c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
Laughing behind my hand, I followed him out to his motorcycle. “I like to think I’m hot enough that I don’t need to flirt well.” “Do you? Fortunately, I agree. In fact, this time when you walk in front of me and think I’m checking out your ass, it’ll be true.” “Cooper, you have such a way with words. A real poet.” “Don’t I know it,” he said, sliding on his bike.
— Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Beast
If you know something to be trueSay it onceThose who can, will receive itOnly the foolish believe they can justify a truth to a court of foolsHonor the truthFor even before a just judgeA lie can be proven to be credibleOn the other handTruth will never require a woman or man's justificationIt can stand aloneWhether torn and ridiculedTruth standsEven after all has been stripped away
— Gregory C. Warner
And she tried the high heels but she couldn't bring herself to prance.
— Ani DiFranco
A poetess is a collection of unfinished thoughts. She is a tormented phantom, a harbinger of life and death. Those who peer deep inside her catacombs will learn that even madness is a virtue.
— Nichole McElhaney, Poetry for Melancholy Ghosts and Ethereal Maidens
My highest aspiration in life is to serve as the Limerick Laureate of Nantucket.
— Alan C. Baird
People worship god.I worship this separation from you.It is worth Haj to a hundred Meccas,This separation from you.People say I am as brilliant as the sun,They say I am famous.What a fire it has lit in me,This separation from you.Behind me is my shadow,Ahead, is my darkness.I fear that it might leave me,This separation from you.No taint of the body is in it,Nor litter of the mind,All has been winnowed out,By this separation from you.When sorrow comes, bringing with itLoneliness and pain,I pull it close to me,This separation from you.Sometimes it colors my wordsSometimes it weaves through my songs,It has taught me great deal,This separation from you.When sorrow, defeated, fell at my feet,Amazed at my fidelity,The world came out to seeThis separation from you.Love earned me fame.People flocked to praise me.It wept in my embrace,This separation from you.The world turned out to tell me,That I had been unwise.It sat me on a throne todayThis separation from you.
— Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Shiv Kumar Samuchi Kavita
He was to them like the poet of a new school who takes his contemporaries by storm; who is not really new, but is the first to articulate what all his listeners have felt, though but dumbly till then.
— Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
I have loved enough women to know how to paint.If I had loved fewer, I would be an illustrator; if I had loved more, I would be a poet.
— Sarah Ruhl, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
I prefer people to consider me by who I am and what I do and not by how I look!
— Gayathri Jayakumar
If you think your world isn’t poetic enough, or exciting enough to tell a story about, that’s not because it’s a dull world, that’s because you’re not poet enough to wake its soul up.
— Rainer Maria Rilke
Question not, but live and labourTill yon goal be won,Helping every feeble neighbour,Seeking help from none;Life is mostly froth and bubble,Two things stand like stone,Kindness in another's trouble,Courage in your own.
— Adam Lindsay Gordon
Without intending to, without even knowing it, he demonstrated with his life that his father had been right when he repeated until his dying day that there was no one with more common sense, no stonecutter more obstinate, no manager so lucid or dangerous, than a poet.
— Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
Despair is a night without lights. Dreams are the sunrise that leads you out of the darkness.
— Jason E. Hodges
Sometimes it is good to breach the rulesso as to achieve an end,Yet keep an edge and not break or bend.
— Mira Midha, Silent Voices on Paper white
Standing is symbolic of life itself,Open space is just a distance between you and someone else
— Mira Midha, Silent Voices on Paper white
Whose starboard eyeSaw chariot 'swing low'?
— James Weldon Johnson
The so-called poet with his vague dreams and ideals is indeed no better than a harmless lunatic; the true poet is the worker, who grips life's throat and wrings out its secret, who selects austerely and composes concisely, whose work is as true and clean as razor-steel, albeit its sweep is vaster and swifter than the sun's!
— Aleister Crowley, The Psychology of Hashish: An Essay on Mysticism
I believe that Gaston Cleric narrowly missed being a great poet, and I have sometimes thought that his outbursts of imaginative talk were fatal to his poetic gift. He squandered too much in the heat of personal communication. How often have I seen him draw his dark brows together, fix his eyes upon some object on the wall or a figure in the carpet, and then flash into the lamplight the very image that was in his brain.
