Importance of English

Everybody wants to be able to speak English like a native speaker, but English pronunciation is always a big problem.

Bad English pronunciation may confuse people even if you used advanced English grammar. We can use simple words and simple grammar structures that make people understand you but we cannot use "simple pronunciation".

On the other hand, good English pronunciation will make people understand you easily and be willing to listen to you!

You will say that we learn English just for communication, although we speak English with a strong accent, native speakers can understand us, that's enough. But you know it is not pleased to listen to the bad pronunciation.

Can anyone tell How importance of English is?

Half the world speaks English. English is the most common language essential for big businesses in the world to succeed. You can see that English and American companies are among the biggest in the software and corporate world. In short, English helps you make it big.

English is easy to learn, if you have interest in it. Traditional Indian families usually don't mind if their children are bad at English, as the children usually take over the traditional family job. But if you wish to be well - known as a successful guy all over the world, you must learn English. These rules do not apply if you live in a non-English speaking developed country, but hey, you're in India, and here, fluent English - speakers usually command more respect.

It is fun and easy language to learn in comparison to Arabic or other Romantic languages in Europe.

I have come to appreciate my mother toungue even more after learning English. It takes great deal of time and effort to master a second language, but it is worth it. You will become more culturally balanced person who appreciate what others have as well as your own.

English is very easy to learn compared to other foriengn languages. it is a universal language which means tat even if u dont know the national languages of other countries u can still communicate with them in english.when u go for a job in any reputed institute or company anywer in india or abroad the first thing they ask u is that whether u know english or not? which means it is of gr8 commercial use. when u can speak english which is of such importance then it definitely helps u to bcum more confident.

hope this helps...Some tips to Improve your english

Words to be pronounced in exact... keep trying it...

"T" - Tee(You should say showing all your teeth Like say cheese!!)

"P" - Pee

"B" - Bee

"L" - Yal

"M" - Yam

"Z" - Zee

"H" - ayh

"V" - Should bite the lower lips with teeth

"we" - say like normal "v"

Keep tellin this words

First oobd oold

ookt ohbd ohld

ohkt awbd aeld

Awkt ahbd ahld

ahkt aybd ayld

aykt eebd eeld

eekt

oogd oomd oolz

ohgd ohmd ollz

awgd awmd awlz

ahgd ahmd ahlz

aygd aymd aylz

eegd eemd eelz

oopto

hpt oolt

awpt ohlt

ahpt awlt

ahpt ahlt

aypt aylt

eept eelt

Accent Training

Good english is nothing but having a intonation in speech. Intonation is music in speech. Let's see how to improve our Accent.

Three ways to make intonation(music):-

1. First way to make Intonation is to get louder or raise the volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing it. But it will definitely command attention

2. The Second way to strech the word act or lengthen the word that you want to draw attention to (which sounds very Insinuating)

3.The Third way, which is the most refined is to change the pitch. All through pausing just before changing the pitch is effective, you don't want to do it every time. Because then it becomes an obvious technique, However it will make your audience stop & listen.. they think you are going to say something interesting.

Note:-If we queston the intonation should be raise... example :- where is my Ca_┌ar

if we confirm or answer the intonation should drop down.. example :- here is your CaΠ_ar

Difference of Word Pronounciation

U.S - Bristish

Aek.chully - Actually

Aevr'j - Average

Aesprin - Asprin

Bizness - Business

Chakl't - Chocolate

K'amf t'ble - Comfortable

Corpr'l - Corpril

Despr't - Desprit

Daim'nt - Diamond

Diffr'nt - Different

Diaper - Diaper

Vejat'ble - Vegetable

Bev.r'j - Bevaraj

Bakree - Bakery

Nrsree - Nursery

Eny'n - Onion

evree - Every

Maethmaedix - Mathematics

memree - Memory

Ornj - Orange

Prablee - Propably

Restranct - Restaurant

sepr't - Separate

Servr'l - several

Libr'l - Liberal

Canfrns - conference

Hisstree - History

Ba se klee - Basically

Ack-se-dent-lee- Accidently

Faemalee - Family

Fyn.lee - Fianlly

Jenr'l - General

Gossree - Grossary

Intr'st - Interest

Joolree - Jewelry

Using of an, or and the:-

1.) When there is an new information in the sentence we use a or an.When the same information is repeated again we use the.

