Face it. The next time you walk into a room with new people, assumptions about you will be made.

Within the first few seconds of meeting a new person, he or she will form an opinion about you based on your appearance, mannerisms, and body language.

These opinions are often difficult to overcome or undo, making these first encounters extremely significant.

Luckily, there are some things you can do to ensure that these assumptions and opinions are positive. Here are 10:

1. Be Punctual - Not much is more detrimental to one’s opinion of you than tardiness. A person you are meeting for the very first time will not care to listen to your excuses, despite how “real” or “good” they are. Plan for delays in traffic or other impeding events and remember that arriving early is much better than arriving late.
2. Neat and Tidy - You won’t make it far without the ability to present yourself in an organized manner. Take care to make sure you look your best. Make sure your hair is cut and your fingernails are trimmed. Is your attire appropriate for the occasion? Is it a business meeting? A casual setting? Be sure to iron and remove any stains from your clothes. This is perhaps the most important tip. Failing to present yourself in an orderly way can cost you greatly.

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Have you ever been the victim of a bout of anger and rage in a social situation?

Maybe you’ve found yourself at an office lunch with that one person that knows exactly how to get to you, how to make subtle little comments that get your blood boiling.

You try to sit back and tell yourself to calm down, but you are upset, angry, and full of rage. You decide to let this fella have it and open your mouth to spew a stream of swearing.

But your emotions are clouded by anger and rage and you end up making a huge fool of yourself over something unimportant. This is what I like to call an explosive conversation.  Explosive conversations are usually one-sided, blood-pressure-increasing, illogical conversations that have no goal or purpose.

Here’s how you can control the situation. In order to avoid situations like these and explosive conversations, we must first understand why and how they happen.

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A popular analogy for a computer’s memory management systems is the human mind.In this analogy, the hard drive of a computer is equivalent to a mind’s Long Term Memory. The RAM of a computer corresponds to one’s Short Term Memory.

However, one main divergence arises: in a computer, one can easily upgrade memory by purchasing a bigger hard drive disc or plugging in an upgraded RAM chipset. One cannot do this for the human brain.

Luckily, there are methods for expanding the human memory capacity. Here are 11:

1. Multiple Exposure - A common example for this tip is the average college student. For most college courses, a direct positive correlation exists between attendance and good grades. This is the result of extra exposure. Even if a student does not take notes during the class, her brain is still processing the information. Later when said student studies for an exam or does her homework, her brain will recall some of the information from the class and studying will be easier and more of a refresher. This is why most courses and education establishments employ the 3-exposure technique known as lecture, homework, and exams.
2. Pay More Attention to More Difficult Information - This may seem obvious but it is often overlooked. In reality, when we are taking in information for an extended period of time, we tend to lose focus after some time or fall into an expectation of the quality of information. When the quality changes, we may continue taking it in as our expectations propose. Think of it again, as a college student. To take notes on every word a professor utters would be difficult and counter productive. To be as efficient as possible, we must be aware of information quality changes and act accordingly.
3. Learn What Kind of Learner You Are - We all learn differently. Some of us learn best through visual cues, some through auditory cues, and others through pure hands-on experience. Most of us are a mixture of all three, but specialize in one. Use this test to determine what kind of learner you are and from now on, try to use it to your advantage. Read all »
   

Good communication skills are perhaps the most invaluable skill one can have.

No matter how much you know or how good you are at a specific task, without the ability to express yourself clearly and efficiently, you’ll never progress as far in life as you could have if you had this ability.

Luckily, great communicators are made, not born. The 8 tips below along with some practice will put you on a streamlined path to communication excellence.

(1) Understand Your Message - If you don’t understand what you are trying to say, how can you expect to others to understand? Try summarizing in one or two sentences what is the main idea of what you want to say. I find this works best by writing your intended message down.

(2) Remove Ambiguity - Look for any ambiguous words in your message and replace them with something more certain. There are two types of ambiguity for which to look.

• Definition Ambiguity - In the English language, most words have more than one meaning. For example, saying “I need a couple reports by this afternoon,” could mean a few reports or exactly two reports. In this case, it would be best to replace the word “couple” with an exact number or range of numbers.
• Sentence Ambiguity - Also known as Garden Path Sentences, it is possible for a sentence to have an unclear meaning. An example is “I know a man with a dog who has fleas.” Does this mean the dog has fleas or the man has fleas? Consider revising this sentence to something like “I know a man with a flea-infested dog.” The meaning is much clearer in the latter sentence.

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