Category Archives: Communication & Productivity

Communication & Productivity

Mike Lipkin – Speaker | The Importance of Eye Contact

MIKE LIPKIN
Please look at me because eye contact makes you real and likable


Sawubona. This is the Zulu greeting for “hello” from my native South Africa. But the literal translation of Sawubona means ‘I see you’ and the response, ‘Ngikhona’ means ‘I am here’. Inherent in the Zulu greeting and our grateful response, is the sense that until you saw me, I didn’t exist. By recognizing me, you brought me into existence. A Zulu proverb clarifies this, “Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu”, meaning, “A person is a person because of other people”.

So think about this: when you make eye contact with other people, you bring them into existence. You connect them to the world that you represent. By looking directly at people, you acknowledge their presence and make them real. Without that connection, they may feel isolated and even disoriented.

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How to Think, Talk and Win in the Year of The Horse

MIKE LIPKIN
How to Think, Talk and Win in the Year of The Horse


According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of The Horse begins on January 31. Within the Chinese calendar, each year is represented by an animal that carries with it a profound set of principles that forecast how the year will unfold. Here are three that are central to all our wellbeing:

First, there is nothing in the universe that is not subject to constant change and transformation.

Second, there is regularity within change. There is nothing accidental within the system. Change and transformation take place by way of a pattern to the process, not by chance.

Third, The individual is a microcosm of the universe itself. What is inside is also outside.  Peace is found in the harmony between self and society. In the terms of Yin/Yang theory, the secret is to align one’s personal yin and yang with the universal yin and yang.

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Amanda Gore – Leadership, Communications & Connections Expert

AMANDA GORE
Successful Leaders Do These 3 Things


Being a leader means working with humans (in the most part!), and humans operate on the fuel of feelings. A leader with a high EQ (emotional intelligence), will foster a workplace where people can feel good about themselves and therefore be more engaged with their work. In a nutshell, people who feel good about themselves will do a better job! Take a look at this quote below:

“The data indicate that workplaces with engaged employees, on average, do a better job of keeping employees, satisfying customers, and being financially productive and profitable. Workplace well-being and performance are not independent. Rather, they are complimentary and dependent components of a financially and psychologically healthy workplace.”  Well-being in the Workplace and it’s Relationship to Business Outcomes – Gallup

So how do you become a great leader? A successful leaders job is to these three things:

1. Help people change behavior
2. Create and environment where people can be the best they can be
3. Help people believe in themselves

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Michael Kerr – The Workplace Energizer

Michael Kerr - The Workplace Energizer - www.kmprod.com/michael-kerrMICHAEL KERR
10 Reasons Why Humour Is A Key To Success At Work


Forbes.com cites the reasons “Workplace Energizer” Michael Kerr believes humour is a fundamental element for achieving success in the workplace:

Michael Kerr - The Workplace Energergizer - www.kmprod.com/michael-kerr

Tasteful humor is a key to success at work, but there’s a good chance your co-workers aren’t cracking jokes or packaging information with wit on a regular basis–and your office could probably stand to have a little more fun.

“Humor, by its nature, tends to have an edge to it, so people typically tone it down at work,” says Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do at Work (Portfolio, 2013), and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (Portfolio, 2012). “It’s hard to do well and easy to do badly. Plus, we all have a tendency to take ourselves way too seriously.”

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker, president of Humor at Work, and author of the upcoming book, The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses are Laughing all the Way to the Bank (Dec. 2013), says the amount or type of humor you’ll find in any given workplace depends almost entirely on the culture. “In workplaces that encourage people to be themselves–that are less hierarchical and more innovative–people tend to be more open with their humor,” he says. “Even people who aren’t always comfortable sharing their humor tend to do so in more relaxed environments where the use of humor becomes second nature with everyone’s style.”

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Nicholas Boothman – Rapport & Communications Expert

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
Get Boost – Connect like you Give a Damn


I care passionately about human potential – and it shows. I give a damn about my books, my readers and my corporate speaking clients – and it shows. 80 percent of all my speaking engagements are word of mouth and repeat business, 5 of them in September alone.

When you give a damn, you give energy – good quality energy. When you don’t you zap energy. In my neck of the woods, Herrington’s Butchers in Port Perry, Whyte Total Personal Fitness in Whitby and Zest Restaurant in Port Hope are all 20 minutes farther away than their competition, but they really give a damn about their products, services and clients – and it shows. They flourish and grow while their imitators come and go.  Why?  Because human beings are energy systems. We thrive on the quality and the quantity of the energy we get from other people.

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