Ted Tuesday: Julian Treasure— ‘How to Speak So That People Want to Listen’

"Every human being needs to listen consciously in order to live fully."

Good Morning Folks

At FSO, listening to our clients needs is paramount to (re)IMAGINING their future. Ironically we win because our competitors fail in listening.

With that in mind and 3,591,725 combined Ted and YouTube views that have come before your own…. Julian Treasure's talk, "5 ways to listen better" is sure to enlighten you.

There are seven deadly sins of speaking, according to sound consultant Julian:

• Gossiping
• Judging
• Negativity
• Complaining
• Excuses
• Exaggeration
• Dogmatism

It can be difficult to stay away from these conversation killers, but Treasure says there are plenty of ways to make sure you don’t lose your listener. In this TED Talk, he shares tips to speak powerfully—and with a purpose.

The first step is to hail, an exercise in using honesty, authenticity, integrity and love to give your words meaning. Treasure says these things allow you to be clear in what you’re saying—to be straightforward in a way that establishes trust.

After you’ve nailed down what to say, you have to think about how to say it. That’s where the human voice comes into play. Treasure says using different vocal inflections and rates of speech can add an extra layer of meaning to your words—and really drive a point home.

“You have an amazing toolbox. This instrument is incredible, and yet this is a toolbox that very few people have ever opened,” Treasure says.

Is your voice giving you the presence you need? Here are some of the best tools in the box:

1. Register
“If you want weight, you need to go down here to the chest…. We vote for politicians with lower voices, it's true, because we associate depth with power and with authority. That's register.”

2. Timbre
“It's the way your voice feels. Again, the research shows that we prefer voices which are rich, smooth, warm, like hot chocolate.”

3. Prosody
“People who speak all on one note are really quite hard to listen to if they don't have any prosody at all. That's where the word monotonic comes from, or monotonous, monotone.”

4. Pace and Pitch
“I can get very excited by saying something really quickly, or I can slow right down to emphasize…. Of course, pitch often goes along with pace to indicate arousal."

5. Volume
“I can get really excited by using volume…. Or, I can have you really pay attention by getting very quiet. Some people broadcast the whole time. Try not to do that.”

By teaching the next generation to listen and to be empathetic, they will have a better chance at creating an understanding world, and ultimately a more peaceful world.

“Conscious listening creates a world of connection, of understanding and of peace.”

Watch Julian’s talk here:

Thanks to Success magazine for their insights that contributed to this post, to TED and most of all to you for listening. 

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.


Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

Ted Tuesday: Alan Iny— Reigniting Creativity In Business

"True creativity requires you and your company to constantly doubt your current boxes and eventually replace them with new ones. In an ever-changing environment, no idea is good forever."

Good Morning Folks,

The face of business is changing and whether an individual or corporation, the pressure is on to innovate. Employment in America is increasingly operating in a new reality. The constancy of change requires today's career employee to think and act differently, because the path to the American Dream is no longer a guaranteed right of passage.

Creative disruption is shaking every industry. Global competition for jobs is fierce. The employer-employee pact is over and traditional job security is a thing of the past.

CREATIVITY is key to surviving and thriving against all odds. Alan Iny's Ted talk is very much aligned to our way of thinking.

That's why FSO's core strength is to (re)IMAGINE new and better ways of doing business. To give our clients the people, solutions, technology, and cost efficiencies to ensure a fundamental transformation from the back office as we know it today

It’s a paradox. Creativity has never been more essential to competitiveness in the business world, but the critical approach to practical creativity in organizations is often lacking. Alan Iny offers a key to the well-meaning exhortation to “think outside the box:” Apply doubt to the very models and philosophies that make up the box itself.

Even the greatest minds know the frustration of trying to come up with a brilliant idea but constantly ending up with boring thoughts and a trash can filled with wasted paper. Alan Iny suggests a new perspective for reviving creativity in your business. Believe it or not, says Iny, the key to creativity is doubt. Watch this fascinating talk that encourages viewers to adopt a new approach to thinking “outside the box.”

As the senior specialist for creativity and scenarios, Alan Iny has trained thousands of executives and BCG consultants on how to think creatively. A member of the firm’s strategy leadership team, he has vast experience in advising companies worldwide in innovation, scenarios, transformation, organization design and change management across industries. In 2013, Alan launched “Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity,” written with Luc de Brabandere, and published by Random House.

Here is an excerpt that was originally published in The Economist Group’s Lean back marketing blog.

