Hi Conlanger! Hoy es la edición número 20 de este newsletter y te agradezco mucho que hayas leido o escuchado todos y cada uno de ellos y que estés sacando provecho de la información que te comparto. El propósito no es más que cumplir con mi propósito de vida que es “aportar a los demás”.Let’s go!

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So continuing with the reading of “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. The next chapter talks of, as the title of the newsletter says, how to be a good conversationalist.

When I started reading i thought it would be giving a lot of different tips and techniques on how to improve your conversation with others but actually you will be surprised with what is actually needed to become a good conversationalist.

One of the first things from this chapter capturing my attention was this “according to former Harvard president Charles W. Eliot, there is no mystery about successful business intercourse…exclusive attention to the person who is speaking to you is very impotant. Nothing else si so flattering as that.” Y curiosamente esto es algo que he inculcado en mis alumnos que me buscan para prepararse para entrevistas. En lugar de ser pasivo en las entrevistas es muy importante que te prepares con preguntas a hacer al entrevistador, eso puede marcar una gran diferencia.

The “secret” to be a good conversationalist is actually to “LISTEN ATTENTIVELY” , many of us are so concerned with what we are going to say next that we shut our ears and keep our mouth open when in reality it should be the other way around.

Dale even mentions that very important people have told him that they prefer good listeners to good talkers, but the ability to listen seems rarer than almost any other good trait.

Funny thing, he provides a tip on how to make people shun _(evitar) you and laugh at you behind your back and even despise _{(menospreciar)} you, here is the recipe: Never listen to anyone for long. Talk incessantly about yourself. If you have an idea while other person is talking, don’t wait for him or her to finish: bust right in and interrupt in the middle of the sentence. ¿Te suena familiar? Tal vez lo has hecho, tal vez te ha pasado con quien hayas platicado, y es normal, pero entre más conscientes estés de eso, mejores conversaciones tendrás y más conexión generarás con la gente, no lo digo yo, lo dice el tío Dale.

To close this chapter he says, Remember that the people you are talking to are a hundred times more interested in themselves and their wants and problems than they are in you and your problems. A person’s toothache means more to that person than a famine in China which kills a million people. A boil on one’s neck interests one more than forty earthquakes in Africa. Think of that the next time you start a conversation.

Let me know what you think!

Vocabulary, Phrases and Tools

Complementando el tema de hoy sobre el libro, te quiero compartir una actividad que puedes utilizar como Ice Breaker en una de tus juntas y que precisamente es para practicar Active Listening. La actividad la saqué de Matt Abrahams un profesor de Business Communication de la universidad de Stanford.

The acitivity goes as follow:
You can try these questions or use your own.
The idea is to answer the questions spelling word by word your answer.

What did you have for dinner last night?

You would have to say something like: /EL/ (L) /EI/ (A) /ES/ (S) /TI/(T) and you said "LAST” then spell NIGHT I HAD ….

And you will see how much focus your require to formulate your answer as well as to understand other’s that’s why requieres a lot of active listening.

Week’s Content

Recordarte que ya está arriba el TOEFL ITP Quick Prep en el cual en 45 minutos te comparto un overview del exámen, los tipos de preguntas y los errores más comunes que se cometen. El propósito es que si estás interesado o interesada en presentarlo y sabes si estás listo, este curso te ayudará a saberlo y sólo cuesta $99 pesos.

Da click sobre la imágen para que te lleve directo al curso. 👇🏻

Recommendations

This week’s recommendation is:

To watch: I’m currently watching the TV series BODIES on Netflix, the plot is a body that appears on the same place in 4 different eras.

Recuerda que si no quieres seguir recibiendo este contenido de valor te puedes dar de baja en el siguiente link: