How to help your international employees adjust to life in the USA as a new resident

Are you planning to move to the USA in 2015, or will you be bringing international employees to the USA? There's more to welcoming them effectively than a simple "hello, we're glad you are here!".

New residents coming from other countries to study or work here are often surprised by details that are different from their native countries' ways of doing things. As one example, post offices in the USA handle mail - and only mail. They do not have banking functions, as they do in some other countries.

Speaking of banking, Americans use checks sometimes, in addition to credit and debit cards. Newcomers who establish bank accounts here should know how to write a check for the occasional place or situation in which a credit or debit card is not accepted.

Coming to the USA is a concise e-book that was written based on the questions of many professionals who moved here from Europe and S America. Get details on topics ranging from insurance to mailboxes, and much more! The more you understand, the easier life will be here for you and your family. And if you are on your way to the USA as you read this, welcome!

Small Talk: Keeping the Conversation Going

You're at your in-law's house, or the home of a friend of a friend. You want to be a great guest, but after 10 minutes, you have nothing to say. You'll be there for another 24 hours, so what can you do? The secret is to be a wonderful listener, and keep the host talking!

Here are 2.5 ways to keep talking - and maybe make a friendship stronger.

Ask your host about his hobbies. Decide you will learn 3 things about his hobby, whatever it is. (It might come in handy some day to know this information.) When your host stops talking, say "tell me more about ___",  or "that ___ sounds  fascinating!"  and nod appreciatively.

Ask follow-up questions. For example, "You said that you enjoy ___. How did you get into it/learn so much about it/find the time to do it?" You can also ask questions about the gear needed to do the hobby, or his favorite publications on this hobby. (This information may be useful if you buy him a gift later on.)

The .5 method is to use interjections liberally, complete with great eye contact and slightly leaning forward. Interjections are comments such as "mmm-hmm",  "wow, that's impressive!", "you don't say!" and "really?" With a great start to the conversation and a talkative host, this technique can keep a conversation going for a long time!

Business Speech Improvement offers more conversational tips for the conversationally-challenged  in the e-book Small Talk: Connecting with Others.

Have difficulty being concise?

Three groups of people have difficulty being concise. Do these sound like anyone you know?

The first group is those who are nervous about speaking to those in authority, or calling in to a talk show or a tele-seminar. Sometimes radio reporters also have difficulty with this, rephrasing their questions twice or more when interviewing guests.

The second group is those who are inductive thinkers. Inductive thinkers present all the facts or ideas and then express the main idea or request. People who are not inductive thinkers are deductive thinkers.)

The third group of people are those who haven't thought through what they mean to say, and just ramble. Sometimes they use stream-of-consciousness techniques of basically saying whatever they are thinking, with no obvious means of connecting the thoughts.

If a supervisor who is deductive has an employee who is an inductive thinker, there will be problems and frustration unless one of them changes. If it is the employee ( inductive thinker) who is to change, he or she needs to start thinking of the main point or "executive summary", and then add one solitary short sentence, starting the most vital fact or reason. If the supervisor wants more, he will ask.

This is difficult for inductive thinkers to do. Practice thinking this way, and even write down the summary statement and the reason statement ahead of time. Practice these two sentences until they sound great!

If the person gets nervous speaking to an authority figure or when calling in to a tele-seminar or radio talk show, write down your 2-3 sentences ahead of time. Your audience's time is short; make every second count!

Some people think best out loud, and need to practice doing this privately. Possibly recording their words would help them to then record a summary statement.

In all 3 cases, find someone who is a concise speaker, and emulate him or her!

Holidays and peer pressure among adults

"You're going to the company party, aren't you? Everyone who is important will be there. You have to come!"  "Come to the bar with us for this holiday fling, just a couple of drinks after work!"  "Have a few of these wonderful cookies! They just have a few calories; you can skip your diet just this once!"  Is this scenario, of peer pressure around the holidays, common at your workplace?

Peer pressure is a form of persuasive communication. If you want to bow out gracefully, thank the person for the invitation, say you won't be able to come,  and immediately steer the topic to a safer subject, such as complimenting the other person on a wonderful outfit or project, and asking a follow-up question or two. The keys with this strategy are to plan ahead to determine an acceptable reason you cannot do what they want, and quickly change the topic.

Setting Priorities: The Holiday Season and You

Are you overwhelmed right now with work, family, home, hobby and holidays?

Many people have difficulty setting priorities; everything seems important.

Is that what you are feeling?

Sit down for a moment and think about what really is important to you- and what else takes lower priorities in terms of urgency.  If you have trouble with this, ask yourself, "If I have only one day left to live, how would I spend it?"

For me, safety comes first, followed by general health and family issues.

