Some people are apparently more afraid of starting their own business than jumping out of a plane. That’s how powerful the fear of failure can be.We’d rather do something that could get us killed than do something new. Researchers found that about a third of Americans are more afraid of starting their own company than sky diving.Even if many of them hate their jobs and want to quit. Why are we so afraid of doing something new?<ul><li>Moving to a different city, state, or country</li><li>Going to activities by ourselves</li><li>Starting a business</li><li>Switching careers</li></ul>

Jumping Out Of A Plane Is Easier Than A Startup

When you’re afraid to take the first step towards doing something new, like going for a different career path, starting a business, writing your first book, etc., the best thing to do is to do a bit of research.A study found that one of the best ways an entrepreneur can overcome feelings of fear is through information seeking. That’s probably why Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year and even takes two-week “reading vacations” now and then.

Learning Is the First Step

People create goals in 2 ways: By being proactive, meaning they are motivated by achieving a positive outcome. And by being avoidant, meaning they develop goals to avoid something undesirable.It’s the difference between people who play the game to win. And others who play to avoid losing. The thing is, we don’t control most of our results in life.That doesn’t mean we should aim very low. When you’re in a situation where you have no control over the outcomes, remember that you have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength

Be Proactive, Not Avoidant

<ul><li>Learn – Consume as much information as you can in a limited time period.</li><li>Act – There comes a time when you have to put down your book and start practicing what you learned. Many people never start.</li><li>Adjust – Most things we pursue in life are not final. You can always switch jobs, careers, start a different business, pick up new hobbies, move to another city, and so forth. Simply adjust your path if it doesn’t work out.</li></ul>The most important thing about the LAA framework and overcoming the fear of failure is that life is a fluid process.

The LAA framework

Preparation helps you try out new things and go the distance. It’s there to reassure you that you have something to fall back on if things go wrong. Starting a business, switching careers, investing in the stock market as a beginner, and so forth – these aren’t a matter of life and death. Not like walking an actual tightrope between two skyscrapers.When you realize that your psychological fear can be allayed by preparation, you’ll be just fine.

Preparation Is Your Safety Net

A study has shown we’d rather do something that could get us killed than do something new. Here how to overcome your fear of failure.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

business

Business

Preparation: The Antidote to Fear of Failure - Darius Foroux

Making a new dish for the first time almost always takes longer than you expect. Give yourself an extra 15 minutes of cooking and prep time to account for this, but ensure that the other dishes you’re preparing are things you’re familiar with. Know what you’re going to make ahead of time and stick to it. For example, on a weeknight, you could stick to a protein, cooked veg or starch, and something made of raw plant parts.

Make Good Choices and Keep Things Simple

Decide on when dinner is going to be served, then work backwards from there. Write down what you’re making, with recipe times and cooking temperatures beside each item. For example: <ul><li>Pan-fried chicken breasts—30 minutes, stove top</li><li>Roasted carrots—45 minutes, including washing/peeling/chopping</li><li>Salad with blue cheese and red onion—10 minutes</li><li>Bacon—About 7 minutes</li></ul> Given these prep times, you will need an hour, considering that the chicken and carrots can cook at the same time.

Make a Timeline

When preparing a “square” meal—you know, the kind with a protein and at least two sides—I rarely struggle with the actual cooking. I can cook a chicken, mash some potatoes, and roast a sheet pan of broccoli without any issue, but timing it all so everything ends up on the table simultaneously—hot and ready—is what…

food

Food

How to Time Your Cooking So Everything Is Ready at Once

Intellectual property is a broad categorical description for the set of intangible assets owned and legally protected by a company or individual from outside use or implementation without consent. An intangible asset is a non-physical asset that a company or person owns.
The concept of intellectual property relates to the fact that certain products of human intellect should be afforded the same protective rights that apply to physical property, which are called tangible assets. Most developed economies have legal measures in place to protect both forms of property.

