Relationship Development

Knapp's Relationship Escalation Model

Initiation	This stage is very short, sometimes as short as 10-15 seconds. In this stage, interactants are concerned with making favorable impressions on each other. They may use standard greetings or observe each other's appearance or mannerisms.
Experimenting	In the next stage, individuals ask questions of each other in order to gain information about them and decide if they wish to continue the relationship. "Many relationships progress no further than this point" 17.
Intensifying	Self-disclosure becomes more common in the intensifying stage. The relationship becomes less formal, the interactants begin to see each other as individuals, and statements are made about the level of commitment each has to the relationship.
Integrating	The individuals become a pair in the integrating stage. They begin to do things together and, importantly, others come to see them as a pair. A shared relational identity starts to form in this stage.
Bonding	During the bonding stage, a formal, sometimes legal, announcement of the relationship is made. Examples include a marriage, "best friend" ritual, or business partnership agreement. Few relationships reach this level.

Duck's Relationship Filtering Model

Sociological/Incidental Cues	Duck's model is a set of filters through which we make choices about the level of relationship we wish to pursue with others. The first filter, sociological/incidental cues, describes the constraints placed on our meeting people due to where we live or work. In other words, given our sociological location, there are some people we see a lot of and others we never meet.
Pre-interaction Cues	Information we gain about people before we even interact with them leads us to exclude or include individuals with whom we wish to have a relationship. For instance, the appearance of some individuals will cause you to avoid or approach them.
Interaction Cues	As we begin to interact with others, we make judgments about whether to include or exclude them from possible relationships.
Cognitive Cues	At the deepest level, we make judgments about people based on their personality and the degree to which we think it will match ours. As others reach this level, we consider them "best friends."

Knapp's Relationship Termination Model

Differentiating	In this stage, partners begin to stress the "me" instead of the "we." In other words, the individuals begin to assert their independence. They may develop different hobbies or activities. The relationship may continue to dissolve, or this stage may be a warning sign that the couple needs to address their relationship status.
Circumscribing	Communication between the couple diminishes during this stage. They tend to avoid certain topics of discussion. Outwardly, the couple appears normal. At this stage, attempts can be made to discuss the relationship and return it to a positive state.
Stagnating	During the stagnating stage, the individuals avoid discussing the relationship because they think they know what the other will say. Others begin to take notice that something is wrong.
Avoiding	The pair begins to physically separate themselves during the avoiding stage. The individuals try to reduce the opportunities for discussion.
Terminating	This is the final stage of the relationship. Termination may come naturally, such as at the end of the semester when roommates move out, or arbitrarily, through divorce. Termination of the relationship can occur positively or negatively

Principles of Interpersonal communication

Four Principles of Interpersonal Communication

These principles underlie the workings in real life of interpersonal communication. They are basic to communication. We can't ignore them

Interpersonal communication is inescapable

We can't not communicate. The very attempt not to communicate communicates something. Through not only words, but through tone of voice and through gesture, posture, facial expression, etc., we constantly communicate to those around us. Through these channels, we constantly receive communication from others. Even when you sleep, you communicate. Remember a basic principle of communication in general: people are not mind readers. Another way to put this is: people judge you by your behavior, not your intent.

Interpersonal communication is irreversible

You can't really take back something once it has been said. The effect must inevitably remain. Despite the instructions from a judge to a jury to "disregard that last statement the witness made," the lawyer knows that it can't help but make an impression on the jury. A Russian proverb says, "Once a word goes out of your mouth, you can never swallow it again."

Interpersonal communication is complicated

No form of communication is simple. Because of the number of variables involved, even simple requests are extremely complex. Theorists note that whenever we communicate there are really at least six "people" involved: 1) who you think you are; 2) who you think the other person is; 30 who you think the other person thinks you are; 4) who the other person thinks /she is; 5) who the other person thinks you are; and 6) who the other person thinks you think s/he is.
We don't actually swap ideas, we swap symbols that stand for ideas. This also complicates communication. Words (symbols) do not have inherent meaning; we simply use them in certain ways, and no two people use the same word exactly alike.
Osmo Wiio gives us some communication maxims similar to Murphy's law (Osmo Wiio, Wiio's Laws--and Some Others (Espoo, Finland: Welin-Goos, 1978):

• If communication can fail, it will.


