www.klinkfamily.com used to be able to provide help in the area of posting comments. As you can see from the quote below, they may be out of that business. If so, we'll just keep looking until we find a way to include comments. In the meantime, try e-mail: ricej@mhcc.edu.

"Ok. well as you have all probably found out, BlogOut is pretty much down. I dont have the drive space to facillitate the system any longer and am unfortunately going to have to shut it down for now. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to bring back a more stable, more flexible solution, but until then I apologize for the inconvenience."

“Limit your own talking. You have two ears and one mouth. The more you listen, the more opportunity you’ll have to find out what the customer really wants.” That’s number one of a list of six (6) concepts that should help a person communicate. It could be for business purposes or personal relationship. If you don’t think the word “client” applies to you, just substitute friend or associate. Often when we talk too much the real reason is that we think that the person we’re talking to doesn’t realize how valuable we really are.

“Notice nonverbal communication. Only 7% of the message our client is communicating is through the words he/she uses, 38% is through tone of voice and 55% is through body language. This means that 93% of the message that someone communicates is conveyed by body language and tone of voice. Therefore, if you’re talking to a prospect, and they start doing things like, crossing their arms, crossing their legs away from you, yawning, leaning back, looking bored or avoiding eye contact, you need to "listen" to their body language and not only their words.” This is an accurate description of what happens in any conversation. When you’re talking to someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, it might be even more important that when you’re talking to a client.

“Don’t only think about what you’re going to say next. Too many times we are so concerned about we want to say that we don’t hear what the other person is really saying. By not paying total attention to our client, we ‘sell’ them on what we think is important and not what they really want. This frustrates the potential client and in many cases we lose the sale.” If what you’re selling is you, then your loss of a “sale” may be huge.

These ideas are worth learning and applying. If you ignore them, be certain that you’re rich so that you don’t need others to help you support yourself and be ready to begin sorting out those who “like” you because you’re rich from those who really value you and want to be with you.

When we study or discuss communications, we most often think about speech or writing. In discussing communications theory we talk about verbal and non-verbal communications. The impact of non-verbal communication on verbal communication is fairly easy to see and experience. We tend to remain narrow in our analysis of communication in spite of the fact that we can see many of the implications that non-verbal communications suggest.

For example, in a special issue of Time Magazine, January 19, 2004, there is a discussion of "How Your Love Life Keeps You Healthy". There is a suggestion in the article that we may be too narrow in our thoughts about communication. In the article entitled, The Power of Love, the author suggests that we all may be too narrow by saying "that human sexuality is a form of communication as much as it is of procreation. Nearly all creative acts are at least in part communicative."

Later in the same article, non-verbal communications is pointed out. "In uncounted thousands of such tactile transactions, kids learn to use touch as a means of connection at least as expressive as, and certainly more satisfying than, anything so detached as speech."

How might this broaden the discussion of communications, and help us to live with the person of our choice or build productive relationships within our families? Does it make more sense to limit the definition of communication to what is being said and how it is being said?

Our parents are our first and most effective teachers in most areas, but in communications and culture they are most powerful. If you had an easy time of the English classes in school, in large part it is your parents you need to thank. All your teachers had to do for you was to underscore what you already knew. You learned it without very much apparent traditional instruction. You picked it up through observation and interaction. Much of the instruction was non-verbal.

Later in life, the chances are much increased that you will be able to live with the person of your choice, live in the community of your choice and work at the job of your choice, if you have effective communication skills. A gift of huge value we give our children.

Human Resource Departments are increasingly looking for employees who communicate well. In fact, the person with effective communications skills will often get the job over others who, on paper, appear to be better prepared. The gift of communication skills gives our children an increased opportunity to reach their goals in life.

Communication is important to us all, from self-talk up to community building world wide. If we want to live with the person of our choice we must continuously improve our communications. If we want a better community in which to live and raise our families we must continuously improve our communications. What one of us misses or doesn't understand another will catch and help us to understand. Together we can make a difference, and communication is basic to the process.

It appears that radio and TV are broadcasting content that suggests that if you don't agree with what they are broadcasting on their talk shows, you must be anti-American or some wild liberal. Another way to look at disagreement is free speech.

How can we successfully sort through the mass of "information" that is available and determine what we need to know in order to enable us to think, plan and/or vote? Which medium is most honest and dependable? Are all media so focused on profits that no medium is left that will fill the traditional role that used to be filled with newspapers, radio and TV?