Intellectual Property: A Primer

Companies are diligent when it comes to identifying and protecting intellectual property because it holds such high value in today's increasingly knowledge-based economy. 
Also, producing value intellectual property requires heavy investments in brainpower and time of skilled labor. This translates into heavy investments by organizations and individuals that should not be accessed with no rights by others.

The Idea Behind Intellectual Property

A patent is a property right for an investor that's typically granted by a government agency, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent allows the inventor exclusive rights to the invention, which could be a design, process, an improvement, or physical invention such as a machine. 
Technology and software companies often have patents for their designs. For example, the patent for the personal computer was filed in 1980 by Steve Jobs and three other colleagues at Apple Inc.

Types of Intellectual Property: Patents

Copyrights provide authors and creators of original material the exclusive right to use, copy, or duplicate their material. Authors of books have their works copyrighted as do musical artists. 
A copyright also states that the original creators can grant anyone authorization through a licensing agreement to use the work.

Types of Intellectual Property: Copyrights

A trademark is a symbol, phrase, or insignia that is recognizable and represents a product that legally separates it from other products. 
A trademark is exclusively assigned to a company, meaning the company owns the trademark so that no others may use or copy it. A trademark is often associated with a company's brand. For example, the logo and brand name of "Coca Cola," is owned by the Coca-Cola Company (KO).

Types of Intellectual Property: Trademarks

A franchise is a license that a company, individual, or party–called the franchisee–purchases allowing them to use a company's–the franchisor–name, trademark, proprietary knowledge, and processes.
The franchisee is typically a small business owner or entrepreneur who operates the store or franchise. The license allows the franchisee to sell a product or provide a service under the company's name. In return, the franchisor is paid a start-up fee and ongoing licensing fees by the franchisee

Types of Intellectual Property: Franchise

A trade secret is a company's process or practice that is not public information, which provides an economic benefit or advantage to the company or holder of the trade secret. Trade secrets must be actively protected by the company and are typically the result of a company's research and development.Examples of trade secrets could be a design, pattern, recipe, formula, or proprietary process. Trade secrets are used to create a business model that differentiates the company's offerings to its customers by providing a competitive advantage.

Types of Intellectual Property: Trade Secrets

Attached to intellectual property are certain rights, known as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), that cannot be infringed upon by those without authorization to use them.1 IPRs give owners the ability to bar others from recreating, mimicking, and exploiting their work.Patents infringement occurs when a legally-protected patent is used by another person or company without permission. Patents filed before June 8, 1995, are valid for 17 years, whereas patents filed after this date are valid for 20 years. After the expiration date, the details of the patent are made public.

Intellectual Property Infringement

Many forms of intellectual property cannot be listed on the balance sheet as assets since there aren't specific accounting principles to value each asset. However, the value of the property tends to be reflected in the price of the stock since market participants are aware of the existence of the intellectual property.Some intangible assets are recorded as property, such as patents because they have an expiration date

Special Considerations

Generally, the creator of a work is deemed its owner. However, intellectual property ownership can be determined differently for different types of property and under varying circumstances. 
For example, if work is created for an employer, the employer is the owner of that intellectual property. Also, ownership rights can also be transferred to other parties.

Intellectual Property Ownership

Intellectual property can be used for various reasons, such as branding and marketing, as well as to protect assets that give a competitive advantage.

Intellectual Property Usage

Intellectual property is a set of intangibles owned and legally protected by a company from outside use or implementation without consent.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

startup

Startups

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Intellectual Property

Most of us are weary of disagreement, so a claim that disagreement can be productive is intriguing. 
Some of the common misconceptions with respect to disagreement are:
<ul>
<li>Arguments are bad.</li>
<li>They change people’s minds.</li>
<li>They come to an end.</li>
</ul>

The Art of Productive Disagreement

<ol><li>Truth 1: Arguments aren’t bad – They’re signposts to issues that need our attention.</li><li>Truth 2: Arguments aren’t about changing minds – They are about bringing minds together.</li><li>Truth 3: Arguments don’t end – They have deep roots and will pop back up again and again, asking us to engage with them.</li></ol>

The Three Truth About Disagreements

This is the internal voice that will tell you things such as “Take it or leave it” or “My way or the highway”. The voice of power isn't the ultimate conflict-resolution strategy, because you can’t argue with sheer force. Benson states that this what power does – it forcibly closes down arguments and ends conflict in your favour, which is an undeniable evolutionary advantage.