— Willa Cather, My Ántonia
Every poet — every storyteller — requires motivation.
— Andrew Pyper, The Demonologist
Only when you see the flower for what it is, you can see it's true beauty
— Julius P Lundberg
When the hatred stops will the love begin? When there is no more greed will there then be peace?
— Sherman Kennon, My Thoughts
A poet is not somebody who has great thoughts. That is the menial duty of the philosopher. A poet is somebody who expresses his thoughts, however commonplace they may be, exquisitely. That is the one and only difference between the poet and everybody else.
— Mark Forsyth, The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
...the Moon, the enemy of poets...("Merchant's Two Sons")
— Giambattista Basile, Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture
For once touched by love, everyone becomes a poet
— Plato
A Poet = A willingness to be vulnerable & to trust the inner voice.
— Morgan Dragonwillow
Writing is also an art.
— Marc Mullo, Poetic Potpourri
I like my writing career and it's progression, I'd rather be that slow moving tide that turns a mountain into a beautiful beach for all to enjoy, rather than a flash in a pan that yields no heat.
— Stanley Victor Paskavich
Irish improves a poet.
— Sina Queyras, MxT
Legend has it that while drinking wine in a boat on the river, [8th century Chinese poet Li Po] tried to grab the moon's reflection on the surface and tumbled in, which is probably the poet's equivalent of dying bravely in battle.
— Matthew White, Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History
...Cody is furiously explaining to his little son Tim 'Never let the right hand know what your left hand is doing'...Page 100.
— Jack Kerouac, Big Sur
And while he compared all these things which he was seeing with his eyes to the mental pictures he had painted of them in his homesickness, it became clear to him that he was, after all, destined to be a poet, and he saw that in poets' dreams reside a beauty and enchantment that one seeks in vain in the things of the real world.
— Hermann Hesse, Strange News from Another Star
I clearly understand, first, that the real human being is a poet and, second, that [the tyrant] is the incarnate negation of a poet.
— Vladimir Nabokov, The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
I am the poet with scaring words and blurred letters. I do not know if my poetry is a blessing or a curse.
— Doutor Luis Alexandre Ribeiro Branco, Aphorisms of a Restless Soul
The ground will never complain how much weight you add on it, how much you dig it and how much you grow on it, How long you live on it. Unused ground is an abomination to nature.
— Yando Wanii Nimbo
The Best Thing I love about being a writer and a poet is, I can make up my own words to fit my imagination.
— Ocean Crisstopher Poet
Today is half of Yesterday and Tomorrow, Choose Today to make Tomorrow
— Yando Wanii Nimbo
Only faith and restraint against the tyrant damns the saint.
— Neil Gevisser
As a poet I hold the most archaic values on earth. They go back to the Neolithic: the fertility of the soil, the magic of animals, the power-vision in solitude, the terrifying initiation and rebirth, the love and ecstasy of the dance, the common work of the tribe.
— Gary Snyder
At one time I was weary of verse writing, and wanted to give it up. At another time I was determined to be a poet until I could establish a proud name over others. The alternatives battled in my mind and made my life restless.
— Bashō Matsuo
To my way of thinking the function of the poet is to make us aware of what we know and don't know we know.
— William S. Burroughs, With William Burroughs: A Report From The Bunker
We choose exile as a vantage point
—  from exile we look back on the rejected
What the poet has to say to the torso of the supposed Apollo, however, is more than a note on an excursion to the antiquities collection. The author's point is not that the thing depicts an extinct god who might be of interest to the humanistically educated, but that the god in the stone constitutes a thing-construct that is still on air. We are dealing with a document of how newer message ontology outgrew traditional theologies. Here, being itself is understood as having more power to speak and transmit, and more potent authority, than God, the ruling idol of religions. In modern times, even a God can find himself among the pretty figures that no longer mean anything to us - assuming they do not become openly irksome. The thing filled with being, however, does not cease to speak to us when its moment has come.
— Peter Sloterdijk, Du mußt dein Leben ändern
That odd infallible sliding-like-crystal air on water that means day's left dawn for morning.