Seeking new insights into who your markets and customers are, what they really want, and how best to reach and engage them requires thinking in new boxes. A “box,” in our definition, is a belief, concept, working hypothesis, or other mental model you use to interpret the world in front of you. 

True creativity requires you and your company to constantly doubt your current boxes and eventually replace them with new ones. In an ever-changing environment, no idea is good forever. 

The brain’s hardwiring will tend to lead you and your organization to hold on to tired assumptions and constraints. You’re likely to be seduced by a natural bias toward ideas that confirm, rather than contradict, your current way of seeing things.

Henry Ford famously failed to heed even obvious market signals (and insistent colleagues) suggesting that customers were evolving to want different styles and colors after the phenomenal success of his simple all-black Model T. In the 1970s and 1980s, executives at Hindustan Lever Limited assumed that customers for laundry detergent in India were primarily affluent individuals willing to pay for Surf; they didn’t notice that Nirma, a low-cost competitor, appealed to a growing segment of lower-income customers who hadn’t used any detergent before. 

As you seek to understand your organization’s customers and market, stay open to multiple interpretations of the data you collect. There are different plausible segmentations of any customer group, many legitimate ways to break down the market, and multiple ways of perceiving the underlying desires of your customers. 

Consider listing and then challenging your most fundamental beliefs about your customers and markets. Who do you currently think of as your most loyal customers? Ask bold questions that take you and your colleagues outside of your comfort zone. If you are one of the world’s largest designers and retailers of lingerie, what if 10 years from now, 95 percent of your customers were men? If you lead the world’s most popular online search engine—think Google—what if, just 10 years from now, most of your customers were looking to you instead for driverless cars? 

The first step to practical creativity is challenging some of your existing boxes. If you manage this, then you can arrive at a very successful new box simply by changing the way you think about your customers, your competitors, or your own company.

Watch Video: Have a look at Alan's short 8-minute talk, which is accessible by this link which will take you directly to the Ted site.

TED@BCG was an event produced by TED in conjunction with their partner, the Boston Consulting Group.

At FSO all of us strive to be remarkable, not average. FSO provides an environment that rewards innovation, is rich in resources, and respects the incredibly talented team we’ve built over the last six years. Personal, Passionate and Productive, we get the job done to perfection every moment and every day.

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

Only 51 More Days Till The Happiest Time of The Year... Unless...

Photo: BitterSweetColours

"There'll be parties for hosting

Marshmallows for toasting

And caroling out in the snow

There'll be scary ghost stories

And tales of the glories

Of Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year"

Good Morning Folks,

It's love at first chill with Christmas already in the air. 

New York City is always great but I think it's magical on Christmas! It's bustling with so much energy and life. Everyone is walking briskly, smiling, saying hello, preparing to tip and thank the service people who support and make possible the great lives they enjoy in a very special place.

Such expressions of gratitude are an emotion so powerful it can transform ones mood from darkness to healing light and renew our zest for life.

Being grateful is an attitude of deep appreciation for the realities that surround us "moment to moment"...each day of our life.

But you don 't have to wait for Christmas to be happy. If you are stuck in a dead end job or responsible for back office support and get greeted in the morning by the Debbie Downer receptionist face, find deadlines unmet, critical support staff calling in sick, criticism rather than compliments from the boss, voice mail loops and layers of management bureaucracy instead of answers, FSO can change your destiny. Because happiness lives, breathes and starts everyday with you smiling right here. 

FSO is driven by passionate people and the value they create. They are passionate about their work. Their passion and enthusiasm are the fuel that ignites our success. If there's one thing that FSO lives and breathes everyday – it's the employee experience. We focus on motivating and driving the hourly employee to deliver great service with a skip to their step, twinkle in the eye and fire in the belly.

Growing our folks is my legacy. My care. And my passion. 

Such happiness is contagious –– when the boss has it, it trickles down throughout the entire organization and beyond to its clients. Happiness can spread to everyone who has a dream, a goal, and the will to change. Happiness can elevate and inspire people to make real and lasting changes in their own lives. Today, an enormous opportunity exists to (re) imagine and reinvigorate your workplace and workforce with FSO.

Clients like to think of FSO as the Ritz Carlton of the outsourcing business. Our team takes great pride in all that we do for you. We're all about making the Hospitality service, a pleasant and seamless experience, every single day. Whenever, wherever and however, our Team we'll always be there. 

We continually strive to go "above and beyond" with our clients to provide the most enjoyable experience with the finest personal service and facilities and fulfilling even the unexpressed wishes and needs.

