Improve your communication skills
by making the furniture speak

Have you ever been lost for words? Are you looking to improve your communication skills?

Hi, I'm Otis, your personal development guru.

If those questions strike a chord, then here's a fantastic tip to help you out.

Other gurus would probably charge you for this. About now they'd be whisking you off to a sales page, where they'd be asking for your blood group and credit card number.

But not me. I'm going to show you how to develop and improve your communication skills for free.

The silent observers
Let's start with a simple question.

When you hold a meeting with colleagues do you ignore the other occupants of the room?

I'm talking about the furniture and equipment. That's the tables, chairs, desks, bookcases, computers and printers. If you do, you could be making a serious mistake.

These are the silent observers in the meeting. They sit and watch, without uttering a word.

Well not any more.

Now you can use them to improve your communication skills and further your personal goals.

You can bring them to life by giving each its own special voice. You can put your own words into their 'mouths'. Get them to blurt out all those things you wanted to say, but lacked the courage.

All you have to do is give each a different accent and personality - for example, irate Irish, mad Mexican, feisty Finnish - and suddenly you've changed the whole complexion of the meeting.

Your colleagues won't be ready for this. They'll see your lips moving, but it's no longer you speaking. It's the furniture.

And as everyone knows, you can't argue with furniture.

Instead of your being a lone voice in the room, suddenly you are joined by an army of outspoken supporters.

Let's see how this might work.

Example 1
Crisis meeting with your boss
She's called you into her office to tell you your performance has dropped. She intends to issue a strong reprimand. But she doesn't get the chance.

Without warning the table starts shouting at her in a fake Polish accent. It accuses her of being a lying, cheating, ignorant fool. Now the stationery cupboard, has become an aggressive Scot, reminding her of the time she got drunk at the office Christmas party.

Soon she's facing a blizzard of home truths from the photocopier (Dutch), the document shredder (Texan) and the air conditioning system (Italian).

Maybe your boss has a string of management qualifications to her name, but I bet business school never prepared her for anything like this.

You can leave the room unbloodied, unbowed and . . . victorious.

Example 2
Placating an angry customer
It's crunch time for you and your biggest client. Everything you've done for him recently has gone wrong. He's called you in for a showdown.

He plans to deliver an ultimatum that will have you quaking in your boots. But the meeting is about to move in an altogether different direction.

You've hardly stepped into the room and his office door (English) is making offensive remarks about his sexuality. He tries to sit down, but the chair (Icelandic) starts complaining about how fat and revolting he is, while the desk (Spanish) threatens to hit him.

He picks up the phone to call security, but before he can get through, the receiver (Australian) is badmouthing him with a string of profanities.

Once again you've caught your opponent off guard. You can leave the room unchastened and unscathed, your head held high. The 'improve your communication skills' tips you've learned on this page have stood you in good stead.

Furniture power
Making furniture talk is a powerful new strategy in the business arena. It may have its risks, but used carefully it could distract attention and extricate you from a whole range of potential disasters.

At the same time, it allows you to give free rein to your inner demons, while passing the blame for your utterances onto inanimate objects.

Isn't it time you used it to develop and improve your communication skills? Isn't it time you added it to your life skills weaponry?

My Personal Development Giftshop is a no-cost self-help resource, packed with original tips on finding personal fulfilment and happiness. Start your free personal development adventure today by using the link below.

That's enough about improve your communication skills.
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