Ex- 1. I bought a book now, I am reading the book

2. When the speaker and Listener understand what they talking about they use the

3. whenever use common num (1,2,3,4, & 5)Ex- 1. The first, The second

4. Unique Things

Ex 1. The University

2. The Sun

Parts of Speech:-

1. Nouns Def:- Noun is a word used for name, Place, Things or animalsEx- Ravi saw a bird in the park

Countable noun uncountable noun

Dog water

cup air

glass soup

pen mud

bowl oil

An Countable & Uncountable give Countable Nouns

Ex- Air is essential to life

The air in chennai is polluted

2. PronounDef:- Pronoun is a word used instead of Noun

Ex:-I like the book which he gave me today

3. VerbDef:- Verb is a word used to show what some are done or experience

Ex:- He ran Home

4. AdverbDef:- Adverb is a word which helps verb, adjuctives and another adverb. Adverb job is to help this verbs

Ex:-He Ran Fast

5. Adjuctives:-Def:- Adjuctive is a word which qualifies the noun and it acts some extra meaning to the word

Ex:- She is ill

6. prepositions:-Def:- Preposition is a word which connects to nouns or to verbs

Ex:- The Book is on the table

7. Conjuctions:-Def:- conjuctions is a word which connects two words or two sentence

Ex:- Ramu and Siva are going to School

8. Interjunctions:-Def:- Interjunctions is a word which explains some sudden feelings or remark

Think Positive

Think Positive

Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is not a new concept, but in recent decades it has been increasingly gaining currency among the global populace. There is almost a consensus on the value of consciously cultivating positive thinking for individual health, happiness and success.

It is a known fact that life is what you think it should be. So, for a positive life and thought improvement, it is imperative that you start thinking in a positive manner. And this is easier done than said....

A friend is undergoing surgery as I write this, but she chose not to let any of us know about it. When the news inadvertently reached a mutual friend who called her to commiserate, she was not enthusiastic. She agreed to disclose it only on the condition that we do not call her. She wanted some peace and quiet, she said. This might seem an attempt to bury her head in the sand. But I know my friend's quiet courage and self-awareness too much to suspect this to be the motive. I figure that she wants to spare herself the concern, anxiety and false bonhomie all of us are bound to express. No matter how well meaning, such gestures are invariably fuelled by fear and dread, emotions that she could well do without.
"If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one".
~Cavett Robert

It made me think of the negativity we load our lives with and how counter-productive it is. Take the US-Taliban confrontation. Whether we feel anger at the Americans or at Osama bin Laden, or sorrow at the meaningless deaths, first of the Americans and now of the helpless Afghans, we flood the situation with negativity. What is needed instead is a dispassionate acceptance of the situation and a single-minded intention to resolve it. The single-mindedness is the key. So one-pointed should our attention be that negativity simply has no place in the scheme of things.

This state of positivity without an opposite is potent. Free of negating doubts or fears, one's attention focuses unwaveringly on the subject of our intention, knowing fully well that what we intend will happen. In my friend's case, for instance, where I would once be consumed by fear and call out to God in my helplessness, this state of positivity would indicate a steadfast intention for her healing. It may be accompanied by a prayer, but importantly, no longer in helplessness but with the calm self-possession of love. God shifts into the role of a helper and beloved friend rather than the omnipotent power He was earlier.
"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed".
~Attributed to both Jonathan Swift and Benjamin FranklinSurely this is the ground of all creation? The Upanishads reiterate that the Realized One can manifest anything he desires, simply by intending it. They also assert that this power of instant manifestation can only arise in one who has learnt to control his senses, overcome desire, fear and anger.

! Have fun !

Help Others

Come Forward to Help Others

Hi, Hello!