• If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.


• There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.


• The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.

These tongue-in-cheek maxims are not real principles; they simply humorously remind us of the difficulty of accurate communication. (See also A commentary of Wiio's laws by Jukka Korpela.)

Interpersonal communication is contextual

In other words, communication does not happen in isolation. There is:

• Psychological context, which is who you are and what you bring to the interaction. Your needs, desires, values, personality, etc., all form the psychological context. ("You" here refers to both participants in the interaction.)



• Relational context, which concerns your reactions to the other person--the "mix."



• Situational context deals with the psycho-social "where" you are communicating. An interaction that takes place in a classroom will be very different from one that takes place in a bar.



• Environmental context deals with the physical "where" you are communicating. Furniture, location, noise level, temperature, season, time of day, all are examples of factors in the environmental context.



• Cultural context includes all the learned behaviors and rules that affect the interaction.If you come from a culture (foreign or within your own country) where it is considered rude to make long, direct eye contact, you will out of politeness avoid eye contact. If the other person comes from a culture where long, direct eye contact signals trustworthiness, then we have in the cultural context a basis for misunderstanding.
  

Job Interview - Are Your Prepared For It?

Job Interviews play a vital role in the recruiting process and every job seeker must try to prepare for it in the best possible manner.

Where to Start? - Resume & Cover Letter

Your resume acts as an important tool that introduces you to the interviewer. Hence, make sure that you keep your resume current, focused and free from errors.

It is a good idea to attach a Cover Letter along with the resume since it acts as a prelude to the resume and creates a good impression.

Preparing For The Interview

The job interview is usually the deciding factor when it comes to qualifying for a job with an organisation.

Many factors come into consideration during the interview and it is really up to you to make sure that you present your best during the interview.

So, how exactly can you prepare for this all important Job Interview?

• Reach the interview venue on time. Being late is just not acceptable.

• When indulging in a Telephonic Interview, make sure that you talk clearly and sound interested, excited and positive.

• Refrain from sounding nervous and depressed.

• Stay positive, focussed and pleasant.

• Research the Company as much as possible and keep yourself aware of who they are, the services they offer and their policies.

• Visit the Company website and read brochures etc.

• Prepare for those common questions that most interviewers ask - such as "Where do you see yourself in 2-5 years time?", "Why should we hire you?" and "What are your weaknesses?" etc.

• Be prepared with clear, focussed answers that project your professionalism and ambitions.

• When giving out a weakness of yours, try to be frank yet constructive.

Telephonic Interview Tips

Phone Interviews have become a common tool for judging the suitability of job applicants and screening out those who do not match the job requirements. Hence, as a job seeker, you must not take the phone interview lightly which is the first phase of the interviewing process.

Just as you would prepare yourself for the face-to-face interview, you should also devote sometime for planning and preparing for the phone interview.

Time & Concentration Keep enough time aside for the phone interview and make arrangements so that you will not be interrupted through the course of the telephonic interview. Make sure you are completely focused and your whole concentration is directed towards the upcoming interview.

Preparation Keep a pen and paper handy to jot down important information that you may have access to during the phone interview. If you had applied for this position through a newspaper ad, keep the ad cutting in front of you along with a copy of your current resume.

Demeanor From the moment you take the call and till the time you end the call, remember that you are being screened. Hence, you must put every effort into conversing and communicating well with the interviewer. You should sound interested, excited and involved.

Listening Skills If there was ever a time when your good listening skills were needed, this is it. Don't speak out of turn and especially while the interviewer is talking. Listen well to the interviewer and then answer questions clearly and confidently.

Seek Information The phone interview is often used as a means to analyze and judge the suitability of the candidate as well as know more about them. It also provides the candidate an opportunity to understand what the job entails. Hence, you must also ask questions tat will help you to know more about the prospective job as well as the Co, its policies and your ability to meet these requirements.

The phone interview can prove to be the first stepping stone towards your dream job So put in your best efforts and do well!

Common Interview Questions & How Best To Answer Them

The job Interview is an essential part of the job search process - something that you just cannot avoid. Though every interview follows its own course, there are some common Interview Questions which tend to be every interviewer's favourite.

Since these questions are asked in almost all job interviewers, every job seeker and prospective employee must prepare well for these predictable questions so they are not at a loss for words when questioned.

Tell Us About Yourself -

Instead of reciting your whole family history, use this opportunity to mention how you can be an asset to the Company, thanks to your previous experience and background.

Outline your earlier accomplishments, what you gained from them and how you can utilize this knowledge in your next job.

What Happened With Your Last Job?

Never talk negatively about your last employment no matter how dissatisfied you may have been there. Instead, turn this around into a positive experience.

Mention how you are looking for better growth prospects. Refrain from telling lies. Itis always good practice to speak the truth.

Irrespective of whether you were laid off, fired or if you quit - explain the reasons for the same and quickly move on to how you believe in moving ahead and learning from past experiences.

Do You Have Any Queries?

This is your opportunity to know more about the Company and the position you are applying for. Don't bombard the interviewer with too many questions. Instead, ask a few intelligent questions and at the end, ask for the job.

What Are Your Weaknesses?

This is often taken as a trick Question since you do not want to present your weaknesses and risk not qualifying for the job. The best way to answer this question, is to mention some harmless weaknesses and explain what you are doing to get over them.

For eg, "I tend to be a perfectionist", "I tend to become a workaholic and like to complete a lot of work in a short period of time", etc.

However, I have now started prioritizing my tasks so that I can complete each task based on its importance and urgency.

Remember, no matter what the question asked may be, always remember to believe in yourself. There is no harm in taking a few moments to think about what you want to say before answering the questions.

What to Do and What Not To Do During a Job Interview

You've worked hard to get here. You've sent out 31 resumes, networked, attended job fairs, enrolled in school for more education - you've taken all the right steps. Then, one afternoon the phone rings. "Yes, we'd like you to come in for an interview. Is next Tuesday at 10:00 alright with you?" Alright???!!! You can be there in 10 minutes! But you gather your composure, pretend to rifle through your "appointment book" and calmly reply, "Yes, Tuesday at 10:00 works for me. See you
then." Now what?

The sequence goes like this: the resume gets you an interview; the interview gets you the job. This is when you become more than a bunch of employment dates and workplace accomplishments. This is your opportunity to shine. It's show time!

Go in cold and you're working at a disadvantage. You prepped the perfect resume, now it's time to prep for that all-important interview. Here are ten steps you should take before you show up at the interviewer's door.

1. Review your resume. Sure, you know it by heart. But what was it that caught the eye of this
recruiter or the HR pro? Specialized experience? Unique training? A steady history of career advancement? Revisit your resume from the point of view of the interviewer.

It may provide insight into the company's employee needs - something that would certainly be advantageous to know going in.

2. Get back on-line. The Internet served you well in the preparation of personalized cover
letters targeted at the recipients' needs. Okay, visit the company web site again and start taking notes. Corporate officers, the latest press releases, the company's annual report. Gather as much information as you can on your soon-to-be-employer.

3. Study, study, then cram. The more you learn about your callback company, the better you're going to feel walking in that door. Knowledge is power. Knowledge will make you more confident
in your attitude and your answers. You know this stuff. You've studied it! Knowledge of company products, services, protocols and procedures shows the interviewer that you're proactive, with an eye for detail and an appreciation for the power of preparation. In other words, you'll make a positive impression.

4. Rehearse your interview. How can you rehearse for something that doesn't have a script? Write one.You know the typical questions you'll be asked so write down some of your most
insightful, witty thoughts regarding the state of your industry and profession. Be prepared to describe past positions, responsibilities and accomplishments. This is not a time for false modesty, so don't be afraid to highlight your professional strengths and play down your terrible typing skills. Remember: it's no brag if it's the truth. Ask your spouse, your child or a friend to play the role of interviewer so you become more comfortable speaking about yourself in
front of others. Again, this is a confidence builder. The more you practice, the more confident you'll be.

5. Develop your list of questions. Your interview shouldn't be seen as some type of interrogation. It's a "getting to know you" meeting, so feel free to ask questions. However, your first question
shouldn't be "How much do I get paid?" or "How's the 401k plan, here?" Instead, ask questions that show you understand the job and the company's needs. Be quick to pick up on the interviewer's comments and ask relevant questions.

Interviewer: We've had some issues with field reports coming in late recently. You: How are the reports transmitted? (Oh, you're good. Verygood.)

6. Dress for success. An interview is a performance with people playing different roles. Your
role is successful job prospect. Play the part. Whether you're female or male, the conservative business suit is the recommended attire for any interview. If your business suit needs a pressing, send it to the dry cleaners. If you don't own a suit (you'd be surprised at the number of us who don't) go out and get one. It doesn't have to be an $800 designer suit, but it should be conservative black, blue or gray.

7. Get cut or coiffed. You'll have 15 minutes to make a good impression. Treat yourself to a
visit to the local hair stylist. You bet looks matter. They'll be plenty of time to show your talent once you land the job. For now, look like a success, feel like a success - be a success.

8. Practice positive visualization. Professional athletes do it. So do actors, yoga instructors and new age thinkers who sleep under makeshift pyramids to absorb that mystical energy. It's
called positive visualization - and it works. It really does. In the days leading up to the interview, picture yourself sitting opposite the head of HR. Picture yourself relaxed, comfortable, at the top of your game. Play that clip over and over in your mind until it becomes so familiar, it actually becomes a part of your self-image. It simply can't be stated too often - your confidence during
an interview should be obvious and genuine.

9. Gather your materials. The day before the interview, gather your materials and place them in a briefcase or attaché. Don't have one? Buy one or borrow one. It's another opportunity to project that professional image you wear so well. Bring extra copies of your resume in a manila envelop. Bring a pad and pencil to take notes. Bring a calculator (you never know). Bring your address book and copies of your business card.

If you've been asked to provide additional information (school transcripts, e.g.) make sure you've got clean copies ready to hand over.

10. Sleep tight. You've done it all. You've prepared yourself; you've built your confidence
so you can look the interviewer straight in the eye. You are ready to rock 'n' roll! Okay, too psyched. You'll never get to sleep. The night before the interview, go to bed early. Have some warm milk, coco or herbal tea (stay away from the 3rd scotch). Relax. Set the alarm and sleep comfortably in the knowledge that you're as prepared as you'll ever be. No, not every interview will be a success.

You won't get the job every time - but don't take it personally. It's not about you; it's about the needs of the company. However, you can increase the chances of success by presenting a professional, prepared, and confident you to the interviewer. That's how you turn an interview into a job offer. You're hired!

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW SKILLS

Life is full of challenges. We meet many confront in our daily life. When we are at the stage of entering school/college/university, we face many hard nut cracking challenges and learn many lessons of practical life through them. After acquiring graduation/post graduation, students usually move towards their specialization or adopt a profession of their choices, according to their own interest, keeping in view the market demand. Talents and Skills are the only tools, which could lead an individual towards the door of success in this challenging time. To qualify for a professional degree or a job, one should have strong past educational background along with integrated multi dimensional skills. It’s of no use acquiring higher degree without building character, confidence, and expressive personality.

To meet the challenges of professional life, one has to be familiar with many skills to grab the attention of an interviewer, out of which Interview skills are the basic necessities to meet up the future challenges with success. Either you are applying for a job or want to qualify an entrance examination for a professional degree; you should have to be prepared in advance for an interview. It’s the only way you through which you can gain the trust of an interviewer. An interviewer always attempt to decide that why they should select you? What are the qualities, which you have and other do not have? How can you benefit their organization? If you can show your trust, your confidence, your commitment, and appropriate skills, then you could win a successful future. Interview is a form of oral communication. It’s one to one, or one to group interaction, where an applicant proves themselves as a unique person to be the part of an organization. Remember that interview is always pre-planned and structured. It’s a formal presentation between an interviewer and an interviewee. Only those pass it with flying colours, who are original and show their interest with confidence and who present themselves appealing.

