The Art of Saying No

Eleni KelakosPublic Speaking, Relationship Communication, Self Help, Strategic Tips

Have you ever found yourself agreeing to a favor or request when you really wanted to say no? Maybe it’s accepting an invitation for coffee with an acquaintance you don’t particularly get along with, volunteering to chaperone a school outing when you’d rather not, or taking on an additional project that will overload your already heavy workload. I know I have! Many of us struggle with this dilemma, often saying yes to things that don’t align with our true feelings or even our capacity. Award-winning professor and researcher Vanessa Patrick sheds light on why this happens in her insightful book, …

3 Ways to Help Men Hear You Better

Eleni KelakosProblem Solving, Relationship Communication, Women in Leadership

My husband handed me the Sunday paper’s “funnies” section, and pointed to the comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman. “Read this,” he said, with a grin, “it’s right on the money.” In the strip, a mom was attempting to communicate something she was really upset about to her teenage son, who was sitting next to his dad. The mom’s speech bubble was completely filled with words, all scrunched illegibly together. After the mom left the room in a huff, the dad stood up and rearranged the words in the mom’s speech bubble, reducing them to this: “Don’t …