Its natural that a coin has both heads and tails, likewise life has bothpositives and negatives. Let the people on the positive side like us beresponsible for uplifting the people on the negative side by helping poor, needyand the downtrodden. However in the name of eradicating the negatives, we shouldnot encourage begging. Instead, let us guide them to lead a positive life.

hunger and poverty :

World Hunger and Poverty: How They Fit Together·:

854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million a year ago.· Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.· In essence, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet thier most basic need for food.. Hunger manifests itself in many ways other than starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness.. Countries in which a large portion of the population battles hunger daily are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets we enjoy, such as soup kitchens, food stamps, and job training programs. When a family that lives in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help.

Facts and Figures on Population.

Today our world houses 6.55 billion people.. The United States is a part of the developed or industrialized world, which consists of about 57 countries with a combined population of about 1 billion, less than one sixth of the world’s population.. In contrast, approximately 5.1 billion people live in the developing world. This world is made up of about 125 low and middle-income countries in which people generally have a lower standard of living with access to fewer goods and services than people in high-income countries.. The remaining 0.4 billion live in countries in transition, which include the Baltic states, eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Facts and Figures on Hunger and Poverty

In 2004, almost 1 billion people lived below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day.

Among this group of poor people, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a result, 820 million people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth.

Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation.

Facts and Figures on Health

Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities, according to the World Health Organization.

In the developing world, 27 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight. 10 percent are severely underweight. 10 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely wasted, or seriously below weight for one’s height, and an overwhelming 31 percent are moderately to severely stunted, or seriously below normal height for one’s age.

orphanage- an article

An orphanage is an institution devoted to the care of children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for them. Parents, and sometimes grandparents, are legally responsible for supporting children, but in the absence of these or other relatives willing to care for the children they become a ward of the state, and orphanages are a way of providing for their care and housing.

Many developed nations have phased out orphanages in favor of foster care and more extensive adoption programs. The first orphanages, called "orphanotrophia," were founded in the 1st century amid various alternative means of orphan support. Jewish law, for instance, prescribed care for the widow and orphan, and Athenian law supported all orphans of those killed in military service until the age of eighteen, and Plato (Laws, 927) says:—"Orphans should be placed under the care of public guardians.Men should have a fear of the loneliness of orphans and of the souls of their departed parents. A man should love the unfortunate orphan of whom he is guardian as if he were his own child. He should be as careful and as diligent in the management of the orphan's property as of his own or even more careful still." [1]. The care of orphans was particularly commended to bishops and, during the Middle Ages, to monasteries. Many orphanages practiced some form of "binding-out" in which children, as soon as they were old enough, were given as apprentices to households. This would ensure their support and their learning an occupation.

Historically, certain birth parents were often pressured or forced to give up their children to orphanages: those of children born out of wedlock or into poor families; those with disabilities or of children born with disabilities; and those with girls born into patriarchial societies. Such practices are assumed to be quite rare in the modern Western world, thanks to improved social security and changed social attitudes, but remain in force in many other countries.Since the 1950s, after a series of scandals involving the coercion of birth parents and abuse of orphans (notably at Georgia Tann's Tennessee Children's Home Society), the United States and other countries have moved to deinstitutionalize the care of vulnerable children—that is, close down orphanages in favor of foster care and accelerated adoption.

Moreover, as it is no longer common for birth parents in Western countries to give up their children, and as far fewer people die of diseases or violence while their children are still young, the need to operate large orphanages has decreased. These factors have also resulted in a dramatic reduction of local orphans available for adoption in first-world countries, necessitating journeys by many would-be adoptive parents to orphanages in the Third World.Today, the term orphanage has given way to softer language as "group home," "children's home," or "rehabilitation center." However, major charities are increasingly focusing their efforts on community-based care of orphans in order to keep them with extended family and communities. Orphanages are no longer common in the European community, and Romania in particular has struggled to reduce the visibility of its children's institutions to meet conditions of its entry into the European Union.

This is a second before the tidal waves(Tsunami) attacks the humanity few years ago....We can be rich but only if we have humanity we can get survived.... So be helpful for others..

THE WINNING TECHNIQUES

We give below some of the techniques which can be adopted for good communication and interpersonal relationship with people. You may be using these techniques emperically and without giving a name to the technique. However, when you learn the technique unser a proper name, you will not miss out to adopt the technique in an appropriate situation.

