You’ve done all the talking and negotiating in advance, you’ve agreed about what you want to do and what you don’t want to do, but no sooner have you slipped on your bikini or your snorkelling gear or your walking boots than it all goes belly-up with a more resounding splash than your first topple into the hotel pool. When you are in an unfamiliar environment and separated from your comfort zone, you may react in unexpected ways. Your body clock ticks to a different rhythm, the climate or weather can have unusual physical and mental effects.
How to make social small talk with people you find boring
We find people boring if their interests and concerns are different from ours. We are bored if they talk at length about subjects which are irrelevant to us. We find them even more tedious if they appear to have nothing to talk about and nothing to say on any matter. When we are forced into a conversational situation with such individuals, we can’t wait to get away.
Top tips for avoiding holiday stress
Holidays can take on a role which is way beyond their capacity to fulfil. We look forward to a couple of weeks away from work in a different or exotic location and hope this activity (or lack of activity) will recharge our batteries, get rid of our stress, save or enhance a relationship, bring families and friends together, provide a store of happy memories and generally improve our physical and emotional well-being. We imagine we will return from holiday sleek and bronzed versions of our usual selves, rested and relaxed, ready to pick up the challenges of everyday life with renewed vigour and sharpened insight.
Top tips for making small talk
Small talk conjures up images of stiff and awkward conversations about trivial subjects where we are expected to participate through social or professional duty. It refers to the obligatory exchanges we share when we first meet people at parties, business functions and events, social activities. It describes the kind of conversations we have with people at the bus stop, in the shop, at the school gate, queuing for tickets, waiting for the Pilates class or sporting event to start, any situation in which not to speak seems rude, but knowing what to say seems impossible.
Making Small Talk with Stylist magazine
Making small talk is a big subject in this week’s Stylist magazine and I’m featured among the communication experts giving their views in an extensive article by Tamara Cohen. You can read the article online at Stylist or in the printed magazine. The feature on the website doesn’t include the magazine’s sidebar Guide to Talking the Talk but it should be available later in the week when they post the full contents and I’ll add a link here when that happens. Small talk is important socially and for business and is a valuable skill to learn. Take a look at the Stylist feature to pick up some valuable tips on the very British art of small talk.
How to be a great listener
On a recent episode of The Apprentice, the head of retail banking at Barclays spoke to the candidates about the importance of listening skills. (Good luck with that particular group). The ability to listen is frequently listed as one of the most desirable ‘soft skills’. It is an essential element of communication. Great leaders are said to be great listeners. The words ‘expert’ and ‘skills’ suggest that listening is something that can be learnt. They indicate that not everyone is good at this but that that there are practices and strategies which we can work at in order to become ‘expert’.
Have a Plan B to beat exam stress
Everyone hopes exams will go well and their children will get the results they need but if they don’t, do you have a Plan B ready? Having a back-up in place, with second and third-choice schools, ‘insurance’ university offers, alternative courses, etc can ease exam stress for parents and children. Putting all your hopes on one outcome places everyone under pressure and the strain it creates could be counter-productive.
How parents can manage exam stress: supporting different ways of learning
One of the things that makes the exam period stressful is the frustration, bafflement and irritation of seeing someone studying and revising in ways that just don’t make sense to you. Instead of taking the “Why aren’t you doing this or that” line, try having a conversation about what your young person finds helpful about their particular choices.
10 ways parents can manage exam stress
Here are the top 10 responses that students gave when asked to tell their parents what to do and what not to do through the revision period. 1: Do provide constant supplies of food, and access to baths and long showers 2: Do help me if I ask for it 3: Do let me do it my way 4: Let me have a social life 5: Don’t try to learn with me 6: Don’t keep asking if I need help 7: Don’t moan or nag 8: Don’t compare me to others 9: Don’t keep making sure I’m revising, or spy on me 10: Don’t tell me not to worry
How parents can manage exam stress
Changing the way you think will help your child Tense, anxious, bad-tempered and irrational describe not just the kids taking exams, but their parents as well. The exam period puts strain on everyone: students, parents, families and friends. On the whole, their pets don’t suffer, and that gives us a clue. Pets, as we know, (some of them, at any rate) love you unconditionally, or at least their lasting affection is dependent on the simplest of conditions, mainly food-based. You can probably see where this is going.
How to stop multitasking and become a unitasker
Making this change is more significant than just altering the way that you work or the way that you deal with and respond to demands for your attention. It is more than a mechanical switch. Deciding to adopt a different attitude to ‘tasks’ can transform your life in many ways. Not only will you gain time, you will also benefit from improved health, less stress, better relationships. Throw in more enjoyment and satisfaction and well, why wouldn’t you go for it?
Why multitasking is bad for you
Look at me! Aren’t I clever! I am so on the ball, so quick and responsive, so on my mental toes that I can do loads of things at the same time, and am not in the least fazed when I’m in the middle of a task and have to switch to doing something else. It’s just multitasking. It’s what you have to do if you want to keep up in today’s fast-paced society.