1)  Just because someone in your audience is doodling doesn’t mean they aren’t listening. In fact, some learners need to doodle to stay engaged.

2) Eye contact isn’t really eye contact. If it were, we would stare into each other’s eyes … and that is plain creepy. A more effective approach is “eye to face contact”. It is okay to look at any part of the face as long as you look at their eyes some of the time.

3) The word NO is often a conversation ender. You or the other person may still be talking; however, the brain shuts down and understanding ceases.

4) Paraphrasing isn’t just repeating another person’s words in your words. True paraphrasing is when you put the meaning of their words into your own words.

5) People like to hear their name. The rule-of-thumb is to use a person’s name three times during a conversation. It draws them in and makes them feel important.

6) No one can make you learn anything. To learn takes openness on the learners’ part as well as making a choice to use the information given to the learner.

7) You are an expert at what you do. Otherwise, customers/clients/patients would not be contacting you for your help.