1. 'Yes.. but...' Technique:

The technique here is not to say 'No' in the beginning of our response. Even when a person asks you to do something which you cannot do (or he talks about an impossible situation), it is advisable for you not to contradict/ refuse / deny in the very first word of your reply. This is based on the fact that no one would like to hear 'No', a refusal or a denial in the very first word.

For example, imagine that a person gives you a job and says that you should do the job on the same day itself. Let us also imagine that you have other pending jobs due to which you can commence the job only the next day. You have two options to respond. The first option is to say "No, it is not possible. I have other jobs. I will do your job tomorrow". if you use 'yes.. but.. technique', you would reply like this: 'Yes, I understand your urgency. However, I right now have other pending jobs due to which I will commence your job tomorrow and will complete it by tomorrow evening".By using 'Yes.. but..' technique, you derive the following advantages:

a. You will not irritate the listener by telling a negative remark in the beginning of your reply.

b. Your reply will look more optimistic and positive.

c. The other person will be able to understand your situation much better.However, it should be noted that in your over ambition to use 'Yes.. but..' technique, you should not dilute the meaning, content or the spirit of your reply. You will have to firmly speak out your opinion. The technique only demands that you deny or refuse in the later part of your reply and not in the very beginning of your reply.

2. 'SANDWICH' TECHNIQUE:

The purpose of this technique is to ensure that the mental irritation caused by the listener is reduced. The technique says that whenever you have to make an unfavourable statement (i.e., the statement which is unfavourable to the other person), speak out a favourable statement before and another favourable statement after the unfavourable statement. Which means, the unfavourable or negative statement gets sandwiched in between the two favourable or positive statements.

For example, imagine that a customer comments that the price of your product is high. if you use a sandwich technique, you will reply to him as: "The quality of our products is one of the best (this is a favourable statement). You may, of course, find the price a little higher (unfavourable statement). However, considering the service and the quality of our product, we wish to clarify that the price infact is not high (favourable statement).

By using the sandwich technique, the mental irritation of the customer on the price of your product will get reduced because it is sandwiched between two favourable or positive statements. This technique is also based on the fact that people tend to remember what-ever was spoken in the very beginning and whatever was spoken at the close of a communication more than what is heard in between. Since the commencement of your reply and the closing of your reply are positive and favourable, the listener takes the intermediatory statement positively and may give out a favourable decision to you.

3. 'BACK ON TRACK' TECHNIQUE:

This technique should be used whenever the other person deviates from the subject of discussion. Sometimes, people get distracted and get deviated from the main issue. In such an instance, if you tell the listener abruptly or curtly that he had deviated (i.e., What he is speaking now has no relevance to the topic of the discussion), he may feel hurt and offended. This hurtful feeling may influence his further communication with you. To ensure that this does not happen, whenever a person deviated from the main topic, you should speak a sentence or two on the deviated topic and slowly link it to the main topic in an implied, discreet and non complaining manner.

For example, let us say that you have been talking about the guarantee or warranty of your product and that the customer says 'Now a days, we cannot believe anyone. The other day, I bought a voltage stabilizer and it went out of order third day and the salesman never bothered to come to him to fix the problem. etc., etc.,,"

Now you an have option to say, "I have nothing to do with the voltage stabilizer. I have come here to discuss about my product". This will only irritate the listener and he may feel offended. Instead, when you use the 'Back-on-track' technique, you would say "Yes, I appreciate your difficulty and it is very difficult to experience a bad service from any sales person (becauseof poor quality of the product). That is the reason why, for our product, we give a guarante of 5 years and here is the Guarantee Card and etc., etc.,' You have now slowly brought him on your side and topic (i.e., Your product warranty). You have spoken few sentences regarding the voltage stabilizer (althoug it is irrelevant to your product) and slowly linked it to your subject i.e., the warranty of your product.

4. 'TANGENTIAL' TECHNIQUE:

This is a very important technique to be used whenever a controversial topic comes up for discussion. The technique is based on the fact that, whenever you irritate or emotionally hurt the feelings of the other person, the bad feeling will have an effect on the subsequent discussion.

Especially, emotive issues tend to disturd the person more powerfully than rational, logical or professional issues. Afterall, emotions are more powerful than logics. That is why Emotional Quotient (EQ) is more powerful than IQ (intelligent Quotient). Tangential technique says that when a controversial topic (which does not deal directly with the main subject) crops up, speak a few sentences which are non-committal in nature and then get on to the main topic.

Do not make any strong or categorical statement on the controversial topic.Let us say a communication starts with the other person telling you, "So, how are you? yesterday evening, we had a party. We had brought a person who prepares very delicious non-vegetarian food. He prepared very tasty food and everyone enjoyed". Let us also imagine that you are a strict vegetarian and you hate non-vegetarian food. And if you make any comment which is against non-vegetarian food, that would irritate the other person and this irritation will have its negative influence on the professional discussions (for which you had gone to him). On the other hand, you cannot talk in favour of non-vegetarian food since you honestly do not like non-vegetarian food. It is in such delicate situations that you have to use 'tangential' technique. You could reply him like this: "Yes, different people like different types of food. It's good that you had a good time eating tasty food. Let's now discuss regarding the pending invoice.."

5. 'BROKEN RECORD" TECHNIQUE:

This is a very important technique which should be used only as a last resort when there are no options left for you to convince the other person. The technique is that you speak out your firm decision without assigning any reason or justifying it.

Let us say that a person is demanding that you should complete the job tomorrow. It is impossible for you to do so due to other jobs. You will, of course, give various reasons explaining why it cannot be done tomorrow and why you need further two days. It may be that you have other pending jobs or you need certain clarification to commence the job or, for that matter, any other reason.

Let's also imagine that the listener is very adamant and is not willing to understand your reasons. After exhausting all reasons and possibilities, you will arrive at a stage, where you feel that there is no point in explaining the reasons to the person because he is refusing to understand your point of view. It is at this point of time that you should use 'Broken Record" technique. You could say 'Whatever may be the situation, I will not be able to do the job tomorrow. I will be able to do the job only after two days'.

6. 'MIRRORING' TECHNIQUE:

This technique is based on the premise that any person would like to hear those words which he speaks quite often and the person would like to see those body posture which he himself adopts.

For example, Let us imagine that a person says "I feel it is very nice to do physical exercises. It is also very nice to have a control on your food habits, another nice thing to do is to develop some hobbies and one more nice thing is that we should read good books. Another nice thing is to develop good relationship good relationship with others, and another nice thing..., one more nice thing...". You must have got the point! In his talk, he uses the word 'nice' a number of times. You should carefully observe this point and, in your reply, in an indirect and implied manner, you should also use the word 'nice' a few times, i.e., You could reply, "I came to discuss about the statement which you gave yesterday. I have prepared the statement and i thought it is nice to indicate the percentages. Another nice thing is that instead of gross value, I have indicated net value, etc.,". Since the person listens the word 'nice' from you, he feels good. This is called 'Mirroring' technique.

Like in a mirror, you see your own image, you should reflect the other person's words or phrases in your reply. This should however be used wioth caustion. Mirroring technique should be used in a discreet, indirect and implied manner. The words or phrases in the other person's talk (which you would like to mirror) should be used in the laterpart of your communications. It should not be very obvious or evident to the other person that you are using his words and phrases to impress him. If you do so, you will be caught offguard and the person may see through you.

7. 'SELECTIVE' TECHNIQUE:
This technique should be employed when you are listening, not when you are speaking. This technique says that, like in any other aspect of life wherein we take only what we want and generally leave out what we don't want, whenever you listen to the other person you should take only useful, objective and rational statements and ignore the impulsive, irrational and irrelevant part of his talk.
Let us say a person says "It is terrible, I don't understand the way you work. I want the copy of the letter today itself. i am frustated with your style of functioning and i had a terrible time with you..". here, you find that the only logical statement which you have to take is "I need the copy of the letter today itself". So you should consider only this statement. The Other statements, if you feel are blown out of proportion or exaggerated, should be ignored.
This techniques offers following advantages:
a. You will get provoked by the impulsive statement of the other person. You will become action-oriented rather than feeling bad or sentimental about it.
b. it avoids unnecessary conflicts and arguments (which would have taken place if you had picked up the impulsive part of his statements).
c. You will retain your mental balance.
d. When you do not respond to his impulsive and irrational statements, he will also reduce avoid speaking such words or phrases to you in future.
However, adopting this technique this technique needs a great deal of self mastery, shattering of your ego and high level of discrimination and wisdom on your part. If you are a sensitive and sentimental with a high levelof ego, it is difficult to use this technique because you feel hurt, offended or provoked when you listen to his impusive and derogoratory statements. In such a case, you will react to his impulsive statements and th discussion will go off-line in a different direction resulting in arguments and conflicts. So, develop discrimination, self mastery, wisdom and shatter your ego to use this technique.

8. 'RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT' TECHNIQUE:
Right brain is responsible for emotions and left brain for thoughts(intellect). Emotions are always more powerful and are remembered for a longer time than intellect. Emotions also directly touch your heart and create feelings which are more powerful than your thinking.
This technique is drawn from this phenomenon and it says that you should use an emotive statement followed by a professional, ligical statement and, in the end, wind up the communication with another emotive statement.
Infact, you have been using this technique, may be, unconsciously. When you meet a friend, you may say, "Hi, how are you? Here is the paper which you wanted, please go through and let me know. Bye, have a nice day". Now, you find that the statement "Hi, How are you?" is emotive in nature and "Here is the paper....." is professional/logical and "Bye! Have a nice day" is another emotive statement.
However, if you use this statement more consciously it will yield good results. Like you can say "I fully appreciate and understand your difficulties (emotive statement). I will immediately send a person to fix the problem at your end(professional/logical statement). We will do all our best to satisfy you(emotive statement)".
This technique is a little different from the Sandwich Technique in respect of the fact that in Sandwich Technique you will use an unfavourable statement in between two favourable statements, whereas in the case of 'Right-Left-Right' technique, none of the three statements need to be unfavourable. So, both the techniques should be used appropriately and judiciously.

9. 'I AM ALSO LIKE YOU' TECHNIQUE:
This technique is the reflection of the sying 'Birds of same feather flock together'. Whenever you confirm or identify the commonality between you and the other person, you tend to like each other and come closer.
For example, if a person says, "I go for walking everyday in the morning" and, in case you also walk in the morning, it is better you say, "I also love walking and I walk for 45 minutes a day in the morning. It makes me feel good when I walk". Here, the process of walking being a common activity liked by both of you, there is a great possibility of feeling good about walking and therefore feeling good about each other as well. This will bring both of you psycholigically and emotionally closer. It will provide a good platform on which further communication can take place very comfortably and nicely. So, identify as many commonalities in likes/dislikes, value systems, beliefs, etc., as possible which are common between you and the other person to build up rapport and further communication.

10. 'FLASH BACK' TECHNIQUE:
This technique believes in creating a positive mood before commencing the communication. Imagine that you and the other person had gone for a dinner last week and both of you had a very nice time discussing, speaking, joking, eating, etc., When you meet after a week, if you recall the dinner and the nice experiences you had shared, that can provide an excellent back drop and backround ever which the current discussion can take place in a pleasant and likeable manner. You could say, "Last week, the dinner we had was very nice. We had a great time and we discussed lot of things..". By this, a positive mood will be created in the mind of the other person and he may become very receptive in further communication.It is common sense that the flash back of the previous instances should be only of positive instances and not of negative experience. Recalling a negative experience will only repel the other person and will create an unfavourable platform for the current discussions.

11. 'FUNNEL' TECHNIQUE:
This technique should be used in the beginning of the communication.
The technique is to speak on some general matters before getting on to the specific point of discussion. In fact, we do use this technique unconsciously, but when we use it consciously, it has many advantages.Like, we could say “How are you? I hope everything is fine”. The other person replies “Generally OK and nice to see you again”. Now get on to the main topic like “I have come to discuss regarding the pending work..”.Using ‘Funnel” technique (i.e., speaking on general matters) has the following advantages:1. It builds up relationship.2. It provides a good platform to talk on the subject of discussion.3. More importantly, when you ask the general question and the other person answers, you can identify his current mood and mental state as reflected in his reply. Based on his mood and mental state, you can strategise your further communication and decide whether to take up the current topic for discussion and, in case if you have to take it up, what should be your style, tone, strategy, sequence, etc.,‘Funnel’ technique should be used subject to the availability of time, cultural background importance of the specific topic and your familiarity with the other person. It is called ‘funnel’ technique because the funnel has a wider side which is symbolic of the general topics and the funnel also has a narrow side which represents the discussion on the specific matter. You should also not speak about the general matter very elaborately. This may create impatience on the part of the other person and may dilute the impact of the core issue for which the communication was aimed at.

