One Day Communication Workshop

If you are in the Toronto area, there is a communication workshop coming up soon that you may want to go to. BRASI is sponsoring a one-day workshop and I will be doing the training. For more information please follow this link to the BRASI website. IF interested, register through BRASI. (Aftab Khan is the […]

Don’t Hold Onto Anger

Recently a friend of mine told me this story. She came home from work and saw 2 young teenage girls chatting at the front of the building, one holding the building door open as she chatted. My friend simply walked through the open door and proceeded to the elevator. One of the ‘young ladies’ called […]

Assist Your Listener

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great summer and not working too hard. Today I would like to remind you of something I am often repeating in training – assist your listener. Sometimes we can get caught up in our own speaking that we neglect the listener. We may be speaking too […]

Mind Your Ps and Qs!

This is an idiom that at first, seems a bit strange, even to a native English speaker. Why Ps and Qs? What exactly does it mean? Well, it means to “be careful” or “be respectful (i.e. to elders)” or simply it serves as a reminder to young ones to be polite and on their best […]

Polite Customer Service in Japan

I am enjoying my time in Japan. I have spent my time in Yokohama, Tokyo and Kyoto. Although I have been working with Japanese people in Toronto for 8 years this is actually my first visit here. There are many things I could write about, but today I will focus on the politeness that is […]

FYI – In Japan

Do you know this shorthand? FYI? It means “For Your Information.” It’s a great way to save time and space in text mail and email. We even can use it in actual speech! E.g. “John, I’ll see you at 6pm for dinner, and FYI, it’s your turn to pick up the tab!”  (Pay the bill). […]

In Japan

Hello everyone, I will be here in Japan until July 9th. Some work, some relaxation. I am in Tokyo and Yokohama right now and soon I will visit Shizuoka and then Kyoto. I will put together a post/newsletter soon about communication issues here in J-town. For now, sorry that I have not posted for a […]

Confidence is Competence!

They are twins. They are the flip side of a coin. As you build up your belief in yourself to do something you gain the nerve to do it. Once you do it or attempt to do it you start to notice what you are doing right, that it wasn’t as bad as you had […]

Simplify Your English ok?

Today’s mini-lesson is simple. Be simpler. Is simple a bad thing? No. (See? A simple answer!) As a communication and career coach I have seen resumes and cover letters that are too ‘wordy’ and absolutely unclear. This little advice is not just for resumes and CVs, it is also for presentations, speeches, meetings, etc. or […]

The Rule of 75%

I had a fantastic time training the wonderful, energetic group of participants over the last weekend, at our 3V communication course. The first day focused on interpersonal skills and the second more on professional skills and public speaking. Anyway, unfortunately due to my over-zealousness to try to give the group all of my best information, […]