— H.D., HERmione
It is clear enough that not every something can be elevated to the rank of a thing - otherwise everything and everyone would be speaking once more, and the chatter would spread from humans to things. Rilke privileges two categories of 'entities' [Seienden), to express it in the papery diction of philosophy, that are eligible for the lofty task of acting as message-things - artifices and living creatures - with the latter gaining their particular quality from the former, as if animals were being's highest works of art before humans. Inherent to both is a message energy that does not activate itself, but requires the poet as a decoder and messenger.
— Peter Sloterdijk
A poet is a pillar of light in the darkness. Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann
— Kristian Goldmund Aumann
Good or bad, positive or negative, there is no comment more insulting to a poet than one displaying that you have not properly read and considered the things they wrote.
— Jasper Sole
These are all direct quotes, except every time they use a curse word, I'm going to use the name of a famous American poet:'You Walt Whitman-ing, Edna St. Vincent Millay! Go Emily Dickinson your mom!''Thanks for the advice, you pathetic piece of E.E. Cummings, but I think I'm gonna pass.''You Robert Frost-ing Nikki Giovanni! Get a life, nerd. You're a virgin.''Hey bro, you need to go outside and get some fresh air into you. Or a girlfriend.'I need to get a girlfriend into me? I think that shows a fundamental lack of comprehension about how babies are made.
— John Green
The poet is at the edge of our consciousness of the world, finding beyond the suspected nothingness which we imagine limits our perception another acre or so of being worth our venturing upon.
— Guy Davenport, The Geography of the Imagination: Forty Essays
I thought, 'There are a lot of poets who have the courage to look into the abyss, but there are very few who have the courage to look happiness in the face and write about it,' which is what I wanted to be able to do.
— Kenneth Koch
This is how I recognize an authentic poet: by frequenting him, living a long time in the intimacy of his work, something changes in myself, not so much my inclinations or my tastes as my very blood, as if a subtle disease had been injected to alter its course, its density and nature. To live around a true poet is to feel your blood run thin, to dream a paradise of anemia, and to hear, in your veins, the rustle of tears.
— Emil M. Cioran, A Short History of Decay
Being in prison for seven years was like being in an army that never drilled, never deployed, and only fought itself.
— Raegan Butcher
That's a poet.''I thought you said it was a bo-at.''Stupid pet! Don't you know what a poet it?''Why, a thing to sail on the water in.''Well, perhaps you're not so far wrong. Some poets do carry people over the sea....'...'A poet is a man who is glad of something, and tries to make other people glad of it too.
— George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind
There is also a fable told by Phaedrus, about how Simonides was once a victim of shipwreck. As the other passengers scurried about the sinking ship trying to save their possessions, the poet stood idle. When questioned, he declared, mecum mea sunt cuncta: everything that is me is with me.
— Anne Carson, Antigonick
...a bard's down-to-earth love: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red and when she walks, treads on the ground...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
One does not become a poet by uttering beautiful words. One becomes a poet by pouring their soul as wine into the Cup of Love.
— Subhan Zein
...you called me poet-priest - I am. ...devoted to my art, faithful to you...or, is the other way around?...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
I think of New York City lost in starsforgotten as a blue haired pet of childhood love Tonight the night is full
...what else would a poet priest do on an endless night, but write of love?...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
He was, as every truly great poet has ever been, a good man; but finding it impossible to realize his own aspirations, either in religion or politics, or society, he gave up his heart to the living spirit and light within him, and avenged himself on the world by enriching it with this record of his own transcendental ideal.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Nations conquered and true love prevails, all encompassed in a poets tale.
— R.J. Craddock, The Forsaken
Sometimes it’s great, and sometimes it’s shit.These are the things all the great philosophersjust won’t tell you flat out about life. You keep moving, keep living, keep breathingAnd you keep writing-creating because that’s what you doAnd that’s who you are. There are no magical voices to guideYou except your own. Make it count.~ R.M. ENGELHARDT
— R.M. Engelhardt (TALON), The Resurrection Waltz Poems R.M. Engelhardt
...I guess you're right - I am a priest - I offer sacrifices - so take this line, I want you to have something of mine...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
A poet in his senses knocks vainly at the gates of poetry.
— Ben Johnson
Words are powerful. Words make a difference. They can create and destroy. They can open doors and close doors. Words can create illusion or magic, love or destruction. … All those things.
— R.M. Engelhardt (TALON), The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems Of R.M. Engelhardt 1989-2006
I have wished you something None of the others would....