There are many types of interview like Information gathering interview, appraisal interview, exit interview, hiring interview, college/ university interview, persuasive interview, counseling interview and many more. In this article, we are going to learn about College/ university entrance and Hiring interview.

Hiring/Entrance Interview is one of the best known and the most widely experienced type of interview, where an interviewer is taken by Human Resource Manager/ Educational Expertise. To reduce your chances being rejected, here are some basic professional skills, which will lead you towards the path of success in your interview.

BEFORE INTERVIEW

First of all, prepare your mind in advance, that you are going to have an interview next morning. Relax yourself and do not get nervous, tense or tired at any cost. Before going for an interview, pre-planned few things:

1. Learn about the company, organization or educational institution and do some research in advance.

2. Why should you perform an advance research?

3. Simply to develop good answers and to prove yourself unique.

4. What you have to Research?

5. You can gather information about organizational structure; type of their clients/ students; departments and its branches; past and present achievements etc. Simply search yellow pages or ask your friend or family member/relative who are familiar about organization or you can collect information through newspapers and websites.

Prepare answers to typical questions. Practice your answer and never rote learn it. Here are few of the sampling questions, which you can practice in advance.

1. What do you feel about our organization?

2. What are your weaknesses?

3. Why do you want to become a part of our organization?

4. Tell me about your self and about your hobbies.

5. Who is your role model and why? If you are lucky to know the name of a person, who will interview you, then memorizes his/her name properly. Decide what to wear. Remember to Dress simply but elegantly. Dress should be well ironed without crease. Wear comfortable shoes. remember to wear basic hosiery. You can even check what management wears and dress similarly without over kill. Do not Dress casual or wear Athletic Shoes. Do not spray lots of cologne or wear lots of jewellery. Do not wear wrinkled attire or flashing tie. Prepare your file having your portfolio, educational degree copies and extra copies of your resume. Find proper address in advance, that where are you going in the morning. Last but not the least;get a good night sleep.

ON THE DAY OF INTERVIEW

Take a bath. Do not apply heavy makeup. Always carry a purse or a small handy briefcase with you. Do carry your portfolio file. Dress effectively. Do not eat anything containing garlic or onion in your breakfast. Arrive 15 minutes earlier to show your prompt and seriousness. DURING INTERVIEW Start it off winner. Offer your hand and give a firm shake, else greet them with your pleasant smile. Take a permission to sit on a chair. Show a positive confident attitude and introduce yourself. Don’t get tense. Be comfortable and face the interviewer effectively. Listen to their questions effectively and answer it genuinely. Answer every question with confidence. Have a proper eye contact towards your interviewer. Remember that the interviewer might be more than one, so keep your eye contact with every individual interviewer to make them feel unique. Whatever you want to answer, speak clearly with a normal tempo voice. Do not shout. Show your confidence level at every moment of an interview. Show your certifications or achievements only when they ask you to show. Always sit straight. It might help them to analyze your personality and your traits. Use the medium of answer, in which you feel comfortable. Remember to use good grammar and strong vocabulary with neutral accent. Always clarify your answer. Do not say Yes or No. Never complains about your past organization or employees. While giving effective answers. Do not argue and always give respect to your interviewer. Always keep neutral thinking and try to mould your answer according to your interviewer personality. Do not eat chewing gum, while answering questions. If they give you a chance to ask any query or question, only ask relevant question.

TRADITIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Few of the traditional interview questions, which an organization might ask are

1. Tell me about yourself (in two minutes).

2. Why do you feel that you will be successful in ...?

3. Why did you decide to interview with our organization?

4. Are you willing to relocate?

5. Tell me about your scholastic record.

6. Tell me about your extra-curricular activities and interests.

7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

8. Why should we hire you?

9. Why did you choose to become a teacher, nurse,...?

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

11. Why do you want to leave your current job? AFTER INTERVIEW With a pleasing smile, say thanks and ask about the next step in the process. Follow up. Call them if you do not get a call within a given time frame and don't forget to write a thank you letter to an organization for taking out their precious time for your interview. Few reasons for not getting a job. Might be you lack oral communication skills or writing skills. Your inappropriate attitude could also let you down in your interview. Lack of knowledge about the working world. Lack of confidence. Inappropriate/fake degree. Lack of experience. Lack of motivation. PRACTICE INTERVIEW SKILLS. CHIN UP AND GEAR UP FOR YOUR NEXT INTERVIEW !