The Psychology Of Disagreements: The Voice Of Power

This is the internal voice which will tell you things such as “Why?” or “That doesn’t add up”. The voice of reason is all about using reasons to shut down a debate. Benson argues that the voice of reason works best in situations where you have disagreements with people who share respect for the same higher authority or are part of the same group or organisation that your reasons draw from.

The Psychology Of Disagreements: The Voice Of Reason

This is the internal voice that tells you things such as “I would prefer not to” or “Leave me out of it”.Conflict avoiders have identified flaws in the voices of power and reason and so have chosen to address conflicts by simply refusing to participate in them in the first place.

The Psychology Of Disagreements: The Voice Of Avoidance

The fourth voice, which is missing during a disagreement is the voice of possibility.This muted voice seeks to make conflict productive. This voice resonates in questions like: <ul><li>What are we missing?</li><li>What else is possible?</li><li>What else can we do with what we have?</li><li>Who else can we bring into the conversation to give us a new perspective?</li></ul>

The Psychology Of Disagreements: The Missing Voice

The voice of possibility encourages us very explicitly not to do what the other three voices – power, reason and avoidance – have made habitual in us, which is to find a way to uproot and kill the conflict. We need to develop ‘honest bias’ and listen to the fourth voice of possibility, leaving aside our ego to make a disagreement less about arguments and more about a mutual solution.

Don’t Listen To The Three Bad Voices!

Make use of the following steps to implement the fourth voice:<ul><li>Watch how anxiety sparks inside the mind. </li><li>Talk to your internal voices.</li><li>Develop honest bias – There is no cure for bias, but we can develop an honest relationship to our own bias with self-reflection.</li><li>Speak for yourself.</li><li>Listen generously.</li><li>Ask questions that invite surprising answers.</li><li>Build arguments together.</li><li>Cultivate neutral spaces.</li><li>Accept reality, then participate in it.</li></ul>

The Voice Of Possibility At Work

<ol><li>When you notice anxiety, pause and ask yourself: are you anxious about what is true, what is meaningful, or what is useful?</li><li>Ask the other party the same question. Do they give the same answer or something different?</li><li>Narrate out loud what each of you is anxious about. Reiterate how each of you answered the question to see if that leads to new connections for yourself or the other person.</li><li>Check to see if either of you is willing to switch to what the other is anxious about. Who has more cognitive dissonance happening and could use the other’s help?</li></ol>

How To Stop Anxiety To Overtake Your Disagreement

Have you ever walked away from an argument and suddenly thought of all the brilliant things you wish you'd said? Do you avoid certain family members and colleagues because of bitter, festering tension that you can't figure out how to address? Now, finally, there's a solution: a new framework that frees you from the trap of unproductive conflict and pointless arguing forever. If the threat of raised voices, emotional outbursts, and public discord makes you want to hide under the conference room table, you're not alone. Conflict, or the fear of it, can be exhausting. But as this powerful book argues, conflict doesn't have to be unpleasant. In fact, properly channeled, conflict can be the most valuable tool we have at our disposal for deepening relationships, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas. As the mastermind behind some of the highest-performing teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Slack, Buster Benson spent decades facilitating hard conversations in stressful environments. In this book, Buster reveals the psychological underpinnings of awkward, unproductive conflict and the critical habits anyone can learn to avoid it. Armed with a deeper understanding of how arguments, you'll be able to: • Remain confident when you're put on the spot • Diffuse tense moments with a few strategic questions • Facilitate creative solutions even when your team has radically different perspectives Why Are We Yelling will shatter your assumptions about what makes arguments productive. You'll find yourself having fewer repetitive, predictable fights once you're empowered to identify your biases, listen with an open mind, and communicate well.