— Philip Larkin
The Poet makes himself a seer through a long, vast and painstaking derangement of all the senses
— Arthur Rimbaud
For rigorous teachers seized my youth, And purged its faith, and trimm'd its fire, Show'd me the high, white star of Truth, There bade me gaze, and there aspire. Even now their whispers pierce the gloom: What dost thou in this living tomb?
— Matthew Arnold
For if it is rash to walk into a lion's den unarmed, rash to navigate the Atlantic in a rowing boat, rash to stand on one foot on top of St. Paul's, it is still more rash to go home alone with a poet.
— Virginia Woolf, The Waves
One's-Self I Sing One's-self I sing, a simple separate person, Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse. Of physiology from top to toe I sing, Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far, The Female equally with the Male I sing. Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, Cheerful, for freest action form'd under the laws divine, The Modern Man I sing.
— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Not a lawyer but carries within him the debris of a poet.
— Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Your tone of voice is less about what you say and more about how you say it. It enhances or diminishes the language you use, how you construct your sentences, and the way your words sound. It represents the emotional expressions of your thoughts, feelings, and attitude.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
It is generally believed that nearly 40 percent of your first impression will be set from the tone of your voice. Your vocal thermometer can be more impactful than the actual words you use.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Your tone demonstrates. . .•
— Energy•
Your tone of voice can be conveyed in both the words you speak and in the words you write.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Your tone can represent the character of your business, the strength of your resolve, and express the depths of your convictions.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Does your tone match your intention? Is your tone of voice confusing or clarifying? Are you coming across to others as you had hoped? Once you begin to notice your tone, you can adjust as needed to make it work in your favor.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Heed Your Speed. Are you a fast or a slow talker? Be mindful towards the person with whom you are speaking to ensure that your message is being comprehended, understood, and absorbed. If they are listening at a slower rate than you are speaking, disconnect can occur.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
As a professional speaker, I speak rather quickly with enthusiastic energy and emotion. This doesn’t always sit well with people who like to speak at a slower pace and need more time to process. What I have learned through years in this profession is that to be more effective I must adapt my pace to the comfort level of my audience. When I am speaking to academics, engineers, and doctors, I speak with a slower pace than the one which I use with sales people, customer services teams, or teenagers.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Align your voice value with the tone, pace, and pitch of your listeners will help you connect on all levels.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Have you ever paid notice to the full sound range of your voice? If you have ever been in a chorus or a singing group, you already know that they will separate the group based on each singer’s pitch and assign their roles accordingly. While my speaking voice has a soprano pitch, my singing voice is a lower alto.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
A high-pitched voice may sound less authoritative, more youthful, and less experienced, whereas, a lower pitched voice may be perceived as being more authoritative, confident, and credible. It is unfortunate that listeners will make assumptions based on these differences before even knowing the depth and value of your message. Play with your ranges and find a comfortably low pitch. Practice it to see if it makes a difference in conveying more authority and brilliance.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
When your speaking style is clear, confident, and concise, your listeners will perceive you as such.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Developing your eloquence and enunciation will reduce the likelihood of misinterpretation and misunderstanding, making your delivery more powerful.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
By speaking in a competent and confident way, your message will sound more relevant and appropriate, reflecting you in a favorable light.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Variety is the Spice of Life. Voices come in all shapes, tones, and sizes. Some are compelling and effective, while others are grating and agitating.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
The list below begins to illustrate how different personalities can be assigned to different vocal qualities . . .•
— Warm•
Your Signature Sound. In music, voice value is categorized for singers, composers, and listeners. Whether a performer’s voice type is soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, or bass, they all have unique characteristics that make them unique and impressive. You, too, have a signature sound that is uniquely yours and makes you stand apart from the crowd.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Neen James (NeenJames.com) is an eloquent and successful international speaker who stands at four-feet-eleven with a rich Australian dialect and a high-pitched voice. For years, fellow speakers with good intentions told her she needed to take voice lessons to lower her pitch to give her more depth for a compelling stage presence. With complete confidence and loyalty to her uniqueness, she ignored the naysayers and her amazing signature voice has become a powerful brand.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Most people are familiar with the rich, resonant tones of James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman. Their signature voices bring strength, authority, and lyrical enjoyment. Are there aspects of your voice that you can capitalize on to make a great impression and be simply unforgettable?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Think of the times that others remembered your name and used it kindly. How did it make you feel? When you use someone’s name it makes him or her feel recognized, appreciated, and special.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
