Personal Improvement - What Makes Effective Questions, Effective? - News: JFD Performance Solutions

Author and international expert, Ed Oakley, is a master at asking truly effective questions. In his book, Enlightened Leadership, he describes what makes effective questions, effective. Here are a few concepts and excerpts from Ed's book on this important subject.

In simple terms, the human mind, which is far more powerful than any computer devised by mankind, basically works by continually looking for answers to questions it receives from a variety of sources. No matter what questions are asked, answers are generated at some point. Just as a car runs differently depending upon what type of fuel it uses, the mind runs differently depending on the types of questions it is asked to answer.

Public speaking is one form of communication and is, quite simply, the process of presenting your thoughts and feelings in a meaningful way. There is a often a perception that only people involved in sales, marketing, or mass media need to learn public speaking. However, the truth is that individuals from all walks of life have to speak in public from time to time. A student reciting a poem in school, citizens expressing their opinions on national issues, or the president of a company addressing the staff, are all different forms of public speaking.

Importance of Public Speaking
Public speaking is important for many reasons, and learning proper public speaking techniques will help you in various facets of your life, such as:

Customers for Keeps. 8 Powerful Strategies to Turn Customers into Friends and Keep Them Forever is a very comprehensive book that compares customers to your friends, and how relating to customers as you would a good friend can result in more new and repeat business for your company. Companies must be more customer oriented than ever, and Geller urges us to use "friendship branding" to think about our company in a human way; and to create a warm emotional bond with our customers.

Stage One: Putting a Human Face on Your Company
As buyers and consumers, it's hard to make a human connection with most brands and companies. The more your can company can "speak" to your customers on a level that works for them, the more will want to do business with you.

By changing how you think about your tasks, you can create a better return on investment for your time. Do you have more 'to-dos' than time in your day? Is lack of time preventing you from reaching more of your goals? If you had more time, what would it mean to your business, your finances, your family - your life? No one is given more than 24 hours a day. How then do some people accomplish so much while others drown in incomplete 'to-do' lists, missed deadlines and unmet objectives?

The year was 2006. In April, my father died of prostate cancer after a very tough struggle, and I was having difficulty dealing with him being gone. He was only 70 years old. A month earlier, in March, Mildred, my favorite great-aunt, had also passed away. She was almost 94. As executor of Aunt Mildred's will and estate, I appreciated her trust in bestowing that responsibility upon me, but it was a tremendous amount of extra work for me to take on, especially while grieving for her and for Dad.