communication

Communication

books

Books

Have you ever walked away from an argument and suddenly thought of all the brilliant things you wish you'd said? Do you avoid certain family members and colleagues because of bitter, festering tension that you can't figure out how to address? Now, finally, there's a solution: a new framework that frees you from the trap of unproductive conflict and pointless arguing forever. If the threat of raised voices, emotional outbursts, and public discord makes you want to hide under the conference room table, you're not alone. Conflict, or the fear of it, can be exhausting. But as this powerful book argues, conflict doesn't have to be unpleasant. In fact, properly channeled, conflict can be the most valuable tool we have at our disposal for deepening relationships, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas. As the mastermind behind some of the highest-performing teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Slack, Buster Benson spent decades facilitating hard conversations in stressful environments. In this book, Buster reveals the psychological underpinnings of awkward, unproductive conflict and the critical habits anyone can learn to avoid it. Armed with a deeper understanding of how arguments, you'll be able to: <li>Remain confident when you're put on the spot</li><li>Diffuse tense moments with a few strategic questions</li><li>Facilitate creative solutions even when your team has radically different perspectives</li> Why Are We Yelling will shatter your assumptions about what makes arguments productive. You'll find yourself having fewer repetitive, predictable fights once you're empowered to identify your biases, listen with an open mind, and communicate well.

Buster Benson

Why Are We Yelling?

Whether it’s a succinct declarative statement in an email or a complex argument in a report, your writing has the potential to light up the neural circuitry of your readers’ brains.Good writing gets the reader’s dopa­mine flowing in the area of the brain known as the reward circuit. Just like good food or a hug, well-­executed writing makes us feel pleasure, which makes us want to keep reading.The magic happens when your writing has one or more of these characteristics: It’s simple, specific, surprising, stirring, seductive, smart, social, or story-­driven.

Good writing gets the reader’s dopa­mine flowing

Simplicity increases what scientists call the brain’s “processing fluency.” Short sentences, familiar words, and clean syntax ensure that the reader doesn’t have to exert too much brainpower to understand your meaning.By contrast, studies have shown that sentences with clauses nested in the middle take longer to read and cause more comprehension mistakes. ﻿Cutting extraneous words and using the active voice are two ways to keep it simple. Another tactic is to drill down to what’s really salient and scrap tangential details.

Simplicity

Specifics awaken a swath of brain circuits. Think of “pelican” versus “bird.” Or “wipe” versus “clean.”  Our neurons actually “embody” what the words mean: When we hear more-specific ones, we “taste,” “feel,” and “see” traces of the real thing.Using more vivid, palpable language will reward your readers. Another specificity tactic is to give readers a memorable shorthand phrase to help them retain your message.

Specificity

Our brains are wired to make nonstop predictions, including guessing the next word in every line of text. If your writing confirms the readers’ guess, that’s OK, though possibly a yawner. Surprise can make your message stick, helping readers learn and retain information.

Surprise

Our brains process the emotional connotations of a word within 200 milliseconds of reading it—much faster than we understand its meaning. So when we read emotionally charged material, we reflexively react with feelings. Reason follows. We then combine the immediate feeling and subsequent thought to create meaning.﻿So when you write your next memo, consider injecting words that package feeling and thought together. Instead of saying “challenge the competition,” you might use “outwit rivals.” In lieu of “promote innovation,” try “prize ingenuity.” Metaphor often works even better.

Stirring Language

We’re wired to savor an­tic­ipation. One famous study showed that people are often happier planning a vacation than they are after taking one. Scientists call the reward “anticipatory utility.” You can build up the same sort of excitement when you structure your writing. Start a report with a question. Pose your customer problem as a conundrum. Position your product development work as solving a mystery. Put readers in a state of uncertainty so that you can then lead them to something better.

