Just took a little ride on a time machine. Five minutes ago I received an email regarding Samuel Beckett's Lessness. This struck me as slightly unusual; I'm not aware of any special interest in Beckett. Sorry. But there, below the email, was my email requesting access to some of the information. I'd sent my request [...]
Everyone asks. They're all worried that they're writing too much, or not enough. (Nobody seems to worry that they're writing exactly the right amount and that someone will be confused or annoyed.) So what's the answer? How long should a blog post or book or chapter or any written work be? Here's an analogy which [...]
Intent is a powerful tool. In the 'trust tree' it's the trunk—the only portion that's partly invisible, partly visible. Our intent begins inside, then becomes evident to others.
Some things are true. They are knowable. They can be measured, quantified in some way, verified, observed, taught.
Words mean what they mean, and somewhere in our unconscious, we believe what we're really saying, not what we think we're saying.
Contracts are not about money. Contracts are about clarifying the communication.
When a question begs the obvious and expected answer, we're not really asking a question; we're making a disguised statement or request or demand. Wording the demand as a question, with the lilting raised voice at the end and a smile on our face, does not transmogrify it into an innocent act.
Words do a poor job of hiding our true intentions. Whether it's disdain or love, what you feel or believe about your listener will leak into your communication. No; really. It will.
We all make assumptions. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini points out their value in a complex society. He also points out many of the dangers of assumption. I find myself assigning greater value to books that have more words in them, to CDs that have more music on them. To longer [...]
anger arguing argument assumption assumptions background books brevity challenges communication embarrassment expectations family fear generosity giving honesty indignation intent intentions joel d canfield Karen Lynn last word lie logic lying manners no passion perception perceptions process psychology punctuation quote reading reality semicolon simplicity sources stress trolls truth writing yes