Do You Consider Yourself To Be An Effective Manager?

The role of a manager can never be undermined. Besides contributing to the overall organizational goals, an effective manager must also work towards managing an energized and motivated team.

If you are wondering just how effective you are in doing so, you might want to ask your team how they would rate you on a scale of 1-10 a a manager.

Alternately, you can ask yourself the following questions

• Am I able to give my 100% to my job everyday?

• When was the last time I was praised for my performance?

• Can my team come up to me and ask questions and advice whenever in doubt?

• Am I doing everything I can to succeed?

• Do I have someone to look up to for motivation?

• Am I contributing effectively to the organization's overall goals.

• Am I growing professionally?

• Do I know what I want to do and where I want to be 5 years from now?

The 7 Habits of Highly Happy People

Highly happy people all share happy habits. It’s as simple as that. The happiest people I know share 7 very obvious habits. If you’re looking to expand your general happiness you may consider adopting these habits in your own life.

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
-Abraham Lincoln

1. Be a Part of Something You Believe In – This could be anything. People may take an active role in their local city council, find refuge in religious faith, join a social club supporting causes they believe in, or find passion in their careers. In each case the physiological outcome is the same. They engage themselves in something they strongly believe in. This engagement brings happiness and meaning into their lives.
2. Share Time with Friends and Family – A happy life is a life shared with friends and family. The stronger the personal relationships are and the higher the frequency of interaction, the happier a person will be.
3. Reflect on the Good – Quite often people concentrate too much of their attention on negative outcomes and leave no time to positively reflect on their successes. It’s natural for a person to want to correct undesirable circumstances and focus closely on doing so, but there must be a healthy balance in the allocation of personal awareness. It is important to mindfully reflect on the good while striving diligently to correct the bad. A continuous general awareness of your daily successes can have a noticeably positive affect on your overall emotional happiness.
4. Exploit the Resources You DO Have Access To – The average person is usually astonished when they see a physically handicap person show intense signs of emotional happiness. How could someone in such a restricted physical state be so happy? The answer rests in how they use the resources they do have. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has 25 Grammy Awards to prove it.
5. Create Happy Endings Whenever Possible – The power of endings is quite remarkable. The end of any experience has a profound impact on a person’s overall perception of the experience as a whole. Think about reading a fairly well written, thought provoking novel. Now imagine the ending totally sucks. Even if the story was captivating up until the ending, would you still be happy recommending the novel to a friend? People always remember the ending. If the ending is happy, the experience creates happiness. Always tie loose ends, leave things on a good note, and create happy endings in your life whenever possible.
6. Use Personal Strengths to Get Things Done – Everyone possesses unique personal strengths. We all have different talents and skill sets. Emotional happiness comes naturally to those who use their strengths to get things done. The state of completion always creates a sense of achievement. If this achievement is based exclusively on your own personal ability to get the job done, the physiological rewards are priceless.
7. Savor the Natural Joy of Simple Pleasures – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best things in life are free. They come in the form ofsimple pleasures and they appear right in front of you at various locations and arbitrary times. They are governed by Mother Nature and situational circumstance and captured by mindful awareness. It’s all about taking a moment to notice the orange and pink sunset reflecting off the pond water as you hold hands with someone you love. Noticing these moments and taking part in them regularly will bring unpredictable bursts of happiness into your life.

8 Ways to Inspire Others

Have you ever looked up to someone or admired something about another person that really inspired you? Well, there are certain qualities about a person’s character that enable them to inspire others, and there are steps you can take to awaken these same qualities in yourself. Here’s how:

Stick With What You Love

Inspiring others isn’t easy. The success rate of those who attempt to inspire is incredibly low when the measurement of success is based on the percentage inspired as opposed to the actual number inspired. Huge motivational seminars with thousands of attendees typically make a real lasting impact in only a few people’s lives. If you look at those same odds for yourself, you might easily be discouraged if you hope to inspire others by doing something you don’t truly love to do.