12. ‘EGO BOOSTING’ Technique:

Everyone likes appreciation and praise. All of us would like to be recognized. Based on this universal fact, this technique believes in appreciating the other person and thereby getting the job done.Like, when a person says, “I will be able to complete this job only after two days”, you could say “For a person of your caliber and experience, I feel this job is not really difficult. I am sure you can complete it tomorrow itself”. The person may feel good about your appreciation/praise and may complete the job tomorrow.At this juncture, a clear distinction should be made between appreciation and Flattery.

1. Appreciation Is genuine, but flattery is no genuine

2. Appreciation will be truthful. You will appreciate only to the extent it needs to be appreciated. But, generally flattery will be exaggerated i.e., the reality is blown out of proportion.

3. Appreciation will have no selfish motive, you will appreciate just because you felt good about it. But, Normally, flattery has a hidden agenda and a selfish motive. You are trying to trap the other person by exaggerating.

4. Appreciation makes the other person feel good. But, Flattery may make the other person feel good in the initial instances but when he sees you through and understands your ulterior motive ir hidden agenda. Your further words of flattery will not have any impact on him and he may even dislike you.Ego boosting technique clearly says that you should appreciate people and not flatter them. The idea is not to manipulate or trick the person and get your job done at his cost and to your advantage. The idea is only to make him feel good and, with that feeling of goodness, he may stretch his capabilities a little more and agree to your request.

13. ‘LEVEL RAISING’ TECHNIQUE:

This is a technique you should use when you want to escalate the matter to higher authorities when the job is not getting done at your level.The technique says that when you find that you no longer get the job done from your colleague / peer, there is a need to take up the matter to higher level i.e., either to your higher authority or his higher authority. But the technique demands that before taking up the matter with the higher authority, you should inform your colleague / peer about our doing so. Otherwise, it leads to interpersonal conflicts and consequent problems. If you go to the higher authorities without informing your colleague/peer, it creates a hurt feeling in him. He may wait for an opportunity to settle score with you by not co-operating with you in similar situation cropping up next time.So, when you really want to take up the matter with the higher authority, you could tell him “I have been discussing and following up with you from past one week. You may be having genuine difficulties to give me the details. If you don’t mind I would like to take up the matter with your/my higher authorities. I hope you will not feel bad about it”. When you say this, if the other person has genuine difficulties, he may even encourage you to go higher authorities. And if he was not co-operating with you due to his inefficiency or complacency, he would tell you not to go to higher authorities and he will clear the matter in a short time. The technique only demands that you should keep your colleague/peer informed before taking up the matter with the higher authorities.Your colleague/peer should not be caught off-guard when higher authority speaks to him and it should not be a surprise for him. This technique is important to maintain good relationship with your colleagues/peers.

14. ‘REPHRASING’ TECHNIQUE:

This technique is required to check whether you have understood the other person correctly.When a person says, “I told you to dispatch the model ‘A’ today and that model ‘B’ is not very urgent. But now, as per our revised requirement, model ‘B’ is important and model ‘A’ can wait”. Now, you would really like to understand whether he has spoken the models A and B at appropriate places and that you have heard them correctly. SO, in your response, you could rephrase and say the something like ‘In other words, you want us to dispatch model ‘B’ today and model ‘A’ later”. So, if the person has spoken correctly and you have heard him correctly, he will say ‘Yes’ and the work will go on without confusion. If there is a confusion in his speaking or in your listening or understanding, the matter gets corrected after you rephrase the message.

