Communication Coach Blog
Kevin Hogan has 3 new articles up this week to help your self-development.
1 – Getting Paid for What You Love
2 – Finding Yourself: Whose Life are You Living Anyway?
3 – SOOP – The Big Obstacle of Success (Susceptible to Opinions of Other People)
Interesting stuff. This week only. Click the above title or here:
http://kevinhoganprograms.com/aw.aspx?B=42&A=223&Task=Click
Enjoy!
Coach Ric
To continue from a previous blog entry, here are some popular acronyms that you may hear on cop shows or cop films. Plus, if you apply to become a police officer, you should be aware of these acronyms. Our company proudly helps YRP – York Regional Police – with communication skills assessments and training of their recruits and officers. Some are immigrants and we believe that having English as a second language should not stop you from enjoying dramatic shows or applying to serve your community! Feel free to share this with those you know are applying to become a police officer in their community too.
E.T.A. – Estimated Time of Arrival
D.O.A. – Dead On Arrival
M.O. – Modus Operandi – Latin for mode or style of operation or the way a ‘perp’ performs crimes. The pattern s/he follows.
C.O.P. – Citizen or Constable On Patrol – “cop” is the common nickname for a police officer.
D.U.I. – Driving Under the Influence (of drugs or alcohol)
B & E – Break and Enter – burglary
P.I. – Private Investigator
C.I. – Confidential Informer/Informant – someone the police use to get inside info from the streets or criminal gangs.
B.O.L.O. – Be On the LookOut for – notice to all officers to search for or be aware of a particular person.
A.P.B. – All Points Bulletin – also known as a citywide – same as BOLO.
C.Y.A. – Cover Your Ass – Do the job right, by the book, and document everything to prove that you did everything correctly.
S.W.A.T. – Special Weapons And Tactics team/squad – highly trained paramilitary officers, used in hostage situations and other dangerous events. On TV and in film, they are always dressed completely in black.
That should be enough to give you a better English base for policing.
Memorize them and then incorporate them, and stay safe.
Do you enjoy watching police TV shows like COPS, CSI, Law & Order etc. and police films in English? There are lots to choose from for sure. Or perhaps you want to apply to become a police officer? I have the pleasure of working directly with a local police service (YRP – York Regional Police) to offer English communication assessments for new recruits and also to train current officers in communication skills required by the job. You NEED to learn a lot of idioms and slang, whether English is your second language or first. You need to know a lot of ‘everyday idioms’ like “It’s pouring rain” (raining really hard – do not use the old idiom ‘raining cats and dogs’), it came from “out of the blue” (surprising, unexpected) and “The real McCoy” (genuine, the real deal, not a fake) but you also need to learn more industry-specific slang and idioms to do with policing and crime. For example:
There’s a “wino” in the alley – Wino means stereotypical alcoholic homeless person.
“Reefer. Blunt. Chronic. Mary J. Grass. Weed” – These all refer to Marijuana. There are many more too!
“Cuff him and stuff him” – handcuff the perp (perpetrator or suspect) and put him in the back of the squad car.
“Something’s going down right now!” – means some illegal action like a drug trade is happening right now.
“Hooker, Pro, Lady of the night, Streetwalker” – all refer to a woman who is a prostitute.
“I smell bacon” – bad guys say this when cops are around – refers to old nickname of calling the police ‘Pigs’.
There are literally hundreds more, and I will add a few acronyms for you next entry.
If you want to improve your English in police slang in order to apply to be a constable or just to further enjoy your favourite TV shows and movies, take a little time to improve your Cop Talk first!
Coach Ric
A part of being confident is not giving into aggression – yours or anyone’s. We want to stand up for ourselves, but we don’t want to be pushy, be a bully, unreasonable or be perceived as a jerk. Kevin Hogan’s newsletter offered this excellent advice on being assertive without being aggressive:
Do’s and Don’ts of Assertive Behavior
Do:
Use Intelligent Communication
Exude Calm
Use Good Eye Contact
Be Aware of Body Language
Use a Confident Voice
Don’t:
Make Unreasonable Demands
Be Hostile
Use a Haughty Voice or Manner
Belittle the Other Person
Put the Other Person on the Defensive
Build Your Confidence to Become more Assertive
In order to be assertive, you will need to develop confidence in yourself. It is easier if you try to take this one step at a time. Let’s start off by just doing one small step and work from there.
I signed up years ago to receive interesting articles every week, like this one, from a true expert on communication, influence and persuasion. If interested please check it out below.
Get the latest in persuasion news! Weekly ezine from Kevin Hogan. Yours free when you click here.
Every Monday morning I get Kevin Hogan’s excellent free newsletter delivered in my inbox. This expert on persuasion, communication, body language, wealth etc. has many books, ebooks, Cds, DVDs etc. I have a few of his books/programs and I enjoy reading his articles. His homepage currently has a great article “Influence: Being Assertive without Being a Jerk”. Here is a sample:
Assertion simply means, “Hey honey, let’s go see your movie tonight and mine tomorrow night” or vice versa… and it really makes little difference who gets to go “first” because you aren’t four-year-olds….you are 40 and have gray hair…or you will soon.
Aggression is, “Dammit, you never do what I want to do and we are going to my movie tonight missey/mister or I’m outta here.” See, assertiveness training while well-intended can easily become… war college …where you learn to hurt people you love.
Ugh….
All assertion is, is stating what results you’d like to have and the help to get them, while you give help to others on the results they want.
