Gabrielle G.

..are one the most used keyboard features, with more than five billion of them used every day on social media.

The most popular one on Facebook and Twitter is the laughing yellow face with tears of joy, while Instagram has the heart emoji as the most used one.

The way to reach success is to make people around you successful. To help others succeed, you have to be good at listening.

Listening is about hearing what the other person is saying. It is thinking about how to help the other person achieve the best results by examining their words and asking thoughtful questions.

• We are literally wired for music and even have a dedicated part of our brain, especially for processing music.
• Listening to music and singing together directly impacts the neurochemicals of the brain and releases endorphins.
• Singing together is an effective way to build social bonds, as there is something about music that makes it great for closeness or connections.

They have inflated views of themselves (they think they are better than they actually are).

They make fantastic first impressions. But the stuff that works for narcissists so well in the short term proves lethal in the long term.

In job interviews, narcissists get results, but after three weeks people regard narcissists as untrustworthy. They make awesome first dates, but relationship satisfaction with them shows a big decline after 4 months. 

Many people avoid networking because it feels awkward and unnatural. Research shows that networking to gain career benefits can lead to feelings of dirtiness.

But cultivating an effective network offers substantial professional and personal benefits, such as finding new jobs, obtaining promotions and receiving pay raises. A strong network is also associated with innovation, creativity, health and happiness.

Being a good listener is not about getting the facts about what made them upset. It is to be supportive, offer encouragement, and empathize.
Ask open-ended questions to communicate that you're interested in them. Avoid questions beginning with 'Why' and use 'What' or 'How' instead. Generic open-ended questions that work well are:

• What was that like for you?
• Can you tell me more about that?
• How did you feel about that?
• What was going through your mind?

The ability to let others talk and not interrupt them is a skill that you must practice on a daily basis. This allows us to see more of the other person rather than ourselves.

Back in the 1990s, a woman naming Betty Bigombe was able to befriend a warlord by providing an opportunity for them to share their views. Betty Bigombe became Uganda's Woman of the Year for having initiated the peace talks to put an end to the violence between Kony and the Ugandan president and its people.

Writer’s block can just be a disguised, indecisive mind.

A lot of times, writer's block is a result of lack of clarity, leading to indecision. One does not know the answers to certain questions, or does not have the right questions in the first place. One also gets confused over the categorization or prioritization of the questions.

The FORD technique is a quick and easy method to avoid awkward silences.

FORD is an acronym that stands for: Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams.

Think of a couple questions for each category, keep them saved in your memory bank, and you should be able to start up a lasting conversation with anyone you meet.

1. Be fully present. Avoid distractions and multitasking, focusing exclusively on the other person.
2. Ask a question to better understand and help the conversation go deeper.
3. Question more. Good questions make for great conversation. The more you listen, the more relevant your comments will be.
4. Be empathetic. Sometimes we need to experience the other person’s feelings to really understand.
5. Validate their thoughts and feelings. Doing otherwise risks ending the conversation.
6. Repeat back what you have heard to communicate and calibrate understanding.