15. ‘MOODS MATCHING’ TECHNIQUE:

All of us are possessed by these moods at different points of time. This technique tells you to find out the mood of the other person at the point of communication and take up the matters which are conductive for the mood.

a. When the other person has Tamasik mood (Wherein you feel lethargic, uninterested, lazy), take up routine and unimportant matters and do no take up important, difficult, complex and serious topics which need lot of thinking and discussions.

b. When the other person is in Rajasik mood (Wherein you feel extremely active, restless or even aggressive, bubbling with energy), take up matters which need lot of motivation, aggressiveness and energetic thinking and do not take up routine and trivial matters.

c. When the other person is possessed by Satwik mood (Wherein you are alert and balanced), take up matters which need long term thinking, indepth observation, careful discussions and looking at the problem from all perspectives. Do not take up matters which are routine or need aggression.By taking up the matters which match the mood of the other person, the job will be got done easily since the mood is very conductive for the subject matter. However, when important matters have to be taken up, you cannot wait for the right mood of the other person. This technique should be used when there is an option to take up different subjects calling for different attitudes and moods of the other person.

16. ‘SAME-BEAT / OFF-BEAT’ TECHNIQUE:

Some people would like to be safe and follow what the majority follows and would not like to experiment (‘Same-beat’ person). Some others would like to be different, unique, adventurous and do not want to toe the line treaded by others and want to experiment (‘Off-beat’ person).You will have to find out to which category the other person belongs to and accordingly speak to him. For the ‘Same-beat’ person, you could say, “This is the most popular product and we have sold more than 20,000 pieces. Many people buy this product and hence we feel that you should also buy”. For an ‘Off-beat’ type of person, you could say “this is a very rare combination and only those people who have very good taste buy this product. You will stand out when you use this product. You will also feel and look different and unique when you use this product”.So, depending on whether the person is ‘Same-beat’ or ‘Off-beat’, you will have to use this technique to win him over and get your job done.

17. ‘REINFORCING’ TECHNIQUE:

This technique believes in building up your communication based on the statement of the other person.For example, when a person says “I need this statement very urgently and there should be no mistakes”, you could reply him “As rightly told by you, since you do not want to have any mistakes, I suggest that we put two persons on the job immediately and get it done”.Since you are hooking your requirement based on what the other person has spoken, i.e., the urgency of matter, it is more likely that he agrees to your request. Normally, reinforcing statements will start with ‘As told by you, ‘As informed by you’. Etc., This is the way you build up your case as a logical extension of his statement.

18. ‘QUESTIONING’ TECHNIQUE:

Normally there are 4 types of questioning.

a. OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: These are asked to build up rapport and to know the opinion of the other person. They are quite general in nature.EX: ‘What do you think of the future of Indian economy?’

b. CLOSE-ENDED QUESTIONS: These are asked to get specific answers.EX: ‘Would you like to have a cup of coffee or tea?’ or ‘Who is the current president of India?’

c. LEADING QUESTIONS: Here, you ask a series of questions to identify the sequence and build up your point. They are also used to investigate the matter.

d. LOADED QUESTIONS: These are those questions where you would like to get the expected response. EX: ‘How did you find this book’ is a Open Ended Question. Whereas, if you ask a question like ‘Did you find the book interesting?’ is a Loaded Question. In the question ‘Did you find the book interesting?’, you expect him to answer ‘Yes”. Normally, these questions are used to influence the other person and make him answer the way you would like him to.The right questioning technique should be used at appropriate times depending on the objectives indicated above. Proper questioning is an art and gives great advantage to improve your efficiency in communication and achieve the desired result.

19. ‘PROFESSIONAL DISTANCE’ TECHNIQUE:

It is important to maintain the required professional, healthy distance with your colleagues, peers, bosses and sub-ordinates. If you become very intimate and personal with them, it may result in the following situations:

a. The other person may take you for granted.

b. You may not be able to exercise your authority when needed.

c. The other person may emotionally black mail you.This technique says that whenever you feel that the other person is coming psychologically and emotionally close to you and you fear that this relationship is going to affect your professional relationship with him/her, you should consciously maintain the requisite professional distance by being formal and not discussion very intimate and personal matters with him/her. You may even physically cut off from him/her for sometime to ensure that the requisite healthy professional distance is restored and maintained.