both internal and external customers. When we are under stress and our morale is low, we make more mistakes and we tend to be less patient or kind with each other. We find ourselves being compliant rather than committed performers. Like a romantic relationship that has grown stale, the passion and excitement is gone.The reality is that workplace and life stress will never disappear completely; and while it may happen in fairy tales, no hero is coming to rescue us from the “Blues Dragon.” You know the one I mean - the big guy in our head who takes up way too much space. You can easily recognize him by his sullen expression and droopy head. There is a dark cloud always hanging over him, making him a most unwelcome guest. When he is around, we feel enveloped and trapped in that dark cloud. In order to escape, we are compelled to look within ourselves and find ways to take charge of our own morale.I have spent many years as a seeker, both intellectually and spiritually, searching for ways to deal with the dreaded Blues Dragon. As a result of my journey, I developed two methods. One method involves deeper work for long term results; the...