The results from last week.
Looking at people while I was listening to them wasn’t hard. I quickly found nearly everyone looks around while they talk. Looking people in the eye while talking was, as I expected a bit more of a challenge. It took a strong conscious effort to do this and several times it put me off what I was saying. But I stuck at it and it does become easier. Though I still need practice when it’s a longer conversation where I am doing lots of talking.
Looking people in the eye as you pass them in the street gave me a few odd looks but many smiles. I look non-threatening, (being a smallish female) so I didn’t get any “what you looking at?” accusations.
To be honest I initially thought this exercise was somewhat a silly. But after several days I did find that it made me feel more -I want to say powerful here, but that is just a little too strong a word – but certainly I felt more confident. So I am pleased I tried this exercise and highly recommend it.
This weeks challenge: Learn to propose.
Don’t panic it’s not propose as in marry me proposing. It is propose as in offer possible solutions instead of asking for options. You are not allowed to say “I don’t know what do you think.” Possible lines are given to help you get started:
- Can I make a suggestion…?
- I propose…
- I’d like to propose…
- I’d like to suggest that…. what do you think?
- Let’s try… and then try something else if that doesn’t work”
This weeks challenge looks good. I really like the sound of it because I know it’s going to work. I think the biggest trick is going to be catching yourself saying “not sure, what do you think?” And because it’s the way I work, I have written down those starters on post-its to help me remember them and most importantly to use them. Once again I will report back next week on how it went.
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