If, however, you do love something dearly, you won’t care how successful you are at inspiring others and you will continue to persevere (on many levels) no matter how many times you fail. When people doubt you, and when people laugh at your failures, you will continue to do what you love because you love it. So having that depth, that love and passion for something, will protect you from all potential failures.

Will you make the most of failures and continue to drive your passions? Will you inspire others even when you don’t succeed at first? What do you love?

Think Big and Noble

Once you establish a foundation for which you have great passion, start thinking big. How many people could you potentially inspire based on your niche of expertise? Are there ways you can expand your impact? Don’t look to inspire one person, look to inspire hundreds! Remember, this goes back to the low success rate percentages, as you will likely not succeed with working to inspire at a very small level. You need to think big and have many people available to inspire. Fifty people out of a thousand is only five percent, but it’s still fifty people. Share your ideas with as many people as possible and allow them grow your influence beyond your initial ideas for inspiration.

Thinking big is not only about inspiring more people, but also about the impact you have on each person. Don’t settle on making minor changes in a person’s life if they need a total makeover. Instead, aim to change everything. Look to inspire in many areas instead of just one. Think big about the positive impact you might have and this will give you a much better chance of leaving some kind of impression. If you promote a hundred ways for someone to change or heal and they take on just one, you have still helped them!

Another useful way to inspire others is to support an established noble cause or practice, such as saving the environment or feeding the poor. It’s much easier to gain attention, followers, and support for noble causes than it is for individual gain or what some might think are more selfish reasons. An offer to change something that has a positive impact on the global society is far more attractive to onlookers than some short lived, localized venture. So keep those areas of influence as big as possible!

Be Expressive

Passion is something you must have and be willing to express it if you really want to inspire others. You can gain a lot of influence just by publically expressing that you are excited and passionate about a topic. You make it much harder to inspire others if you are boring an unenthusiastic. Expressive passion is contagious because of the curiosity it stirs in others. You’ll get people wondering why you love what you love so much. Naturally, some of them will take the time necessary to understand what it is about the topic that moves you.

Practice What You Preach

You need to remain actively involved in the field in which you intend to inspire others. It’s the age old saying of “practice what you preach,” and it holds true for anyone trying to inspire others. Ultimately, if you really want to inspire others to do something then this ‘something’ should be a big part of your life. You don’t necessarily need to be an expert at it, but you do need to be passionately involved.

Keep an Open Door

You must always maintain an open invitation to everyone you encounter. Personally welcome others, and listen to their needs. Once you are involved with them, keep it personal and always maintain a healthy line of communication.

Offer a Guiding Hand

The best part of inspiring others is to have interest in not only what you do, but to also recognize your followers and have an opportunity to see them grow and change as well. Offer to share your personal stories, teach them things you’ve learned along the way, talk about your failures and achievements, and ask them questions about their own progress. Help them avoid the mistakes you’ve made in the past, and always maintain a positive outlook on their forward progress.

Be Consistent

Consistency in actions, information, and moral standards is also extremely important. If you constantly change your methods, your interests, and the field in which you hope to inspire others, you will have little success. People want to see and associate your ideas with a reliable plan that they can follow. You need to demonstrate this consistency through your actions, but you can also compliment your actions with inspirational story telling. Story telling allows you to reproduce important past experiences as a means to guide and inspire others. Make sure use stories that embrace the consistency of your actions.

Stay Positive

The process of inspiring others comes with no shortage challenges and negative naysayers. To get past this, you must stay positive, work past failures, and present optimism openly to others no matter what the circumstances are. Doubt is a very contagious disease, and if you show any of it, you can easily destroy any positive influence you might have instilled in a person.

And there you have it: My thoughts on how to inspire others. I’d love to hear your feedback, thoughts and comments on the subject. Which of these points have the biggest impact to you? Have I left something out? Do you have any personal experiences or inspirational stories to share?