Self Esteem

Have you ever experienced feeling awkward and shy when you are out with others because you lack the techniques that make effective conversation starters? When this happens, you can feel as if no-one likes you, wants to talk to you or even that you don't belong there.

Really, all this means is that you are not practiced at using conversation success strategies. So, to begin with you need to know how to start a conversation the simple way. It's surprising how much difference this little technique will make.

You are probably used to starting a conversation with something like this:

You: "Hi, how are you?"
Response: "Good. And you?"
You: "Great"

Once the intro is out of the way you are faced with an uncomfortable pause. Both parties glance around the room as if the answer for how to get out of this awkward situation is somewhere out there. Now you are thinking "What next?" and feeling mighty uncomfortable too. What normally happens next is one or both of you quietly move away or one watches the other disappear. And this reinforces your own perception that you are not easy to like. You might even promise yourself that you will wait for someone else to start and so shrink back into the shadows to spend the evening watching everyone else have a good time. Of course this all reinforces that you are no good at striking up conversations and you swear that you will avoid coming again.

The good news is that this is very easy to change and the torture of these kinds of conversations can be relegated to the past. So, how do you do achieve it? Its simple really.

All you need to do is to give a little more information about yourself and the other person will have something to springboard off into a conversation. Try this next time someone asks you how you are. Try saying "I'm good. I've just come back from a lovely holiday and I feel so relaxed." By adding in a little extra you have opened up possibilities for the other person to ask "Oh? What did you do?" or perhaps "Sounds great. I've just come back from Alaska, myself." This, in turn, gives you the opportunity to ask them about their holiday or you can talk about what you did on yours - even if you didn't do anything special you can say something like "I had a lovely time at home sorting out those things you never seem to get to when you work all the time."

Can you see how a great conversation starter provides the impetus for getting into a really rewarding conversation. And all you did was give a little more information rather than a single word answer.

The point of this simple technique is not to reveal all your deepest thoughts and fears. Its not about telling your life story - its simply about adding in a few details so that people can converse with you and for you to get the opportunity to find out a little bit about them.

You can see how it takes just a little effort to completely change how a conversation goes. Add that little bit extra in the first exchange and you will find that conversations are fun and interesting. You will discover new and interesting facts about people you interact with every day.

You have learned an amazingly easy conversation starter. For more secrets, don't wait go right now to http://www.conversationstarters.biz/

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It's really quite simple to come up with conversation starters. No need to give in to that racing pulse, the breathlessness and the feverish thinking any more. And best of all, you don't have to memorize questions beforehand. Take a minute to think about this. Starting conversations does not have to be forced. They can and should be natural and relaxed.

First off, in situations where you are meeting new people, remember to introduce yourself by walking up to them with a smile and your hand extended. Don't worry; this will encourage them to engage with you. Once you have physical contact, the rest flows very naturally. The key is to remember pace your introduction. Use pauses to let the other person hear and process what you are saying.

Your introduction should go something like this: "Hello (pause for a couple of seconds). My name is (pause for a second) Roger. (Pause again). And you are? (pause, look at them and smile again).

You should've let their hand go by now and they will be answering you. So, listen carefully for their name and use it right off. This is how you remember other people's names. You might respond like this: "Nice to meet you, John."

The next set of conversation starters is based on that list of simple topics mentioned earlier. What topic you choose is largely dependent on the type of social occasion. f you are at a networking meeting, you may like to use topics like:

- Work the other person does
- The surroundings
- The speakers

A more relaxed occasion? Then use topics like these:

- Vacations
- Books
- Movies
- Best restaurant

No matter what your conversation starter topic is about, get used to using open questions around the topic. Remember to ask the question in a relaxed way and listen to what the other person says. Their answer will lead to more opportunities to ask other open questions. Here are some examples:

- Where was the last place you went on vacation?
- Where do you plan on going for your next vacation?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
- What countries have you traveled to?
- What was your worst vacation experience?

