Saturday, March 24, 2007

There's a word in Japanese called "Kaizen." It basically means ongoing, everyday improvement. The idea is if you improve a little every day, you can make big strides over a longer period of time.

When you communicate with other people, there are three things at work:

(1) What you say
(2) Your body language
(3) Your vocal patterns

All three things are really easy to improve dramatically, if you invest some time every day in them. Here's my strategy:

(1) I read interesting books every day and make a note of interesting things I've read in them. I also am on the look out for interesting stories to tell.

(2) I've been working on my posture. I've always had TERRIBLE posture, but it's improving rapidly. In addition to observing others, I video taped myself again and again trying different things to see what worked best. Here are some things I've learned:

a. Chin position: Never look down! Keep your head static (not fidgeting) and always look forward.

b. Chest position: By default your shoulders fall in front of your chest and your back sticks out. You want to push your chest forward, creating a small curve in your back and always stand/walk like that. This takes a little while to get used to. I also feel more confident when I walk this way.

c. Fidgeting: When you speak, don't move too much. Keep your head static, your legs straight, and don't fidget. You seem more in control.

d. Sitting: Lean back in your chair and keep your chin straight. Leaning forward makes you seem needy, I've seen.

(3) Vocal Patterns: I bought this CD course called "The Sound Of Your Voice" - it's been very interesting. I think everyone should learn how to improve their voice, make it stronger, more varied/interesting, etc. There are simple exercises you can do to accomplish this.

Much of life is in communicating with others and all that communication relates to those three bullet points above. No matter how good you are in them, remember kaizen and practice to improve them each every day.
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