And we always deliver the rare, exceptional level of service that is really worthy of your gratitude. Unlike those Christmas envelopes you'll soon be delivering then shaking your head pondering "for what"?

There is  a poem. by an unknown author I discovered on Kate's site...

Smiling is infectious
You can catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner
And someone saw my grin.
When he smiled I realized
I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
Then I realized it’s worth.
A single smile just like mine
Could travel round the world.

So, if you feel a smile begin,
Don’t leave it undetected,
Let’s start an epidemic quick
And get the world infected!

That in mind please enjoy with my compliments this amazing version of the #1 Christmas anthem of all-time, based on the movie of the same name, It's the Most Wonderful Time featuring Natalie Cole and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

If you'd like the words from the song, go here. If you'd really like to get into the spirit f the season by viewing photos of New York at it's finest from the source of the one featured above go here.

And if you'd like to turn those outsourcing frowns to smiles, talk to us, witness us. We'll   take you on a tour of client sites and and let you taste the FSO experience first-hand where you'll see how different life has become for some of the best known-brands in the world.

Call me personally at 212-204-1193.

Feel the FSO Experience - and ensure everyone around you does too. 

Here's to a wonderful week!

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

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"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. 
It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.” 
~~ Ashley Montagu

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LinkUP Thursday: Want To Be Better In Your Job and Life? Here's How!

"I am also humbled by your embracement of our social efforts. In April this blog set new records for readership. And in between posts here, you can find me on LinkedIn, spreading good cheers and important reads for growth and development. We had over 50,000 views in April and 12,000 likes."

Good Morning Folks,

On LinkUP Thursday, I quench your thirst for knowledge and self-development, bringing you the curated, cliff-notes version of my week’s knowledge quest— as I span the web, so I can bring all the best stuff to you here all wrapped up in an easy to digest package, all in one place. And sealed with a FSO kiss.

In between postings here, I use LinkedIn and Twitter to be your guide to the very best resources and information online, providing deep insights into how to find, hire, motivate, train, incentivize, retain and improve the lives of hourly employees— and of course for being happier at work today and always. I sort the grain from the chaff. Think of my role as your information museum curator.

So if we have not connected socially, regardless of age, role in life or anything else, I welcome all in my friendly social club. Friend me on Twitter HERE and LinkedIN HERE.

Now here is today's.....

==> Link UP To The Informative, Enlightening and Inspiring Articles I've Been Sharing on Social Media!

Brilliant post from Tamara Schenk. 
Find out why "If they don’t care about me as a prospect, how will they treat me as a customer?"  http://www.mhiresearchinstitute.com/blog/may-2015-(1)/the-customer’s-journey-matters-or-how-to-avoid-selblogg

The Right Way to Brag About Yourself
And why humble bragging backfires.
In both our social and professional interactions, we commonly focus on managing the impressions that others form of us, especially when these others do not know us well. In fact, when we first approach these situations and stakes are high (such as during a job interview, a meeting with a new client, or an important first date), we often receive the same advice from colleagues, mentors, and friends: try to make a good impression. After all, making a positive impression on others often translates into important long-term outcomes, such as getting the job or starting a romantic relationship. Though this is generally good advice, our intuitions on what types of strategies will create a positive impression are often wrong.
https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-right-way-to-brag-about-yourself


How to Spend the Last 10 Minutes of Your Day
How much sleep did you get last night? If the answer is “not enough” you’re hardly alone. According to Gallup’s estimates, almost half the people you’ll run into today are suffering from some level of sleep deprivation. So, how do you get to bed earlier and get more sleep? Here are a few suggestions, based on goal-setting research.
https://hbr.org/2014/11/how-to-spend-the-last-10-minutes-of-your-day


You can't lead people if you don't know what's driving them. Use their emotions as clues:  http://s.hbr.org/1Ad0sAA


You’re Not a Quitter. You’re Just Not Engaged.
As I read the various posts for the LinkedIn #IQuit series, there seems to be an overall feeling of remorse by people leaving their companies. If you are moving on, taking a new direction, looking to better yourself, however you want to phrase it, don’t feel bad. Unless you are in a small company that you’ve professed your dedication or have made a commitment to, most of the time, your company is going to get along just fine without you. I know, that sounds cold. Your colleagues are your friends, and you’ve spent an enormous amount of time with them. The real question is “why are you leaving?” A few articles I’ve read on LinkedIn talk about “sucking the soul from me,” “I’m just bored,” or “I just didn’t feel like I was making a difference anymore.” Is this your fault? Maybe. But, probably not.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/youre-quitter-just-engaged-kevin-kopald


