PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT SKILLS 2 (PEOPLE SKILLS) AT WEALTHNUGGETS4U.COM

Here are five ways to help improve all your different relationships and enhance your personal development skills.

1. Improve your vocabulary. You don't have to learn long, fancy words that no-one else has heard of. That won't impress anyone, in fact it's more likely to have the opposite effect and make you look stupid. Just learn a few uncommon words that you can slip in to everyday conversation and people will automatically start to look upon you as being more intellegent. Learn a few words that begin with 'UN, DIS, RE and IN'. These words tend to express opposites and are much underused in everyday relationships. Even if you only master using twenty extra words, it will still have a marked improvement on your conversational ability.

Wealthnugget4u:- Personal development skills: Every time you find yourself using a new word, mentally congratulate yourself. I mean, really congratulate yourself. We spend enough time being self-critical, so it's nice to enjoy a bit of self-praise for a change.

2. Improve your image. This one is so easy and yet can have such a profound effect on our personal development and attaining success in all our relationships. We are all critics of other people and are constantly judging everyone around us. So if we are constantly judging others it stands to reason that they are constantly judging us. So, buy decent, smart looking clothes, they don't have to be expensive but make sure they fit properly. If you're a size 48 then don't try squeezing yourself into a size 42. It will just make you look awful, Good fitting clothes are a must if you are serious about improving your image.

Wealthnugget4u:- Personal development skills: Never, ever use bathroom scales to weigh yourself with. Research shows that our body weight fluctuates naturally by up to three percent over the course of a week. So don't depress yourself unnecessarily by constantly checking your weight. Throw them in the bin!

I will cover dieting in depth, in the Health section, at a later date.

Work on your deportment. Stand up straight and walk that little bit faster. Important people tend to walk quickly, they like to give the impression that they are always busy, even if they are just on the way to the golf course.

Always smell great, no matter wether you are at home, at work or out socialising, people will appreciate a good perfume or aftershave and it will give all your relationships a boost.

3. Never disagree with people, they don't like it, do you? The first personal development book I ever read was Dale Carnegie's, 'How to win friends and influence people.' A must-read for anyone interested in fostering good relationships with people. One of the things Dale advocates about improving relationships is that you should always try to agree with people.

However if you absolutely have to disagree with someone, then you should try to stretch the 'Yes but...'. And instead, say something like. 'I understand what you are saying but..'. This lenghening of the phrase just prior to the disagreeing 'but' takes the sting out of the disagreement and is much more diplomatic.

Remember people like people who are like they are. They do not like people who disagree with them.

Personal development skills quote: "You can make more friends in two months by becomming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. " Dale Carnegie. personal development guru (1888-1955)

4. When involved in a group conversation, wait your turn to speak. Timing is everything, ask any decent stand-up comedian. As soon as there's a gap, jump in and have your say, don't be shy but conversely don't hog the conversation or constantly interupt people, no-one likes a big mouth.

Wealthnugget4u:- Personal development skills: When you are in conversation with someone tilt your head slightly to the left. This conveys interest and indicates that you are really listening to them and not simply waiting for them to shut up, so that you can have your say. This little technique will automatically improve all your relationships.

5. Ask 'open' questions. These are questions that can't be answered with a one word answer. For example. Begin your question with

'How, Why, Where, When or What.'

These type of questions will keep the conversation flowing. Alternatively you can use prompting phrases such as:

'Tell me about it' or 'That sounds great.'

This will help to maintain conversational momentum. And as I've mentioned before, if you get stuck simply repeat the person's last phrase (parroting) and they'll automatically offer you more information. However if you want them to get to the point use a 'closed' question. For example. Begin your question with

'Are, Would, Is' etc. Or simply say. 'What was the outcome?'

The bottom line in the art of people handling and all relationships is, to try and be the person that other people look up to, don't take rude behaviour too personally and just do your best to keep on smiling!

Good luck with your personal development plan.

Regards Andy.

Personal development skills quote: "I took a speed reading course and read war and peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia." Woody Allen.

Personal Development Skills. (Main Page) Personal Development Homepage.