Roald Kvam 2023 People like to talk about themselves and have others be interested in them. The next best thing to talking about themselves is talking about the things that they enjoy. Whenever Theodore Roosevelt expected a visitor, he would stay up late the night before, reading up on whatever subject he knew particularly interested…

Roald Kvam 2023 Next time you have a conversation, pay attention to how much of the conversation is you talking vs. the other person talking. How much listening are you doing? Aim to do 75% listening and 25% talking. As you practice this, pay attention to what causes you to jump in with more talking.…

Roald Kvam 2023 In short: Encourage others to talk about themselves. Let us listen to Dale Carnegie, author of «How to Win Friends & Influence People», as he explains that he once attended a dinner party where he met a botanist whom he found to be absolutely fascinating: He listened for hours with excitement as…

Roald Kvam 2023 Sadly, I remember faces, not names. It is frustrating and I am really struggling remembering people’s names. I makes me sad because I know – and experience too – that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Our name is a very powerful…

Roald Kvam 2023 Food for thought: Avoid telling someone that they’re plain wrong. Why? If we begin by announcing that we’re going to prove something to someone, we’re essentially telling them that we are smarter than they are and we’re going to teach them a thing or two. This comes off as a challenge. It…

Roald Kvam 2023 To keep a disagreement from becoming an argument, we can: 1. Welcome the disagreementIf the other person is raising a point we haven’t considered, we can be thankful it’s brought to our attention. It may save us from making a mistake. 2. Distrust our first instinctive impressionOur natural reaction to a disagreeable…

Roald Kvam 2023 In short? Avoid it… I am tempted to argue with others, especially when I am convinced that I am right about something. But even if I am right, what does arguing about it yield? Why prove someone else wrong? Is that going to make the person like me? Why not just let…

Roald Kvam 2023 My favorite dessert is Créme Brûlée. Now, if I were to go fishing, would I bait my hook with Créme Brûlée? Of course not – that’s what I like, but fish prefer worms. Lloyd George, Great Britain’s Prime Minister during World War I, who stayed in power long after the other wartime…

Roald Kvam 2023 The only way we can get a person to do anything is by giving them what they want. What do most people want? Well, I’d say health, food, sleep, money and sex? Most of these wants are usually gratified, but listen: There is one longing, almost as deep and ingrained as the…

Roald Kvam 2023 World famous psychologist B.F. Skinner proved that an animal rewarded for good behavior will learn much faster and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behavior. This principle applies to humans as well: Criticizing others doesn’t yield anything positive. We aren’t able to make real changes…