Archive for conversation
Bill McGrane speaks at Rotary Club
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Bill McGrane presentation
The Way You Ask a Question Affects the Response!
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re your communication skills getting you the results you want? Would you like to find ways to empower your ability to persuade? If you could improve one aspect of your communications skills, what would it be? Could asking questions and listening more skillfully make a difference for you?
Picture this: You walk into a department store, and while you’re making your way through the specialty kitchen section of the appliance area, you hear an older woman yelling. As you turn toward the customer service counter, where people can pay their local utility bills, you hear the women shouting, “How could my electric bill be so high? You’ve got to be kidding!” From the tone of her voice, you know immediately that an explosion is about to occur.
Across the aisle, you sit down in a lounge chair and act like a quiet little mouse. You’re curious to listen and see how this situation unfolds. You notice that the employees seem to suddenly become very busy with all kinds of activities except, that is, assisting this woman. They’ve obviously decided to ignore her and act as if nothing is happening. Meanwhile, the older woman, who’s getting more agitated by the minute, is quickly walking around and around a nearby table, shouting in disbelief about her utility bill. Everyone is well aware of what’s going on, but no one’s doing anything to help. Then a magic moment occurs—someone with the skill to resolve the issue is about to step in.
If you were faced with this situation, what would you do? What would be the first thing you’d say? Might it be appropriate to ask a question?
More tommorow on the rest of the story
Are you seasoned?
Posted by: | CommentsI was watching an interview of the Indiana Jones Actor Harrison Ford the other day. He was asked the question, are you a great Actor? His answer was “when I first did the Star Wars movies I was not. I was not seasoned”.
The interviewer did not know what he meant by that and asked the follow up question, what is being seasoned? Harrison said, “it takes many years to become experienced in your craft and after many years of seasoning and working through all the troubling circumstances life and acting can throw at you, you finally end of becoming seasoned”.
How are you seasoned? Have you become repined in your life and career? Do you qualify as a mature person?
All of us have to reinvent ourselves and move to our next level. Have you noticed the more you know the more you know you don’t know?
Even with the election last night in Massachusetts of Scott Brown it shows that even when you think you have everything covered life brings you a new twist.
Ask yourself, what you want to be seasoned in? Many times without knowing it we making choices that cause us to collect seasoning that after review we wish we did not have. The great news is, choice by choice you can change your seasoning.
Start today to choose the seasoning you want in your life so you end up being seasoned the way you want to be. And when life brings you things you wish you did not have, find the gift in the pain and make it your friend.
More tomorrow on what you can do to bring into your life what you really want.
To the right sign up to receive our blog updates to stay informed as well on Twitter etc. Let me know how you are seasoning your life.
Ask a question! Solve a problem!
Posted by: | CommentsThe art and power of asking questions is the subject of a new book, “Just Ask” by author Bill McGrane of McGrane Global Centers in Union, KY. In his presentation at a recent Florence Rotary Club luncheon meeting, McGrane suggested that problems can be solved simply by asking questions.
Whether the problem is an unsolved personal issue, a request for help from a friend or family member, or something as simple as a lull in a conversation, the right question will go a long way towards a potential solution.
If a nagging worry is bothering you, ask yourself, “What do you think the problem is?” When a friend brings you a problem, ask, “If you weren’t coming to me, if you had to resolve this on your own, what would you do?” If you are at a table or meeting with a group of people and you see someone is getting upset or angry, or if it all of a sudden talk stops completely, using the power of affirmation in the form of a question can redirect the conversation in a very powerful and positive way.
McGrane proposed the idea that questions can help us respond with grace and ease if we are in the habit of using them. Be prepared by writing down 10 scripted questions you can use at any time. To order the book, “Just Ask” or to learn about other personal development tools available from the McGrane Global Centers, visit their Web site, www.mcgrane.com or call 859-384-6333. For more information about the Florence Rotary Club and service projects, visit the Web site at www.florencerotary.org or contact John Salyers, president, at jsalyers7@insightbb.com or 859-653-9399.
Chuck Seal
