Issue 373, February 17, 2010
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Find the Sunny Side of Conflict in March 18th SpeakStrong Seminar in Denver, find the Lost Generation in this video, and find the opportunity in your arguments

Have you found The Lost Generation video? It reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite. It's only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen forward and backward. I also posted the words with the video. Once you've read it through, read the last line again, then the next to last line and so on.

The perfection of this heartens me, because I so often find in communication and in life that the problem contains the solution, the objection the reason to buy, and the limitation can lead to the liberation… if we can see the opportunity right in front of our faces. So visit my blog and find The Lost Generation.

Then, check out my Sunny Side of Conflict SpeakStrong Seminar in Denver March 18th, where we'll get the skills to turn negativity and conflict into opportunity and collaboration.

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Actively Engage Employees with Video Contests

Leadership expert Wendy Mack posted a composite video that hospital employees created about hand washing. What a great example of “crowdsourcing” and employee engagement. This is tapping into talent where we find it.

I bet that hand washing campaign was particularly effective! Check it out.

Slogans, catch phrases and by-lines have sunny and dark sides

Kathleen is one of my favorite commenters on my blog. Her recent post about Teacheable Moments gave me the opportunity to communicate what I see as the beauty and the bane of phrases and catch-phrases.

I invite you to read her comment and my entire response. Here’s an excerpt.

"I think catch-phrases expand us when they express new ideas that are bigger than how we were thinking. We grow into them. But then we outgrow them. So if we keep using them, they hold us back."

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The Detective Mom discovers playfulness beat coercion at bedtime

The Detective Mom tells a tale of how an older brother playfully gets a younger brother to get ready for bed. It's a testament to the fact that light-heartedness goes a long way toward getting us what we want. Children can be our best teachers. Check it out.

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PowerPhrase: Am I to Infer...?
Smooth verbal aikido comeback response on Facebook keeps posts on track

When my friend posted on Facebook: “In a never-ending effort to drop 10 lbs, I just bought a GoWear Fit. It’s like a BodyBugg. Anyone else have one?”

I assume her friend meant well when he replied,

“Try taking your focus off the 10 lbs which you DON’T want, and put it on the weight that you DO want to be ”

My friend’s response subtly turned the conversation back from the unsolicited advice to her new purchase, when she said,

• Am I to infer you don’t have a GoWear Fit?

Playful, poignant and also targeted, this response kept her post about her new monitoring device from turning into a discussion of her attitude toward her weight.

Nice verbal  aikido move.

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Poison Phrase: This doesn’t count because I badgered you to do it.

I caught a preview of Dr. Phil, where a daughter railed at her Mom for not standing up for her. The mother said, “I’m standing up for you now.” The daughter replied,

- That’s because I badgered you to do it.

I understand the daughter’s complaint, but I also know that the daughter missed a golden opportunity to get what she says she wants from her mother.  If she had stayed present and then moved things forward, she would have been more likely to inspire her mother to stand up for her in the future. It’s so easy to focus on what was wrong in the past, but as soon as we get a glimmer of someone moving in the direction we want, the best approach is to reinforce that. A better response would have been,

• Yes, you are. Thank you for that. You have no idea what it means to me, and I’d like to be able to continue to count on your support.

Oh, the power of momentum!

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Reader seeks PowerPhrases to get food despots to back off

Meryl,
Recently I attended a networking event in which I had to be firm yet polite about refusing to eat calorie laden food and drinks – that would most assuredly have pushed me off target from my goals. I was stunned by how pushy some people are. For example, here is one conversation. (Continued.)

(To read the conversation, the rest of the post and my response, click here.)

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Blog comments

Poison Phrase: Teacheable Moment SpeakStrong question: can suggestions wait?

Reader question about coworkers who abuse sick leave

Social media savvy and New Dynamics

38,000,000 plus hits on tech blog illustrates a New (Rule) Dynamic of Communication

Ask Meryl: Angry customer

Got a comment or question? Comment on my blog and Ask Meryl.