Etiquette still counts! Here’s how to enforce your teen’s good manners and fix bad ones

You would like to think that by the time a child is nine, his manners are already in place. He says “hello,” “goodbye,” “please” and “thank you,” every time you expect him to.
Think again. Whether they did have these basic manners down at one time and “teen brain” intervened, or they never quite got firmly implanted, it doesn’t matter. You need to be vigilant about manners with your teen because this is probably your last chance to enforce their lifelong importance.
Enforce Good Manners Regularly
Discuss manners whenever the time is appropriate:

• If your son’s grandmother gives him and a present and he doesn’t thank her, take him aside and talk to him. Remind him to send a thank you note when he gets home.
• If he doesn’t hold the door for someone, remind him as soon as you can.
• If you insist on having dinner as a family, your child will not only learn good table manners, but also the fine art of conversation and waiting for someone else to finish talking before beginning, himself. 

                                                                                                      http://parenting.kaboose.com

How to Socialize, Be Funny and Make Friends

Making friends is not always easy. It depends on how outgoing you are. If you're shy, then you need to build up your confidence to actually be popular. This guide might help you but what you really need is socializing skills and of course a cheerful smile. 

STEPS:

1. Just be yourself. Don't be afraid to express your opinions. If someone insults you, just ignore them.
2. Be optimistic. Even if you are feeling really down, remember that there's always something out there to smile about. A positive outlook will make people want to be around you a lot more. Be cautious, however. There's a point where optimism can be annoying. Don't be too optimistic.
3. Crack a joke. (Having a sense of humor is important, but don't get too carried away, there are some things you have to be serious about.If you joke about your friend in a rude way it could damage your relationship with them.)
4. Smile as much as you can! Signs of encouragement let people know you care about what they are saying. But have a reason to smile. Make it clear you have a reason to smile with humor or optimistic words. Smiling without a reason, or smiling too much may creep people out.
5. Share interesting/silly ideas. Your thoughts can open up many doors that can lead to friendship.
6. Listen more than you talk. Instead of nodding and smiling and occasionally wiping the drool off your face, try to take what the person says and run with it. Add your own thoughts into the mix - but don't hijack the conversation.
7. Start by doing little things if you are very reserved. For example, every time you go to school, work, or wherever, say hello to one person and have a one-on-one conversation with them.
8. Say "hello" to those that don't talk much. (Share something about yourself, such as where you're going or why you're there. Avoid talking about the weather - as Tom Waits says, "Strangers talk about the weather." Try to compliment them.
9. Don't expect perfection out of anyone, especially yourself. For example, if you forget your own name while introducing yourself, just make fun of the situation.
10. Be Patient. If you are still among strangers, the apprehension of a conversation may cause a delay in comments. Don't worry, that will go away in short order.
11. Talk to older people, maybe even your own folks. They will be less likely to ridicule you, therefore making it easier to learn to talk well.
12. Place importance on making social contacts. The people who are considered popular may not be the sharpest tacks in the box, but they are acquainted with important people who may contribute to their future careers. It is never too late to feel that being popular is important. If your work environment allows for it, host a party, organize a sports game, etc.
13. Love yourself. It is difficult to like others when you do not appreciate yourself for who you are. Try exercise to improve your self-esteem. Start your journey to "self-discovery."
14. Be loyal. Little things count. If you make an appointment, be on time. If you're in a group, show up early, and stay late (even if you don't have anything to say at the moment).
15. Be nice to others. Always give compliments, but don't try too hard. If you are shy, take a deep breath and risk it - you never know what might happen. Again, if you are shy on the outside but a little crazy on the inside, let it out once in a while. Wear your hair up high and spin around or dance. Others will laugh and find you funny and fun to be with.
16. Try not to be defensive over something that is possibly your own issue. For example, don't shout, "Why are you so prejudiced?" or "Why don't you like women?" when due to past situations you may just be overly sensitive. Try to always believe the best of others and give them the benefit of the doubt that can go a long way in getting to know the real person. If it turns out they are a bigot, then move on to befriend the next person and don't waste any more energy. It may take a few tries to find friends that "click."
17. Be honest. Lying will make people not want to be your friend any more, because they will not trust you anymore.
18. Respect everyone, no matter what they think or say. They are a person and deserve to be treated with respect. If you treat people well they will treat you the same.

                                                   http://www.wikihow.com/Socialize,-Be-Funny-and-Make-Friends

5 Secrets of Effective Communicative Skills

Hi there..! As we all know, it is important to have a good communicative skills. But do you know how is it like?.. some of us who had enough self-confidence.., we might think.. "as long as people do listen to me.., I don't need to know all those" nahh.. that is not right. sometimes our speech could be misunderstood by the listener...why? because...we are lack of good communicative skills.

