Let us reason together

Dynamic communication skills are one of the keys to personal and professional success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success .  If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to master three basic, but critical skills: 1) conversation; 2) writing; and 3) presenting. advertisement advertisement Job interviews are some of the most important conversations you will ever have.  However, many people go into them woefully underprepared.  I was speaking with Bob Matts, a friend and a senior HR executive with a very large and prestigious company the other day.  Bob was telling me about the STAR method of interviewing that his company employs.  STAR is an acronym that means “Situation/Task — Activity – Result.”  The STAR model was developed by the consulting firm DDI and taught in a program called Targeted Selection. When Bob and his colleagues conduct interviews they always ask candidates to: 1. Describe a situation or task with which … [Read more...] about Interview Like a STAR for Success

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This Is Us fans might not be anywhere near ready for the beloved NBC show to end this Tuesday, May 24. But series star Mandy Moore, who plays the family's matriarch, Rebecca Pearson, has had her coping mechanism in place for some time. "It was a very intentional plan to finish the show and have some new music out and be able to go on the road immediately," Moore tells me. " I'm excited, because I feel like I'll be able to take this time to really process this very seminal chapter that's closing, and be able to use the music and being able to play songs every night as a way to process what I just lived through instead of being a shell in the fetal position in my bedroom. I get to go out and do something." The show wraps this Tuesday and Moore will be out on the road by June 10 in Atlanta in support of her superb new album, In Real Life . She is excited for many reasons, including the fact this is her first full tour in … [Read more...] about Sunday Conversation: Mandy Moore On The End Of ‘This Is Us,’ New Music, Joni Mitchell And Emmy Buzz

This article is from Capital & Main , an award-winning publication that reports from California on economic, political, and social issues. After decades of decline in overtime pay, the Biden administration is considering action to sharply expand access in a time of high inflation. This is the fourth article of a four-part series examining the 40-year effort by big business and elected officials to deny Americans extra pay for extra work. advertisement advertisement With Americans struggling with inflation, workers’ advocates are banking on a White House that has promised to make millions more workers eligible for overtime wages that pay time and a half. Two presidents who made similar promises over the last 45 years failed to deliver, resulting in outdated federal overtime guidelines and underfunded labor enforcement. But during decades in which lawmakers and lobbyists cut away at overtime access, states like Washington and California … [Read more...] about How several states are taking the lead on restoring overtime pay

A twentysomething female high school teacher who pleaded guilty earlier this year for having massive amounts of sex with a 17-year-old male student has now cashed in on her notoriety by turning to a career in pornography. The now-former teacher, Mary Beth Haglin, surfaced recently in an online porn video at an adult film site. “Well let’s just say that pictures and videos like these is what got me into trouble in the first place,” the budding porn thespian explains in her debut film, according to the Daily Star , a British tabloid. The subsequent porn action takes place in a standard, green-carpeted motel room. Haglin, 25, admitted to having sex on a pretty much daily basis with the unidentified teen for about six months during the 2015-2016 academic year. The intense affair began in October 2015 when Haglin was a long-term substitute English teacher at taxpayer-funded Washington High School in Cedar Rapids. Haglin strongly protested that her arrest was unfair. She … [Read more...] about Iowa Teacher Jailed For Daily Sex Romps With Teen Student Finds Work As PORN QUEEN

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin It's going to be a busy summer travel season. And different. The summer travel advice from experts is different, too. Domestic travel volume will rise 16% over last year, with almost 75% of Americans planning to travel domestically for summer vacations, according to Allianz Partners' Top 10 Summer Destinations review . And travel to Europe will soar 600% over last year. ​​ "The floodgates have opened," says Valentina O'Kane, owner of Incognito Global Travel , an affiliate of Embark Beyond. "People are rushing to get out there again. The popular tourist destinations are overbooked, with little if any availability. They are going to be overcrowded and overpriced this summer." I just interviewed 200 top travel experts about what lies ahead for travel. Here's part one of my series , which outlines what to expect in the next three months. There are two important takeaways. Covid is far from over, so you may … [Read more...] about Don’t Go There! Expert Summer Travel Advice For Your Next Vacation

