12 Effective People Skills for Success

Andrew Carnegie once said: “As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” How often do you stop to observe how people around you behave? Even while you are hanging out on your favorite social network site, do you try to examine how other people conduct themselves? Has it ever occurred to you that admiring the positive traits of other individuals could contribute to your own success?

In this article, you will find a number of ways to enhance your people skills. These are just some of the valuable tools that you could use to achieve your goals and by learning how to apply them, you maximize your potential towards reaching success. Here are the 12 Effective People Skills for Success:

1. Use Humor

Learn how to be funny. Successful people know how to use humor in their dealings with others, including your blog visitors. Humor is a very effective tool that you can use to enhance your people skills. Notice how some always make an effort to make people laugh, most especially with new acquaintances. This happens because humor is a means to gain social acceptance. If you can make people laugh, then you can make them like you. Check out these four ideas for adding humor to your conversations.

2. Use People’s Names

Always try to remember people’s names and use it whenever you are talking to them. Calling people by their names is one of the most important people skills that you can develop because it can allow you to build rapport more easily with whom you meet.

How many times have you been introduced to another person only to forget their names a few minutes after the interaction? If you find it difficult to remember names, make it a habit to politely ask the person to repeat their names after they give it to you. This allows you to reinforce the name within your memory. Fortunately, you don’t have to ask anybody on the internet to repeat their names to you. It’s all there in print. All you have to do is to find it.

3. Forgive and Forget

Learn how to forgive others. Forgiveness is a virtue that some people find very hard to develop. It is however one of the most effective ways for you to gain a steady frame of mind which helps you in establishing good relationships with others. “Hatred” is a word that should never be associated with people skills. You must learn how to forgive if your aim is to attract more people and better relationships toward you.

Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

4. Maintain A Good Posture… Even Online

Constantly slouching or drooping in front of other people is a sign of weakness and lack of focus. When dealing with other people, you would want to show vigor, dynamism, energy, and enthusiasm. When you meet acquaintances, associates, and friends, always be steadfast and maintain a good posture. This will indicate to those people that you are a strong and a well-driven person, thus allowing them to want to be associated with you.

The same idea applies if you are on the Internet. You don’t need to be literally standing up or well seated while talking to people, unless you’re broadcasting yourself on Youtube, but you can show stance with the words that you use to communicate online.

5. Be Inspiring

Misery loves company, but nobody would want to associate with a miserable person. Sure there are times when things seem to go down the drain for every one of us, but that doesn’t mean that we should let those moments affect every aspect of our lives, most especially when it comes to our relationships with other people.

Notice how you tend to keep away from people whom you think have a predisposition to sickness, debt, failure, and misdemeanor. Nobody wants to be linked with these kinds of people and definitely you wouldn’t like that to happen to yourself. Always exhibit a positive vibe whenever and wherever.

6. Observe Proper Email/Phone Etiquette People say that part of doing business means doing business over the phone. The same goes for email. These two communication channels have become major instruments in our daily business and personal lives. Hence, it is just appropriate to say that good people skills should extend their effectiveness through email and through phone. Here are two good sites to read about email and phone etiquette.

7. Make Service an Important Part of Your Life

Do you live to serve others or do you live to serve yourself? It is indeed true that every creature on earth is evolutionarily designed to look after its own survival. Nonetheless, we humans, unlike the rest of the species on this planet, have been given the gift of consciousness. We are conscious of the fact that we exist and we are also conscious of the fact that we co-exist with other people.

Don’t waste your mental capacity just thinking about yourself. You won’t be able to go too far with that kind of attitude. As John F. Kennedy would say, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

8. Create an Air of Mystery

Is your life an open book? Do you take pleasure in telling everyone what there is to know about you? If so, then you may need to do some re-assessment of your habits.

Robert Greene, in his book entitled “The 48 Laws of Power” discusses a third law which is to "Conceal Your Intentions." He states why being unpredictable is an effective means in getting other people to become interested in you. If there are times when you feel like sharing with someone all the things that are going on with your life, try to stop and think for a moment. Ask yourself this question: “do they really have to know?”

9. Don’t Argue With Your Boss

Most of you who are reading this are probably working for someone which implies that you are employed. Arguments are very common within the corporate environment, but it is important to keep in mind that engaging in one with the person you directly report to only means that you are putting yourself in deep waters. Even if you think that the person is an idiot and you firmly believe that you should win the debate, you might want to hold back with your belief because earning your boss’s disfavor could put your job at risk.

If you are working online, I guess it’s safe to assume that you are your own boss. Of course, arguing with yourself is out of the question unless you’re diagnosed with schizophrenia. If you are not working “for” anyone, you might still be working “with” someone. Keep yourself away from getting into arguments as these do not add to the health of your relationships. If it seems unavoidable, make sure that you try to “listen” first before saying anything to the other party.

10. Strengthen Your Relationships

Make it a habit to keep in touch with your friends, relatives, business associates, and other people with whom you share a relationship. You don’t need to send them e-mail every single day. As long as you keep in contact with these people as frequent enough to let them know that you value your relationship with them, you will be certainly rewarded for your efforts.

Companies know how important it is to keep in touch with their customers. People who run a business use effective strategies like E-mail Marketing to make sure that their clients and customers are kept updated about new services, products, issues, and other items of interest. If you’re just starting out and you don’t have your own company yet (yes, dream big, buddy!), it’s essential to keep this attribute in mind at all times.

11. Stop Complaining

Successful people know the importance of maintaining a positive mind set at all times. Complaining about things not only puts your mind into a negative state, but it also drives away people from you including some who, otherwise, could provide you with solutions to your problems.

The stuff that you are complaining about happen for a reason. Some, especially those that are most unbearable, make very good catalysts for change. If you really think that things are getting way out of hand, then try to do something about it.

12. Look for People’s Strengths

Have you ever had someone tell you that you’re not good at something? Feels kinda disappointing, doesn’t it? You can observe a similar effect on those who receive the same kind of treatment from you (that is if you are the kind of person who doesn’t know how to look for the positive in others).

Little did you know that you could benefit from listening to the wisdom of others. Everyone has something to share. No matter how dull you think your friends are or no matter how much of an idiot you think your boss is, try looking beyond their disagreeable personalities every once and a while. You’ll never know when you could learn a thing or two from them.

These are just basic skills that you should learn. Try to practice at least one each day and you will definitely see good results from your efforts. Look for future articles where I hope to offer lots of inspiring stuff, guaranteed to help you with your blogging objectives. If you would like to share some of your effective people skills, please feel free to leave a comment. See you around.