Here, we are giving 5 secret of effective communicative skills which suggested by Benjamin from his blog, peacefulprosperity.com

Enjoy reading our blog...! ;')

1. Feel the feelings you want to convey:  If you want someone to feel a certain way… feel that way in their presence.  Brilliant Hypnotist and NLP trainer, Jamie Smart, likes to quote the classic hypnotic advice “Go there first”.  If you want to make people happy… you have to be happy yourself.  Needless to say, getting pissed off at the amount of angry people in the world doesn’t help    We all tend to love a passionate speaker.  To develop this tendency in yourself… ask yourself  "How can I more completely experience the emotions I want my audience to experience?"
2. Match the energy/intensity/emotion of the audience:  Another way to phrase this is… avoid ‘overdoing it’.  If you try to take someone from relative disinterest to mind blowing excitement all at once… it’s like trying to leap over the Grand Canyon… That’s quite a jump!  If, however, you start with mild curiosity… and gradually build your way up to interest… then go for a little excitement… and then turn the excitement up a little more… you can easily see how someone can incrementally go from disinterest to mind blowing excitement in a relatively short period of time.  Your question for yourself is “How can I meet people where they are in order to lead them where I want them to go?“
3. Use as many mediums of communication as possible:  Take some time to pay attention to how you sound.  Play with it some.  Learn to love it.  Do the same with how you look.  Tweak your appearance.  Learn to love it… particularly the ‘imperfections’.  Consider the words you tend to use.  What words could work even better?  With which groups of people?  Play with words.  Learn to love language.  Your question for yourself is “How can I add more dimensions of communication to my message?“
4. Let go of resistance:  Tightening up communicates fear and discomfort… which usually isn’t what we want to communicate.  It also distorts any remaining portion of your intended message.  On the other hand, when you really relax… the communication starts to flow.  People will get an idea of where you are and where you are going just from being in your presence… and the words you add are just a bonus.  After working with specific dimensions of communication, it is always important to relax and let them flow, naturally.  Your question for yourself is “How can I relax even more to let my message flow even more effectively?“
5. Allow people to do it themselves:  This goes hand in hand with the second secret.  If you try to force people in a given direction… they will resist.  When you are ‘pushy’ with people… they push back.  If you open an exciting doorway for them… they will get excited, do what ever they can to walk through the doorway, and they will tell their friends about it later.  The question you want to ask yourself is:  “How will I help this person recognize how much they love this idea?“

Don'ts in presentation

These are the things that you should not do when you are in presentation........Maybe you have made the mistakes..now..Take a look and learn~

Quotations about Confidence

For those who are feeling down and need boosters to boost up confidence level especially in communication, here are some energetic quotations:

1. Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.  ~Eleanor Roosevelt

2. A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at  him or her.  ~David Brinkley

 
3. It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.  ~Author Unknown

4. Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right.  ~Henry Ford

5. I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn't fall down.  ~Allen H. Neuharth

 

6. People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.  ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

7. Don't live down to expectations.  Go out there and do something remarkable.  ~Wendy Wasserstein

8. Knock the "t" off the "can't."  ~Samuel Johnson

9. If you doubt yourself, then indeed you stand on shaky ground.  ~Henrik Ibsen


10. It's me who is my enemy
       Me who beats me up
       Me who makes the monsters
       Me who strips my confidence.
      ~Paula Cole, "Me," This Fire

Taken Fromhttp://www.quotegarden.com/confidence.html 

Manners for the Real World- Basic Social Skill

Activities to Encourage Social Interaction

Hi there...! As usual when its tuesday/wednesday, we'll be coming back here again with loads of stuff to share with. As I 'googling' around, I found this helpful website that discuss about interesting activities that can be done in order to get the shy kids interacting socially.

There must be few reasons why students are afraid to interact in class. Sometimes the teacher herself had no idea why it is happening. Maybe the kids are hungry, moody, shy, having low self-esteem and afraid he/she might get a 'boo' from the other classmates. So, first and foremost... if you are concerned about your child’s social behaviour then become proactive and plan a number of activities to encourage social interaction.

Activity 1: Role Play at Home
As mentioned in Kid's Behaviour websites, some children avoid social interaction with others their own age because they do not feel confident in their social skills. Of course young children may not be able to verbalise this lack of confidence, but a general confusion about what to do with, or how to talk to, others could be clues that this is the case.
One easy way to clear this confusion is to role play at home. Without turning it into a lesson, “play pretend” with a child to allow him or her to get used to interacting with others. Pretend to be the butcher, the baker, the teacher or even a fellow peer and allow your child to practice making eye contact, making small talk and even politely ending an interaction. When (s)he seems comfortable with these steps, then look for ways to have him or her interact with others.

 Anyway, in any activity that will be held in class.. it's important for you (as a teacher) to know your own roles which are...

• Watch for children who are having trouble finding play partners. Invite these children to join an activity. For example, "Sam, we are starting a role play game. Would you like to join?"
• Draw attention to mutual interests among the children. Comment on the things children have in common and make suggestions that draw them into social play. For example, "Bill, I notice you like to play as a policeman. Sue is also will be played as policewoman. Perhaps you two can work together and become team mates!"
• Show your enthusiasm for children's social interactions. Positive attention will increase the likelihood that social interactions continue.

Sources: 

www.ehow.com

www.kidsbehaviour.co.uk