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Depending on whom you ask, there are actually a whole lot of reasons not to attend a motorcycle rally, most of them having to do with overly aggressive, boozed-and-cranked-up yahoos that have sullied many an event. Welcome to the Tennessee Motorcycles And Music Revival, now in its 5 th year and one of the chillest, hospitable and easy-to-navigate gatherings any biker can hope to find among the many held each year across the U.S.A. The atmosphere of approximately 6,000 attendees on the 3,500-acre ranch was loose and open, the populace friendly and despite the hordes of machines, no traffic jams, overdoses or drama. It remains the largest event of its kind in Tennessee, providing family-friendly stunt shows, bike shows, field games, motorcycle racing, Harley-Davidson demo rides, off-road trail riding and music, music, music all day and into the night by both local talent, such as Cody Bolden, below: All the … [Read more...] about Tennessee Motorcycles And Music Revival Wraps Up With Music, Stunts And A Chill Vibe

'Romanticize your life' asks us to appreciate what we have right in front of us and to live with intention, no matter how mundane our daily rituals might be—a reminder to look for moments of beauty and embrace minimalism. (Illustration by Moritz Wienert for NYT) On YouTube, a filmmaker from Utah soaks in the morning sun, savors a fresh croissant and spritzes lemon-scented perfume on a duvet decorated with pink roses. Her videos, a cozy escape into cottagecore , are inspired by “Anne of Green Gables,” Jane Austen novels and the period drama “ Bridgerton ,” offering tips on “how to be happier and appreciate the little things.” Elsewhere, on TikTok, people spice up their breakfast routines , buy bouquets of flowers and practice gratitude . One content creator, Rachel Hess, 21, uses a rolling pin to press eucalyptus leaves before hanging them in her shower , in a video that has been viewed more than 6.8 million times. “Romanticize yourrrr lifeeeeeee,” the caption … [Read more...] about The Mundane Thrill of ‘Romanticizing Your Life’

Fathers need to be enlisted as co-human resource managers from the word go. The cartography of parenting is demarcated early on. (Representational photo: Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash) Note to readers: My Family and Other Globalizers is a weekly parenting column on bringing up global citizens. My spouse is the perfect example of a modern, and well-intentioned, husband and father. In our pre-parenthood years, both before and after marriage, I was hard pressed to sniff even a whiff of patriarchy about him. He cooked, I did not. He did not expect me to clean up after him. He appreciated my mind – an exciting thing. If the most critical career decision a woman can make is her choice of spouse, I had made an excellent one. My other half supported my career as though it were his own. He dreamed big for me and was never jealous of any success that came my way. And yet, once we became parents, gendered divisions reared up like bucking broncos running amok. A dozen years into … [Read more...] about My Family and Other Globalizers | Parenthood is the test that most feminist husbands fail

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin You don’t change the name of your company on a whim. With Facebook, renaming itself to Meta was an important milestone. It was also a hint of things to come. The social media platform has been rupturing lately , mostly due to a policy change at Apple where iPhone users can opt-out of tracking, which has absolutely destroyed Facebook advertising revenue. Users that cannot be tracked cannot be targeted with ads. This is worrisome, if your name is Mark Zuckerberg. Another milestone happened just a couple of months ago when user growth finally stalled. That led to a big stock price drop and a lot of head-scratching about what has caused all of the cratering lately. Have users finally wised up? Did Apple burst the bubble? Do we now all hate Facebook? When you have almost 2 billion active users , it’s hard to say the sky is falling, since every Silicon Valley tech giant would love to brag about that kind of dominance. … [Read more...] about The Real Goal With The Metaverse? Increase Your Screen Time

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Just because your business or brand isn’t in an inherently interesting category doesn’t mean your brand has to be bland and boring. While there is a huge number of exciting and trendy niches emerging, most industries have to contend with generating interest in what can feel like mundane, complex, or misunderstood spaces. Instead, it is the way a brand presents its narrative that truly makes it interesting. In a 2019 study about what they called the characteristics of brand coolness, the American Marketing Association said, “We find that cool brands have up to 10 characteristics: Consumers perceive them to be extraordinary, aesthetically appealing, energetic, rebellious, original, authentic, subcultural, iconic, high status and popular.” As long as a brand develops at least one of these major characteristics, it will create interest in even the most underloved industry. Even greater success will be secured by … [Read more...] about How To Build An Interesting E-Commerce Brand In A Boring Industry