Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person is saying.

Emotional intelligence is a shorthand that psychological researchers use to describe how well individuals can manage their own emotions and react to the emotions of others.

“Mixed model,” developed by psychologist Daniel Goleman. The mixed model has five key areas: Self-awareness, Self-management,Motivation,Empathy and Social skills.

Self-awareness: Self-awareness involves knowing your own feelings. This includes having an accurate assessment of what you’re capable of, when you need help, and what your emotional triggers are.

Self-management: Self-management involves being able to control outbursts, calmly discussing disagreements, and avoiding activities that undermine you like extended self-pity or panic.

Motivation: Everyone is motivated to action by rewards like money or status. Goleman’s model, however, refers to motivation for the sake of personal joy, curiosity, or the satisfaction of being productive.

Empathy: While the three previous categories refer to a person’s internal emotions, this one deals with the emotions of others. Empathy is the skill and practice of reading the emotions of others and responding appropriately.

Social skills: This category involves the application of empathy as well as negotiating the needs of others with your own. This can include finding common ground with others, managing others in a work environment, and being persuasive.

Good listening skills make workers more productive. The ability to listen carefully allows workers to better understand assignments they are given. They are able to understand what is expected of them by their management.

Listening tips: Maintain eye contact with the speaker. This will demonstrate to the speaker that the listener is paying attention.

Do not interrupt the speaker. Wait until he or she is completely finished, then ask questions. Listening long enough may answer several of the questions without the need to ask. When the time is right to ask, repeat instructions first and then ask appropriate questions.

Control body language. As much as possible, sit still while listening. This implies that the listener is paying full attention to the speaker. A nod of the head can be good, as it implies agreement.

A good listener knows that being attentive to what the speaker doesn't say is as important as being attentive to what he does say. Look for nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and posture to get the full gist of what the speaker is saying.

Without rapport, there is little chance to influence or to persuade others.

Rapport building is at the root of effective communication

what are some of the techniques you can implement to increase your capacity to build rapport? One powerful method is to match and mirror the behavior of the other

Matching and mirroring is the skill of assuming someone else’s style of behavior to create rapport.

Body postures and gestures What posture is the person you are having a conversation with assuming? Observe, and than match the posture and gestures.

The rhythm of the breathPay attention to how the other person is breathing, and then match it. This technique helps tremendously in bonding with the other.

The tone of your voice to build rapport, you need to mirror his or her tone of voice. pay attention at the speed of the speech.

self-disclosure is one of the hallmarks of intimate relationships.

Revealing your motives, intentions, goals, values, and emotions, can increase liking and feelings of intimacy.

Successful and strategic self-disclosure is a leadership competency that many leaders have yet to acquire.

Skillful self-disclosers choose the substance and process of their revelations, including the depth, breadth, and timing of disclosure, with the goal of furthering the collective task rather than furthering personal agendas.

Too little disclosure may result in follower feelings of uncertainty and suspicion, with followers unable to trust someone who isn’t open about his or her own background.

Skillful self-disclosure can humanize the leader, creating connections between the leader and followers that increase feelings of trust and intimacy, and, in an organizational context, a readiness to work together collaboratively to reach mutual task goals.

Compassion is the basis of all morality

We worked very well with Mark Sanford. We stood shoulder to shoulder fighting for the principles that we believe in. But another person that stood there as well was a legislator, State Senator Larry Grooms.

Long after the bomb falls and you and your good deeds are gone, cockroaches will still be here, prowling the streets like armored cars.

I don't want to completely self-sabotage everything that I've got and alienate everyone. But I definitely want to take some chances as I always have.

Science fiction was never my thing. I have no interest in it. So I don't think I could successfully pull off being on a project like that without really losing my mind.

I think the Women's movement has had a major impact on everybody's lives in our nation and in the world as a whole.

It always depresses me when people moan about how commercial Christmas is. I love everything about it. The tradition of having this great big feast, slap bang in the middle of winter, is an essential thing to look forward to at the end of the year.

There's an old maxim that says, 'Things that work persist,' which is why there's still Cobol floating around.

You write about what you know.

Specific closed cultures like that surrounding comic books have allowed voices to be heard that might not have been audible in a world in which all cultural texts speak the same common language.

In a triathlon, it's all about cycling in the most efficient manner. You need to save your energy for the run at the end, so you want to ride really efficiently and not waste your energy. The only way to do that is to spend a really long time on the bike.

I don't want to privatise part of the parliament, like some people in Russia.

The internet is an lite organization; most of the population of the world has never even made a phone call.

Conscience is the perfect interpreter of life.

The river of truth is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between them, the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the mainstream.

The scenic ideals that surround even our national parks are carriers of a nostalgia for heavenly bliss and eternal calmness.

I maintain that the existing corn laws are bad, because they have given a monopoly of food to the landed interest over every other class and over every other interest in the kingdom.

It's a tough time my friends. We need to make sacrifices to ensure our troops have the tools they need in order to get the job done. This budget will help us win the War on Terror.

I believe the private sector and small businesses drive our economy, and that means the federal government should work to ensure the private sector is as robust as possible.

I loved reading and writing, and teaching was the most exalted profession I could imagine.

To me, it's really the heart of Texas. You don't know the Lone Star State until you've experienced Gruene Hall.

In the future, I want a movie career, kids and a happy marriage.

I feel like the original 'Mad Max' created such a vivid world, that to go back and re-imagine it and kind of replay in that sandbox sounds like fun to me.