The Power of Body Language

Whether you are talking to a client or having an interview over video conferencing, it is important to remember that most of the communication is nonverbal. You need to be aware of your body language and what it is communicated to the other person. One of the things that is very important when talking to other people is to maintain eye contact. If you do not make eye contact, it will come across as that you are not comfortable or not confident. Shaking someone's hand is often one of the very first impressions we have of another person. If your handshake is weak or flaccid, then you are sending the message that you are, too. Be firm in your handshake, but avoid the kind of death grip that actually causes pain. When your arms or legs are tightly crossed, this indicates to others that you are in a defensive frame of mind. The key here is to relax and not fidget either.

Driverless Cars

After all, we are prone to road rage; rush headlong into traffic jams; break rules; get distracted; and crash into each other. That is why our automobiles need tank-like bumper bars and military-grade crumple zones. And it is why we need speed limits and traffic police. Self-driving cars won't have our limitations. They will prevent tens of thousands of fatalities every year and better our lifestyles. The liability issues regarding fully driverless cars will be easy: the car's manufacturer or software developer will be responsible for any accident unless it can be shown that a human driver was at fault. This sounds like very muddy territory. There is also the risk of hacking and this software development for cars has to include some serious protection from viruses and other people. Being the devil's advocate, there is no better opportunity for hacking than a several hundred pound weapon on wheels. On the brighter side, just think about how efficient things would be because the cars will not need to have all the human precautions and we will not even need to have our own because it will be always available. Not to mention wasting time to find parking spots or being stuck in traffic jams. What are your thoughts or expectations for these cars?

The Phone Call

Is the phone call dead? The younger generation seems to be using other communication services such as texting and emailing. There is just so much that written words cannot convey when you can just call the other person. A lot of misunderstanding could be avoided if we would just pick up the phone. There is a mobile application that can combine all of these communication features and you can even do conference calls with it. It is called Talko. It is not the first of its kind but it does have some interesting features. If a conference call is in progress, for example, a late participant can listen to the part they missed or replay the entire call (or parts of the call) after the call is over. The app also includes indicators that display if a contact is driving or has a low battery; it can also tell whether that person is using Wi-Fi or cell signal. That way, others can ascertain when — and how — is the best time and way to contact that person.