There’s an old lawyer axiom that says, If you don’t have the law, argue the facts. If you don’t have the facts argue the law. If you don’t have the law or the facts, just argue. You’ve probably noticed that truth and facts are having a tough time these days. ...
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One of the behavior changes that we talk about is giving affirmation and respect to people. And no, I don’t mean pandering to bad behavior or bad ideas, but giving people some respect for the way they feel and even maybe some empathy for the fact that the system runs ...
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Government agencies are supposed to be the epitome of how a society organizes and authorizes things to be done for the common good, which, although necessary, easily gets out of hand, intimidates constituents, sometimes feels very arrogant and really ticks people off. So one of the dozens of things that ...
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Most meetings and hearings are naturally scheduled evenings when more people are available, which makes perfect sense most of the time. Some time ago it was decided that most government organizations can’t spend taxpayer dollars on even basic refreshments for people who come to these meetings – the ubiquitous cookies ...
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You might have noticed that listening is one of the 10 rules in the previous Ted Talk, so these next two dig a little deeper.
You’re a bad listener, here’s how to remember what people say.
When listening isn’t enough.
There are reasons why we hate to listen, ...
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Good communication and engagement starts with connections and that typically requires conversation. Our focus on tools and electronic media has resulted in our degraded skills in interpersonal communication. It really is a craft and here are 10 rules for getting better at it....
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Sincere apology is a necessary part of dealing with emotional people when those people have been wronged. How do you think Kevin Johnson did?...
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A lot of government’s face time with the public often involves making presentations to groups in semi-formal public meeting settings. If the issue in question is not very controversial and the agency has earned and nurtured a level of trust with their public audience, there’s a good chance that people ...
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