Claudia Raab's Blog

They are fun, easy to come up with and fabulous when it comes to expanding your vocab: Acrostic poems! Sounds complicated? Not at all: Acrostic poems are simple poems where the first letter of each line forms a word or even a whole sentence (read vertically).

A ustralia - huge country
U nder the southern sky,
S trong winds blowing,
R ivers flowing,
T ime seems to stop.
A bsorb the beauty!
L ove the adventure!
I ndulge in the culture!
A ustralia - adorable. 

What's your version? You've got 60 seconds - counting now. Try doing one acrostic poem once a day and your think on your feet ability increases incredibly fast. And your unleashing your creativity! It's a great exercise and fun game! Go for it!

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You're listening to a talk and the presenter is constantly using words like "honestly", "frankly", "to tell you the truth ...", "sort of", "pretty much" and "basically"?

What a pity! When using these words - journalists call them unnecessary since meaningless "fillers" - the presenter is not only giving away that he or she has not rehearsed enough and therefore delivering a poor speech wasting the audiences time.

He or she also looses credibility, respect and command. Gone  is the chance to make an impact. Even if the message is great and strong, when poorly presented and weakened by fillers - no one will hear or rembered it.

When delivering a presentation, use powerful, meaningful words. Eliminate words that carry no information value. Create short, dense sentences, rehearse until you are comfortable, deliver powerfully and you'll create a strong impact.

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Most of us have heard of  "white-collar workers" and "blue collar workers".  The terms go back the 19th century and its uniform dress code for the service and industrial workplaces, where it was - and still is - common to wear durable clothing that can be scraped or soiled. One feature of this particular uniform is its blue colour, hence the name "blue-collar worker" for everyone belonging to the working class performing manual labour.

"White-collar workers" - you might have guessed it - are mainly identified by their white shirts that people usually wear when working in an office environment.

Now there is a third term that classifies another working group that emerged over the last decades: "Pink-collar workers". "Pink-collar workers" are employees who work in jobs that are typically done by women such as nursing and teaching.

Interestingly, even today with more women than ever graduating from universities with a broad variety of degrees worldwide and being employed at higher levels than their mothers or grandmothers women still remain mostly in the pink-collar work area. They still aim for classical (less well paid) jobs like educator, PA, bookkeeper and the like.

This was revealed by a study undertaken by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). When discussing the study results with news channel CNN Mary Ellen Smyth of the AAUW remarked: "It's not that they (women) are hitting a glass ceiling in the high-tech sector. It's that they don't have the keys to open the door."

Communication is one of these keys! It's proven that women are still overlooked or regarded as less competent or ready for a career move since they don't know how to communicate successfully in their work environment.  May it be that they don't promote themselves or speak up in meetings.

Communication skills are essential in any situation. In particular for women. That's why communication coaching especially designed for women is so important . Coaching based on gender specific behaviour and communication like Raab & Raab Performance Consulting offers. Take advantage of it, have the key to open doors into a better paid sector where you belong.  It's worth it.

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Last week we mentioned that according to a research conducted by the Department of Education, Sience and Technology and the Australian National Training Authority job applicants with excellent communication skills are more likely to stand out of the crowd, catch the eye of an employer and end up as happy winners of the job.

The ability of being a good listener should therefore be like second nature to you since it's an ability that is rarely find in our fast-paced world and is a communication skill that guarantees you respect and good will.

A pre-requisite is concentration and focus on the person who is speaking and actively listening to him or her by giving nonverbal feedback like nodding with your head from time to time or verbal feedback like asking questions to receive a better understanding or reconfirm what the speaker has just said.

Some more active listening tips are:

• Be aware that acitve listening takes time.
• Eliminate destractions - looking at your watch or checking your phone for an SMS are an unforgivable no-no.
• Contain eye contact.
• Lean a bit forward to demonstrate your interest.
• Maintain an open body language throughout the conversation and
• Smile encouragingly when appropriate.
• Enter the conversation with on open frame of mind welcoming new ideas and point of views.

Active listeners are always winners. Be one of them!

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We all know: Meetings can be exhausting. After an hour - well, let's be honest, sometimes even after only a couple of minutes - our energy level can drop by far lower than it is good for our professional reputation.

Here's a trick: Your posture mirrors your energy level, your energy level your posture. Consequently: Change your posture, change your energy level. How? Easy! Back straight, shoulders up right - no matter if you're standing or sitting - that'll show you're alert, ready and keen to take information in. If you're a slouching slouch everyone will assume you couldn't care less about the topic discussed or presented - not good for your professional image - even if it's the truth!

Some more tricks when you're sitting: Put both feet on the floor and bend slightly forwards.  That'll give the impression that you are really interested. Sitting on the edge of your chair will make everyone think you feel uncomfortable, leaning back with feet strechted far away from your body will show your boredom or even resentment towards the speaker, the meeting or the topic. However, don't sit too far forward or everyone will expect you to run as soon as there's a chance to leave since you can't stand the meeting.

Also a good idea: Copy the posture of the one who is presenting or leading the discussion. That'll put him or her at ease and earn you some bonus points. You'll never know when you'll need those.

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According to research conducted by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) in recent years, outstanding Communication and Interpersonall Skills are the most common skills sought by employers.

Whether a small business or a global enterprise - employers are now looking for job applicants who are able to convey information in both verbal and written formats as appropriate for the needs of their target audience and who can develop a rapport with others easily and form working relationships quickly.

They want employees who are good listeners, understand and respect cultural differences and have a global focus on interpersonal skills.

Yes, your expertise and experience do count too. However, it is your solid repertoire of soft skills, in particular your communication skills, that will set you apart from your competitors and get you the job your want. The figures speak for themselves.

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At the end of each year editors and language researchers of Webster's New World - renowned for their Dictionaries and Thesauri - are looking forward to one of their most favourite duties: Finding the Word of the Year. “We survey the emerging English of the past year,” says Editor in Chief Michael Agnes, “and choose one word or phrase that captures our imagination – whether with its intrinsic linguistic attributes or by the way it expresses how language reflects changing realities.”

“In most cases,” says Agnes, “the word chosen is a new one and thus hasn’t yet found its way into the dictionary. As we do not try to predict the future of language change in English, the choice does not reflect an opinion that the term will eventually be found in the dictionary. In short, it’s merely one that made us chuckle, think, reflect, or just shake our heads.”

This week Webster has announced this year's winner. It's the word "overshare", meaning "divulge excessive personal information." Sharing more than you wanted to know. Those personal, overly-detailed revelations that you simply don't wanted to know. But in an era of online social networking and instant digital broadcasts, this type of unsolicited and often embarrassing communication is an inescapable sign of the times. Simply TMI - too much information.

The Word of the Year 2008 can act as a great reminder in the area of public speaking in particular when preparing your next presentation. Remember the rule that is so important when structuring your next public speaking event: Three main points you're going to talk about are what everybody can take in - supported by three statements each in the main body of your presentation. Put in more and you're simply oversharing when giving a presentation! Keep it short and simple!

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"On Saturday, I was a surgeon in South Africa, very little known. On Monday, I was world renowned."

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Do you want people to trust you? Then keep an eye on your body language and avoid touching your face. Why? Research show that when people tell lies they touch their face ,  in particular their nose significantly more due to an increase of blood pressure. Even people who haven't read the research results intuitively sense that the speaker's gesture signalise they are lying.

So if you want to be taken seriously keep your hands away from your face and your palms open! 

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