Simple, isn't it? Asking friendly questions where there are no simple 'yes 'and 'no 'answers are easy to ask. In the case of vacations - who wouldn't be eager to tell you of their experiences in Europe on their grand tour or perhaps a wilderness adventure in Alaska? "How to start a conversation?" need not be a difficult question.

As you can easily see, each of these questions is a natural follow-on from the previous question. There is no special talent involved here. It is just a natural progression of questions that can open up lots of possibilities. The knack is to ask questions that are difficult to answer with one word. If this does happen to you, don't worry. Just ask another question. Make sure your questions begin with what, where, if you could, and so on.

So, when to tell them something about yourself? Wait until they ask. And if they don't. Only talk about yourself when you feel like you have asked so many questions, it's getting uncomfortable. And how to talk about yourself? Well, that's easy. Just find a related experience and only talk for a sentence or two, followed up with - you guessed it - another open, related question.

Have you ever noticed that this kind of face-to-face conversation is the key to unlocking social confidence? Yes, conversing is a skill-- some would call it an art-- that can be easily learnt. It is truly an ability that is yours for the taking, with just a little effort to learn the techniques.

People who learn these skills find it much easier to make new friends wherever they go. Isn't this a goal worthy of a little effort? And a little effort is all that it takes to become truly confident in making yourself over into a person who can effortlessly engage in interesting conversations no matter what the circumstances are.

Being a skilled conversation starter is widely admired and easy to achieve when you know how. Learn conversation success techniques now. Invest in yourself. Act now at http://www.conversationstarters.biz/

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The ability to increase your self esteem is a problem that most of us will face at one or more times in our lives. At some point a significant problem, or a series of them, will negatively affect our lives. If these problems are not dealt with and processed properly they will have a horrible impact on ourselves and everyone around us. However, if we deal with these problems properly it will create positive benefits to our confidence, health and self image.

The problems that happen to everyone (losing a job or failed business, death of a loved one, health problems of you or a loved one... ) are a part of life. We need to learn to analyze, accept and work through these issues. The problem most of us find is this is easier said than done.

One of the most difficult "emotions" these types of problems attack is our self esteem and confidence. In a moment we will look at a simple technique to combat this problem, but first we need to understand how a low self esteem can hurt us and how a positive one can help us.

Self esteem could be considered the opinion you have of yourself. When life throws difficulties in your way it is easy to let the opinion of yourself, or self esteem, turn negative. A major problem with this is when we do not love ourselves it is nearly impossible to make healthy decisions.

Fear creeps into our mind which makes it difficult to accept change, even if it is positive change. In other words we become complacent regarding bad situations. This can affect both our personal and financial life.

In addition, studies have proven the negative emotions created by low self esteem lower our immune system. There is an increase of inflammation as well as other factors increasing heart disease including high blood pressure, increase of LDL (bad) cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

The concern here is negative thoughts and emotions increase stress and the health problems involved with constant stress. In addition, people with low self esteem tend to drink more alcohol, smoke more and exercise less. All factors creating a perpetual downward spiral in health, confidence and overall self worth.

On the other hand a positive self esteem allows a person to feel good about themself and how they view others opinion of them. You feel empowered to attack new challenges with confidence and without fear. Because of the positive feeling you have towards yourself you have less doubt (if any) in your abilities.

This in turn leads one to be proud of their health and body increasing positive choices you make towards your exercise patterns and your diet. This creates a positive upward spiral in health and confidence.

This is a simple meditation to take you from the negative thoughts and low self esteem to positive thoughts and a healthy self esteem. If you have 10-15 minutes, that is optimal. However, even using this technique for 2-5 minutes will make huge positive strides for anyone with a negative or low self esteem.

If possible find a quiet place to get comfortable and calm your mind for the allotted time you may have. If you cannot get to a quiet place do the best you can for the time you have. As you are getting comfortable take some deep breaths and feel your body relax. If counting your breath for 30-60 seconds allows you to relax quickly, feel free to utilize this technique.

As you relax focus on your solar plexus chakra. This is your third chakra and located just below your ribs in the center of your chest. The color associated with this chakra is yellow so focus your mind on a bright yellow disk spinning in the center of your body.