AND
Assert: to state with assurance, confidence, or force; state strongly or positively; affirm. Insist on having one’s opinions and rights recognized.
Aggressive: ready to attack or oppose; quarrelsome. (and that’s just the first part…it gets uglier…like attacking…and so forth.)
As you can see, there is a canyon sized difference. They are on two different planes of behavior.
…
Interesting right? Enjoy the articles from a real expert as I do. Click the link below to see what he has to offer on his free newsletter, and other products.
Get the latest in persuasion news! Weekly ezine from Kevin Hogan. Yours free when you click here.
Enjoy!
Public speaking should not scare you to death, but the truth is, it is the number one fear for many people. Personally, after watching the movie Jaws when I was a kid, I can’t think of anything worse than being chewed up by a shark! However, it is important to recognize than the anxiety caused when we have to speak in front of others can be overcome. Hiring a Communication Coach can help you deal with this properly, so you can enjoy your public speaking, whether for business or social functions. For now, here are a few golden tips that you should keep in mind.
1 – Expect nervousness every time, but don’t expect disaster. Expect success.
2 – Stick to what you know well, so you can ‘talk’ about it at length, with ease.
3 – Ask lots of questions of the event organizer ahead of time, to find out the size of the room, equipment, expected number of attendees, etc. Visit if possible.
4 – Talk to people in the audience before you speak. If you have a chance to meet some of them before the speaking date, or at least before your talk try to mingle a bit and find out what they expect. It is good to have a few allies in the audience, and it is great for you to know what they expect to hear.
5 – Reduce ‘separation anxiety’ by re-framing the speech as an ‘informative conversation’ within a group. Talk to them, not at them.
6 – Prepare point-form notes or cards and practice a lot with family, friends, etc. No sentences. The less you read the better. Add pictures to your notes.
7 – Remind yourself during to slowdown, pause, breathe, relax and smile. Actually write those words in the top right-hand corner of your notes on different pages.
8 – Research as much as you can ahead of time, so you can be THE up to date expert on the subject of what you are talking about. Anticipate questions and have good answers.
9 – Always relate directly to your audience. It is not about you, but them. Making your speech relevant to your audience and their world is key to their enjoyment and interest.
10 – What is the overall focus? Is it to inform, to entertain, to motivate, to shock your audience? Your whole speech needs to be centred around this vision.
BONUS # 11 – To become a good public speaker and presenter, you simply must do a lot of speeches or presentations, long or short, in your personal or professional life. Tips and techniques help, but there is no real shortcut. Get out there and get heard!
Coach Ric
Here is an excellent resource for immigrants who are job-hunting and also for companies, large or small, who want to take advantage of overseas training but are not quite familiar how to do it professionally. This website has excellent free training videos, with actors going over scenarios on the resume, interview and hiring process. The Canadian employees review and discuss the immigrant’s CV and communication skills. They show you two videos – the wrong way and the right way!
Anyway I thought that these videos were well done and the website has a lot more information on how human resources can successfully screen and hire immigrants. Enjoy!
Here is a ‘blurb’ from their own website that I have copied here, introducing their free online videos:
Cultural Competence Videos
These cultural competence videos are intended to increase your company’s capacity for recruiting, selecting and integrating skilled immigrants. There are currently videos on screening and interviewing, with more to come in the future. Each video contains several sub-topic chapters to highlight specific issues. The chapter shows a questionable episode, then preferred, followed by a few suggested discussion questions.
The videos have been posted online to support anyone with human resources responsibilities who would like to build on their own level of cultural competence and create an inclusive work environment. Organizations can also use the videos for internal training purposes.
For more go here: http://www.hireimmigrants.ca/tools/4
Coach Ric
As a member of HRPA (Human Resources Professionals Association – http://www.hrpa.ca/hrpa )
I receive regular emails and mailings with information about new services, service providers and detailed Human Resource articles.
Here is something that looks interesting and apparently is free.
http://www.essentialskillsthatwork.com
I am not affiliated with them – I just thought I would pass on their website as it looks good.
Here is a little bit I have copied from their ‘About Us’ page:
The Essential Skills for the Changing Workplace Project
In January, 2008, the Centre for Education and Training received funding from HRSDC for a project called Essential Skills for the Changing Workplace. The project is designed to assist employers in small and mid-size organizations with the integration of Essential Skills into their workplace and human resources practices.
Free Seminars
To increase awareness and understanding of Essential Skills, the Centre is offering free 2-hour seminars for human resources managers, training managers, line managers, operations managers, supervisors, team leaders, coordinators with people management responsibilities and small business owners. During this interactive seminar, managers will gain a thorough understanding of the Essential Skills framework and a variety of Essential Skills tools to assist in:
conducting Essential Skills needs assessments
writing job descriptions that show how workers use Essential Skills on-the-job
integrating Essential Skills into hiring and selection processes
aligning performance goals with the employee’s use of Essential Skills
developing succession plans to ensure employees are ready for new roles as the need for new skills arises
promoting health and safety in the workplace
Free Consulting Services
Besides attending an informative seminar, participants will have access to an Essential Skills Workplace Consultant, free of charge, to guide them in determining their skill needs, identifying resources and local services that provide assessment and training and identifying Essential Skills tools to best suit their requirements.
If this looks interesting to you, please check them out, or pass it on to someone who might want to take advantage of free HR training. I might sign up for a free seminar myself!
Coach Ric