Throw Back Thursday Post- Everybody Leads by 2014 FSO Site of The Year Experience Director Alex Vizcarra (Chicago)
“If people are coming to work excited… if they know they’re making a difference… if they’re making mistakes freely and fearlessly… if they’re having fun… if they’re concentrating on getting things done rather than just preparing reports – then somewhere (perhaps everywhere) you have leaders.”
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140801135348-5577776-everybody-leads


It's The Most Important Decision You'll Ever Make: Where Will You Spend Your time? 
You always hear me talking about the Power of Focus. Get this one thing right, and everything else becomes so much easier.
http://www.inc.com/paul-b-brown/it-s-the-most-important-decision-you-ll-ever-make-where-will-you-spend-your-time.html

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." 
~~Chinese Proverb

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BONUS: Of Interest (or Not) Poolside weekend chill mix

LinkUP Thursday: What Are You Reading This Week?

Good Morning Folks,

Here are some of the interesting articles I've discovered this week and have been sharing on my social networks. If we have not connected, I invite you to do so. Friend me on Twitter HERE and LinkedIN HERE.

Now here is today's.....

==> Link UP To The Informative, Enlightening and Inspiring Articles I've Been Sharing on Social Media!

• 
  

  'The Person Who Says It Cannot Be Done Should Not Interrupt The Person Doing It' http://pulse.me/s/3bTsuM
  

  

  'The Person Who Says It Cannot Be Done Should Not Interrupt The Person Doing It'

  pulse.me
  

  One unexpected but inevitable part of achieving entrepreneurial success is learning how to handle the haters.

  • L
• 10 Ways You're Already a Success http://pulse.me/s/3bh0Nn
  

  

  10 Ways You're Already a Success

  pulse.me
  

  Be proud of every value you haven't compromised in the entrepreneurial pressure cooker.
• 
  

  via Jeffrey Paquin
  

  

  Are Lawyers Forced To Evolve?

  abovethelaw.com
  

  Lawyering will always be lawyering, but the business of lawyering will depend more and more on integrating technology into your office.

  
  
• 5 Radical Things You Can to Do to Motivate Employees http://pulse.me/s/3cvScb
  

  

  5 Radical Things You Can to Do to Motivate Employees

  pulse.me
  

  Here are a few ideas on how to motivate employees beyond the typical promises and vague assumptions.

  
  
• 
  

  

  Shout Out Wednesdays: "Everyone Stepped Up And Juggled Multiple Crazy Requests With...

  mitchweiner.blogspot.com
  

  Every day I walk through and it is like a breath of fresh air. They say good morning and wish you a good night and always have a smile. It also hear less chitter chatter from guests about getting through security...
• 
  
• Everyone on this planet deserves to be happy, nobody deserves sadness. You and you alone have the power to change your thoughts, feelings, actions and everything else about yourself that you want to change. If you want to be happy, the only thing stopping you is you. #happiness #FSO-ONSITE-...more
  

  

  Ted Tuesday: Matt Killingsworth Want To Be Happier? Stay In The Moment.

  mitchweiner.blogspot.com
  

  'People want a lot of things out of life, but I think, more than anything else, they want happiness. Aristotle called happiness "the chief good," the end towards which all other things aim. According to this view,...

  
  
• 15 Ways To Become A Better Person http://pulse.me/s/3c6C9S
  

  

  15 Ways To Become A Better Person

  pulse.me
  

  Life is a journey and becoming better everyday is the goal.

  
  
• "Start Today Differently, IT’S THE FSO EXPERIENCE! That buzz around the FSO Nation, it is growing louder and louder everyday! That feeling that something magical is going on. #chelseaweiner #inspireme http://lnkd.in/bwKb-jp
  

  

  Start Today Differently, IT’S THE FSO EXPERIENCE!

  lnkd.in
  

  "Myself, as well as everyone else who has written the morning message, approaches this honor with the same intentions; to make an impact, to inspire & to allow everyone to feel the FSO EXPERIENCE! So… considering I recently...
  
  
  
  
• 
  

  

  How Successful People Make The Most Of Their Weekends

  pulse.me
  

  The most successful people know better than to squander their weekends scrubbing the floors.

  
  

  Thanks for listening.  
  
  Have a GREAT day!

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Mitchell D. Weiner
  Chief Happiness Officer

  
  

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  "Success is how high you bounce after you hit bottom." 
  

  ~~ General George Patton

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  Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here