by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What? Do You Really Know What You Are Communicating"

As a communication specialist, I always seek to stay aware of ways to better communicate. So, we often encounter the never ending discussion of, “just what has the most potent impact on your communication?” Is it the words, your vocal style, or your body language—or even your neighbor’s dog passing by. Now, before you run away and think that this is all academic garbage, stop for a moment and understand that, if you (or a politician) discover a secret key that makes you SUPERCOMMUNICATOR, you will jump to being lavishly wealthy over night. Hence, the quest.  Some of us think that TV pitch men have this ability but realistically, most of will never achieve that level (high or low).

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What? Do You Really Know What You Are Communicating"

As a speaker, author, and communication coach, I always try to explain things using examples and stories. Not that I am making a comparison, but one of the reasons Christ was so successful, was that he used a lot of parables and examples in his teaching. So, the technique is sound. Let’s try it here.

We have two armed camps out there in communication land. One camp shouts, “No, No, We Won’t Go!” when asked to attend a networking meeting or one-on-one encounter. The other camp yells, “No More Tweets!” as they exhaustedly slump from their computer keyboards. The one group we might call anti-social or geeky; the other we could call cheerleaders or social butterflies...if we wanted to label them. The muck that is clogging up each group’s pipeline is the same muck that is clogging up our country...polarization. The concept that it is either my way or not; right or wrong; left or right; yada-yada-yada. We end up with everyone on the planet being a partisan zealot while many don’t even know what they are "partising" about.

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What?  Do You Really Know What You Are Communicating"

I have been preparing and recording a series of videos on the topic of "Web Video Basics" in an effort to help any video amateurs better use the now-popular web video to its best potential.  To do this I am dredging up all of the video theory and techniques I have learned over my career and have re-discovered a few interesting things.

The first revelation is that the old phrase "the camera never lies" almost isn't true anymore.  Actually the camera doesn't lie, it records what is place in front of it.  However, with digital capability, what is done to that footage can be an outright lie.  So the phrase becomes "the camera never lies but the editor might...so beware."  Do not believe  ANYTHING you see on any screen anymore.

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What?  Do You Know What You Are Communicating"

WOW...do you think video has finally achieved the rather mundane status of text e-mails?  Sure seems like that is where it heading.  For those of you familiar with my book “Say What:  Do You Really Know What You Are Communicating?” (www.genevasconi.com) I make the point several times that all of these neat new electronic “things” are simply tools.  And to properly use a tool one must have at least some talent or knowledge of how to use it.

The REAL Reason A Business Fails

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What?  Do You Know What You Are Communicating"

As a long-time business owner and business communication mentor, I am often asked to provide business people with help to get their businesses back on track.  One of the reasons that my mentoring has been so successful is that I look at this type of problem from a different angle than most considering my 30 years in the media industry.

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What?  Do You Know What You Are Communicating"

Let me give you a political answer to this question.  Yes...and no.

There are five considerations when planning to advertise.  These come from my book “Say What?” and I call them the FIVE KNOWS.

Briefly, you must consider:

1. Your target or who you want to communicate to.
2. What you want to communicate as a simple, single concept.
3. How long you have to get the message across.
4. The vehicle of communication and its drawbacks.
5. Your budget (time, energy, consumables, etc.)

by Eugene Vasconi, owner of Communication Arts and author of "Say What?  Do You Really Know What You Are Communicating"

One of the questions I get asked a lot as a communications consultant is how to read another person’s  body language.  Of course, this is a natural interest because we think that a quick course in “BL” will give us super powers – kind of like having X-Ray vision.

If you recall, Superman had a problem seeing through lead – his X-Ray vision was blocked.  As mere mortals, we have an even greater impediment to our use of body language reading.  And that is ... the complexity of everyone’s body!  Let me explain.