the blog

Congressional "Dating" and the Power of Symbolism

Congress decided to "mix it up" for the State of the Union address, to sit together instead of opposite sides of the aisle. It was even referred to as "dating," and fraught with the same social complexity and awkwardness teenagers encounter. This seemed like an empty gesture, but I was quite surprised by the outcome.

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26 January 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Building Relationships , Challenges , Communication , Politics

Sticks and Stones? No. Words Matter.

In the wake of the horrific shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, I've been thinking a lot about how the words that we've been using in our political discourse may have impacted the situation.

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10 January 2011 | 2 Comments

Tags: Challenges , Communication , Language Use , Nonverbal Communication

2010 Communication Hits and Misses

Every year, I compile a list of who's been naughty and who's been nice as a speaker or communicator. Following is the 2010 list of winners and losers.

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27 December 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Apology , Barack Obama , Communication , Leadership , Sincerity