Seductiveness

Please the readers by giving them an “aha” moment:
<ul>
<li>Draw fresh distinctions. Ginni Rometty, formerly IBM’s CEO, offered one with this description of the future: “It will not be a world of man versus machine; it will be a world of man plus machine.”</li>
<li>Phrase a pragmatic message so that it also evokes an universal truth. The founder of Herman Miller, wrote: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.” That’s wisdom not just for business managers but for anyone in a guiding role.</li>
</ul>

Smart Thinking

Our brains are wired to crave human connection—even in what we read. We don’t want just to read about people, though—we want to understand what they’re thinking as quickly as possible.
<ul>
<li>One way to help readers connect with you and your writing is to reveal more traces of yourself in it. Think voice, world­view, vocabulary, wit, syntax, poetic rhythm, sensibilities.</li>
<li>Remember also to include the human angle in any topic you’re discussing.</li>
<li>Use the second person (“you”). This can be particularly helpful when you’re explaining technical or complicated material.</li>
</ul>

Social Content

Few things beat a good anecdote. Stories, even fragments of them, captivate extensive portions of readers’ brains in part because they combine many of the elements I’ve described already.When you incorporate stories into your communications, big payoffs can result. Research shows that people form favorable impressions of the pitches that have richer narratives, giving them higher marks for entrepreneur credibility and business legitimacy. They also are more willing to invest in the projects and share infor­mation about them. The implication: No stories, no great funding success.

Storytelling

career

Career

timemanagement

Time Management

Business Writing

writing

Reading & Writing

The Science of Strong Business Writing

Letter writing - by hand - is linked with mental health benefits.
Letter-writing may seem like a lost art form. However, during the initial quarantine and beyond, statistics showed an increase in sales of notecards and writing papers. TikTok's hashtag #penpal has over 192 million views and penpal communities are increasing globally.

Letter writing is thriving

<ul><li>Letter writing helps develop a strong sense of accomplishment. Typing text takes seconds, but spending intentional time creating a letter will give you a greater sense of accomplishment.</li><li>It increases clarity and gives a new perspective. Writing engages a different part of the brain and helps to view ideas from another angle.</li><li>It fosters connections and deepens relationships. The recipient feels that they are important to you.</li><li>It creates anticipation of a letter arriving and boosts your happiness.</li><li>Gratitude letters are directly related to happiness.</li></ul>

Reasons to opt for writing

<ul><li>Always have stamps available. The key is having your own sets of custom, printed stationery.</li><li>Stay consistent. As with any habit, letter-writing takes repetition.</li><li>Start a tradition of letter writing.</li><li>Send messages into the future, telling your loved ones how you feel about them, or writing letters to be read on specific dates.</li></ul>

Tips to write more regularly

We've heard it all before: Create a daily meditation routine, exercise regularly, update your diet to include plenty of Omega-3 foods. These are all wonderful ways to increase quality and length of life. But did you know that the simple act of letter-writing-by hand-is linked to significant mental health benefits?

problemsolving

Problem Solving

5 Life-Affirming Benefits of Writing Letters By Hand, According to Research

<ul>
<li>Public speaking, clarity, and tone of voice, and the ability to organize our thoughts in a logical manner are the most common.</li>
<li>When thinking about oral communication, this would include the pacing of our speech along with the tone of our voice. </li>
<li>When thinking about written communication, this would include word usage, sentence length, and formatting.</li>
</ul>
But this is only half of communication.

What comes to mind when we think of communication skills

Listening is the other half of communication and is neglected most of the time.
We usually think that being a good listener means being polite and that it is for the benefit of the speaker, not for ourselves. But the true value of listening isn’t for the speaker at all. It is for the listener. Being able to understand and gather the ideas of others allows us to add them to our own.

Listening: The other half of communication

We prefer speaking over listening because we would rather persuade than be persuaded. Being open to listening means embracing the possibility of being persuaded. And this represents a subtle threat to our own worldview.
Any time we come across information that conflicts with our worldview, our instinct is to push it away. As a result, we would much rather speak and reinforce our worldview, then listen and create the potential for it to change.

