4 Comments
Aug 8Liked by Deb Liu

Hello~ and this topic has always intrigued me in that "I see it happen quite often", or used to. Now being well into my 60s, and only into the workforce with our Picture-Yourself-Remembered™ visionary services, I don't experience it as much. Still, when I do come across the situation I [almost] "snicker to myself" thinking, "boy, have you got some learning left!"

I've tried to share the following concept with both underlings and family members in the work arena: "How would you act, or otherwise interface with [the other person(s)] being a close family member... or the parent of a friend of yours"? I doubt that they'd "look at their watch or smartphone" and I doubt that they'd "appear as a 'bump on a log' as my father used to say"! -Note: I wish that I could italicize here!

Treating everyone with the same enthusiasm, attentiveness and interest is not only best for your relationship; it also creates a long-term habit that will serve you very well~ BE that person and don't just "try"!

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GREAT reminders!! Thanks, Deb!

I had a friend perhaps 20 yrs ago who completely impressed me because when I was about to share something (no memory on what level of urgency/importance my comments were), he took the TV remote, muted it, then turned his body towards me to listen. (!!)

Instead of trying to speak over the TV (what I expected), I remember being so internally surprised that when people now approach me, I follow his example from decades ago of quieting distractions, then turning my body towards the speaker.

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Thank you for sharing this Deb! I think this is probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned: that how you show up matters. If you show up with joy, then it helps create an environment of joy and momentum. If you show up with vulnerability, it allows other people to open up too. We're seeing this in our politics too with the Harris-Walz campaign. One thing that I've had to be mindful about is when I'm talking to someone and strongly disagree with them, moderating my tone of voice and facial expressions to not come across as dismissive.

I'm curious if there are any body language "tics" that you've noticed for yourself as you've navigated communicating different messages to different audiences.

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Thanks Deb! Great read , it really matters!

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