Holidays can be a special time, but their celebration can be cranked up, or ramped down. If you are feeling stressed, what aspects of the celebration can be reduced, such as attending fewer parties, giving the same gift to several people, sending holiday cards online or decorating more simply?

Setting priorities applies to work, as well. Many times an employee answers to a variety of supervisors, who all assign work with overlapping deadlines.

If you are that employee, it may be wise to explain to each supervisor that you have several people giving you projects, and ask each to tell you the priority and deadline for it.

Communication skills are essential for today's employees, especially for those who are supervisors. Learn the 18 critical communication skills for managers, whether you are one right now, or aspire to  be one in the future! From appreciation and persuasion to listening and asking critical questions

(and some of these are listed), get the skills you need for your workforce!

Visit www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/exec-techniques now to get your copy!

Holiday Events and Hearing Loss: 3 Tips for Coping

Do you dread going to noisy holiday parties because you are having trouble hearing people? Here are some tips to help.

First, if you have a hearing aid, wear it! It has been programmed to your specific hearing pattern, so use it! If you don't use it much, read the manual or online instructions and try it out in a noisy place ahead of time.

At the party, you will hear better with less competing noise. Talk to people in a side room or hall if that's quieter.

If you are really interested in talking to someone, self-advocate! Tell the person you have a hearing loss, and ask if they can repeat a specific word or sentence. If they try to talk louder, ask if they can talk a little slower instead, but not exaggerate their words.

If you are at a holiday dinner or other event, try to face the person to whom you are talking. This will help with lip-reading as well as watching body language.

The e-book What Did You Say? Coping with Hearing Loss in the Workplace, has practical strategies and is a quick-read concise source of help. Get it before your next event!

Need a gift for a speech-language pathologist, OT, PT or special educator?

Are you planning on buying a gift for someone in the helping professions, such as a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist or a special educator? Do you know someone in those fields who wants a second job or is planning to retire soon?

Helping professionals in those and other fields often have many talents that can be transferred into another career field, or into a career that is related to what they have done before. Many of them combine two career fields, such as therapy and training, or therapy and graphic arts.

Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists is a book that discusses the career paths of 18 professionals. It covers each person's (or team's) traditional career, how the person changed to a new field, what the person does now, and the advantages and disadvantages of making such a change.

The book includes a career self-assessment questionnaire to help the reader consider his or her possibilities.

In a special offer, if the book is purchased by December 15, 2014, and the reader completes and e-mails back the questionnaire by December 30, 2014, the author will offer personalized suggestions to the reader at no extra charge! (This is a $50 value!)

Find out more about this extraordinary book, Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists, and get your copy now!

Make your meetings more effective!

When you lead a meeting, there are several ways to judge its value. Are new ideas generated and discussed? Is important information shared with everyone in attendance? Are people networking?

However, does everyone who attends need to be present? (Are there "chair-warmers" there, whose bodies are in the chair but whose minds are on vacation?)  Could the meeting information  be shared in some other format that might be less costly? The cost includes the other work that is not being done so attendees can be at the meeting. It also can be calculated by multiplying the average hourly pay times the number of attendees times the length of the meeting. There are indeed apps for iPhone (http://rockapproll.com/app/Meeting-Cost-Clock)  and for Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id...meetingcostcalculator...) that can calculate this for you. Of course, transportation, catering and meeting room costs are also additional expenses to holding a meeting. You may be shocked when you find out how expensive meetings are!

To make a meeting more effective, beyond having an agenda and minutes, figure out strategies to reduce multi-tasking by attendees who are using their tablets and other devices to work on other assignments. They may be paying minimal attention to the speaker or meeting leader. Instead, ask that only attendees come who can give full attention to the matter being discussed; there should be a mechanism for those who are meeting immediate deadlines to miss a certain number of sessions per year, with a requirement that they read the minutes of what transpired.

It helps to state the length of time the meeting will last, and to start and stop on time. This builds trust in the leader or facilitator.

Get people up and moving, or discussing ideas, every 20 - 30 minutes. If there will be a change in procedures or a merger, have people come up with implications for all parties involved or develop a time-line so they can accept change more easily. Offer refreshments on a table to the side of the room, so people have to walk at least a little bit.

One technique for getting people more involved in a meeting is to give each person some index cards. Present a topic for discussion, such as a proposed merger or new category of customer. Each person writes one implication, question or related idea per index card, and shares them with a coworker sitting next to him. That person attempts to answer the questions or comment on the ideas. The two then discuss both peoples' cards. This can take 10 minutes and is an efficient way to get people involved. Later, any new ideas can be shared with the entire group, or with the leader if more appropriate.

Get more ideas on meetings and 17 other crucial communication skills for leaders in Executive Communication Techniques (http://www.businessspeechimprovement.com/exec-techniques) an e-book that you'll wish your supervisor had read! Individual coaching is also available by Business Speech Improvement.