Why people don’t value listening

One of Steven Covey’s seven habits in his best-selling book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, was entitled “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Most people would really like to just have someone to listen to their thoughts. Speaking and informing can only be successful after that.

Understand before speaking

The Other Half of Communication

New research published in Psychological Science found that being angry at a false accusation can make the accused come off as untrustworthy, and therefore, guilty. However, their anger is usually a sign that they're innocent.
The study noted that we pay attention to other's emotions to understand social situations. It's particularly true when deciding whether we should trust someone.

Anger can make people seem less trustworthy

Across six studies, researchers explored how laypeople and experts make guilt judgments when the accused person is angry.
The results showed that study participants were more likely to rate angry defendants as guilty. When defendants were silent, participants rated them as most guilty. But it is not just laypeople who view anger as a sign of guilt. Professionals such as fraud investigators and auditors also rated an angry response as a sign of guilt and remaining silent as an indicator of guilt.

If falsely accused, stay calm - not quiet

In one study, researchers asked participants to complete one of two tasks; one was simple, the other difficult. After the participants finished the tasks, the researchers accused them of doing it incorrectly. The study showed participants who were falsely accused reported higher feelings of anger than those who were rightly accused.
These studies show how most people are not able to detect a lie. Anger is often a sign of innocence.

The falsely accused are angrier

A new study conducted various experiments to explore the relationship between anger and judgments of guilt.The results suggest that when an accused person becomes angry, perceivers are more likely to view that person as guilty, even though the accused might be innocent.

health

Health

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Falsely accused? Stay calm, because anger makes you look guilty

Small talk can be defined by how much information is exchanged. If you know nothing more about the other person than you knew before the conversation, then it is small talk.
Research shows that small talk with people, even with strangers, can boost our mood. While small talk often feels boring and awkward, one can turn it into enjoyable small talk by commenting on a shared experience or asking open-ended questions.

The value of small talk

While we know the value of small talk, it still falls short of what many people are craving: meaningful conversation, where we can dive deeper. 
A key feature of deeper conversations is that you get absorbed in the conversation and learn something important about yourself, the other person, or the world.

We crave meaningful conversation

<ul>
<li>Self-expression - the sharing of key aspects of who you are as a person. Most of us are hungry for an opportunity to share what we're thinking and explore things that matter to us. Sharing them with an interested listener who validates those thoughts make us feel understood.</li>
<li>It enables us to understand ourselves better.</li>
<li>A sense of connection. Meaningful conversations make us feel connected to other people.</li>
</ul>

Three components that make conversations valuable

While small talk doesn't produce intellectual reflection or arouse reflection, the initial conversational exchanges fulfil a social function.
Small talk can be seen as the inactive ingredient in a medicine that holds the pill together. In other words, small talk lays the foundations for something richer.

Small talk as a necessary first step

We like to talk about topics that interest us. But to have better conversations, step out of yourself for a moment and think more about the other person.
Ask open-ended questions, starting with who, what, when, where, why or how. "What was that like?" "How did that feel?" Research shows that people who as questions tend to be better liked by their conversation partners.

Ask better questions

A good conversation is only possible if you are really listening. Stephen Covey writes that most of us don't listen with the intent to understand; we listen to reply.
Part of the pleasure of better-quality conversations comes from being curious. If you struggle listening to others, consider how much the other person will appreciate it. Asking follow-up questions will make people feel like they're being heard and listened to.

Listen to the answers

There is a critical moment of transition in the development of any relationship - it is the moment when you decide to share something more personal about yourself. 
Exposing a part of your inner self will encourage your partner to open up too. If it feels daunting, remember that you don't have to reveal everything at once. Start with sharing a small part of yourself - a goal, or a value or belief or a life experience.

Be willing to share about yourself

Suppose you know that you're going to meet a particular person or group of people. In that case, the chances are that meaningful conversation will not so much be derived from an exchange of personal information but from having a satisfying conversation about an interesting topic or issue.
You may have to prepare by reading up a little on someone else's interests or reading up on the topic of the planned conversation. Come prepared to admit what you don't know and be ready to learn.