While you visualize this bright yellow disk spinning allow positive thoughts and feelings to embrace your entire body, but continue to focus on your solar plexus chakra. Spend your time feeling this energy center open and your self esteem become supercharged!

If you have enough time use the last 2-3 minutes telling yourself positive mantras, "I am great at my job" or "I am worthy of being loved". Your inner self will lead you to the mantra(s) your personal self esteem requires to become positive and healthy. If you are able, say these out loud. If you unable to speak out loud, feel free to say it quietly to yourself.

As you finish, embrace the positive feelings flowing throughout your body. Attempt to do this meditation 2-3 times throughout your day, even if it is only for 2-5 minutes each time. When you have more time, utilize the free tools available on the internet for a more rapid improvement. Now take your life back into your own hands and become the person you want to be!

Access our FREE Online Guided Meditation at: http://www.howtobalancechakras.com/

Our guided meditation uses relaxing music, positive affirmations, color therapy and visual imagery to guide you through balancing your chakra energy centers. Try it today at: http://www.howtobalancechakras.com/

You will feel refreshed and full of energy!

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All around you are living, breathing, interesting human beings who are dying for a little decent interaction. It's funny how we can spend months or years with the same work group, yet hardly know them. But why not?

Maybe you're extremely shy, or maybe you're just lazy. Maybe you don't know how to strike up a conversation with someone new, or maybe you're worried they'll think you're boring. Whatever the case, learning a few key conversation skills can absolutely turn your workplace around. Rather than dreading Mondays, you'll look forward to great conversation success with each person you encounter.

And who knows? - You might just make some great new friends.

Give sincere compliments

Here's the truth: everyone is insecure in some way. Everyone feels that somehow they don't measure up. If you can turn that around, you'll definitely win friends. A huge key to conversation success is paying sincere compliments to folks you encounter.

That girl in accounting? Compliment her meticulous record keeping. That new guy that looks a little out of place? Complement his sharp tie. The cleaning lady that comes in as you're leaving? Thank her for all she does to keep the place looking great. You'll be surprised how far heartfelt, optimistic complements and praise will go with your colleagues and friends.

Ask open-ended questions

If you're trying to strike up a conversation with someone, don't give them the opportunity to bow out with a monosyllabic "yes" or "no". That just puts the ball back in your court to keep the conversation moving.

Instead, one of the greatest conversations skills is the ability to ask open-ended questions. As the other person responds and goes into detail, you have time to listen and ask further question or make comments, effectively keeping the conversational ball bouncing.

Practice active listening

Just remember, you can ask all the great questions in the world, but if you're not truly listening, you won't be much of a conversationalist. Thus, one of our key conversation skills is active listening.

Active listening means not just getting the gist of the words being spoken, but listening for deeper interests and meanings. It also means paying attention to little things that are mentioned in passing. If, for example, your co-worker mentions that they enjoy stamp collecting, go out of your way to learn a little about it (boring as it might seem to you), and bring it up the next time you talk. This shows your stamp-collecting work mate that you are sincerely interested in him as a person.

Not only will you have made someone else feel good about himself, but you'll significantly boost your own day by making someone else's better. Plus, you might just learn something new and interesting in the process.

Be relatable

On the other hand, as much as you might enjoy one of your particular (and obscure) hobbies, not everyone will derive such great joy from discussing it. If you're really looking for conversation success, do try to be relatable.

As you go throughout your day, make note of things that stand out to you as particularly interesting. If you read something in the news, see a particularly good play in a game, or watch a funny viral video, those are great things to share with others. Not only are they entertaining topics, but they are things that others will likely have also noticed, and that will lead to a lively conversation.

These few tips aren't hard to incorporate into your daily life, but they can make a huge difference in your conversation success - and thus, your overall happiness.

Now you know all about how to use conversation skills to improve your day, right now, I invite you to expand your success with this powerful Conversation Success System at http://www.conversationstarters.biz/

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