Come ready to learn

A good conversation is more likely to happen if you follow this simple rule: I will give you the space to speak and will listen to what you say. You show interest in the other person, and the person shows interest in what you have to say.
This is not easy and perhaps the reason why meaningful conversations are so rare. But if you remember the give and take principle and come prepared, you're more likely to find meaningful conversations.

Be prepared to give and take

To break the ice with a stranger or an acquaintance, comment on your shared situation. For example, commenting on the conference talk you've both just listened to, or the traffic or weather. You can also try giving a compliment, or ask the other person something about themselves.
Then take things further by drawing on your shared experiences. Not every conversation will be a hit, and that's fine.

How to connect with people

Be brave enough to share, kind enough to listen, and you can escape the shallows of small talk to dive deep with another

How to have more meaningful conversations

<ul>
<li>Children often cannot formulate their words to express what they're feeling. If you ask, "How was your day?" they may shrug because they don't know what part of their day you're interested in. Making your questions more specific can help: "What was the best thing about your day?"</li>
<li>Try to meet your child's emotions, rather than telling them how to feel. If your child says, "I hate everyone in my class", you may want to tell them that it is not a nice thing to say. Instead, help them find other words to draw out their emotions. "It sounds like you had a really bad day."</li>
</ul>

How to talk to children

<ul>
<li>With younger children, visual cues and games are helpful to piece things together. Let them draw pictures. If you're talking about difficult topics, break them down into smaller pieces.</li>
<li>Teenagers will respond better if you're doing something alongside a conversation, even if it is washing up. Humour can help diffuse a situation.</li>
</ul>

How to talk to younger children and teenagers

<ul>
<li>If you're together in the same place, you have something in common. If we can be aware that others also feel uncomfortable, we can think about what we can do to make them feel comfortable with us. </li>
<li>Ask people how they know the host or how they got there.</li>
<li>Borrow stories if you can't relate. If you're not a dog person and someone else wants to talk about dogs, talk about your friends' dog.</li>
<li>Suppose you feel ready to move on, interrupt yourself, not them. "It's been so nice talking to you about..."</li>
</ul>

How to talk to strangers

For doctors, half their game is trying to find out why the person is there. Do they want medication, tests, want to be signed off work, worried they have a more severe illness?
At an appointment, try to mention the most important thing at the beginning. Try to be descriptive. If you have pain, is it dull or sharp, burn or throb? Have you been getting pains for a few days, weeks, or at certain times of the day?

How to talk to your doctor

With dating, there is an assumption that you are on the back foot, and the other person holds all the power. 
<ul>
<li>Pay attention to what people talk about. If your date is sharing negative information, it could be a sign they're not ready for a relationship.</li>
<li>Try to focus on if you like them, instead of if they like you.</li>
<li>Don't fear silent moments. Instead, see how the other person reacts. Does your date help you out and respond positively, or not?</li>
<li>When you're on a date, you're both gathering information to work out whether you'll fit well together.</li>
</ul>

How to talk to your date

When you're a grownup, you will probably need to initiate conversations as your parents won't want to interfere with your independence. The best way to re-establish a relationship is to give them a regular update on everyday details of your life.
Parents who are getting older need to feel as if they have lived for a reason. It can be very therapeutic to make time for those stories and to share them with each other.

How to talk to your parents

Most people want more contact. Employees often feel out of the loop. 
<ul>
<li>Try to put yourself in your boss's shoes. How does what you need to say affect them?</li>
<li>Question if you should send an email or say it in person.</li>
<li>Remember that your boss may not be the one making the final decision. You may need to convince them to convince others.</li>
</ul>

How to talk to your boss

Handle awkward date silences, end a conversation with a stranger – plus chat to your children, your parents and your boss. Our panel shares their secrets

Preparation: The Antidote to Fear of Failure - Darius Foroux

How to Time Your Cooking So Everything Is Ready at Once

Intellectual Property

Why Are We Yelling?

The Science of Strong Business Writing

Michelle E.