A Sign of Respect. As our world grows more casual, we observe a tendency for everyone to use first names rather than surnames. “It is a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Young,” has a completely different connotation than “Nice to meet you, Susan.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
What determines whether the usage is acceptable or inappropriate? If you want to make a great first impression with positive impact, it is essential that you know there is a difference.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Using titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss, Dr., etc. demonstrates respect. In previous generations, it was a social necessity and simply good manners. One would consider you rude and uncultured if you were so presumptuous as to go straight to a “first name basis.” First names can imply an intimacy that does not exist and it may offend a new person until they know you better. Be wary of making assumptions.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
I was raised in an era when part of respecting your elders was to call them by Mr. or Mrs. When my children were growing up, an occasional child would call me Susan. It was jarring, felt disrespectful, and I did not like it. We reached a mutual agreement and their friends began calling me Ms. Susan. Perhaps this is more prevalent in the South, however, your awareness and consideration can help prevent social missteps.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
It is wise to use titles for people in positions of power, higher education, seniority, or maturity, unless otherwise instructed. This may sound old-fashioned, but practicing respectful traditions will earn you points and inevitably make you seem more cultured and sophisticated. This is especially true with older generations.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
To call certain people, such as your boss, teachers, professors, doctors, your parent’s friends, etc. by their first names might be considered disrespectful. It is best to err on the side of caution until you know what is appropriate.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Asking permission to call someone by their first name is a gesture of gentility and consideration. And once permission is granted, the gate is open for mutual respect and mutual purpose. Simply demonstrating this courtesy before making an assumption is impressive. Once permission is granted, you have earned points on both sides.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Make It Fun. Have you ever been publicly acknowledged or called upon in a room filled with people? Depending on your personality type, it can be either exhilarating or mortifying. It certainly does grab your attention, as well as everyone else’s!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
When I am working with groups of thirty or fewer people, there is a powerful name exercise that I do to break the ice, start with humor, and begin my program with positive energy. One by one, each person will introduce themselves using an adjective that describes their personality that starts with the first letter of their name. “Spontaneous Susan,” “Dependable Dave,” and “Happy Helen” are a few quick examples. The benefit for the participants is twofold: it makes each person feel good and it makes people laugh. Additionally, it enables me to learn their names so that I can integrate them into the entire presentation for full engagement and participation.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
UN-Impressives of the Poor Listener•	Thinking about what you should have done, could have done, or need to do. •	Allowing your emotional reactions to take over.•	Interrupting the person talking.•	Replying before you hear all the facts.•	Jumping to conclusions and making assumptions.•	Being preoccupied with what you're going to say next. •	Getting defensive or being over-eager. •	One-upmanship—feeling the urge to compete and add something bigger, better, or more significant than what the speaker has to share.•	Imposing an unsolicited opinion.•	Ignoring and changing the subject altogether.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Being PresentYears ago, I attended a conference where the keynote speaker encouraged everyone to BE HERE NOW! It grabbed people's attention and reminded us that living, loving, listening, and laughing all occur in the present moment.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Active listening requires being fully present and engaged in the moment.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
When you are mindfully focused, the person with whom you are communicating feels that you are making them a priority—that you value their time and their perspective. It is in these moments that we can go to deeper levels of discovery, exploration, and connection. It is one of the most valuable gifts and finest compliments you can give to another.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
To Become an Attentive Listener . . . •	Observe a person’s physical presence to see how their body language aligns with their message. •	Recognize what is being said on the surface.•	Engage your intuition to hear the meaning, purpose, and motivation behind their message. •	Be aware of your own internal responses and how you are feeling.•	Put yourself in their shoes to better understand their perspective.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Become keenly aware of these three layers to discover whether you're listening with interest and intent for excellent communication and understanding—or are you unintentionally sabotaging potentially phenomenal conversations. Knowledge of the listening planes will raise your awareness. And as you apply these, enjoy the surprising difference.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Becoming an empathetic listener helps you to better understand how another person feels and why they communicate as they do.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Your heightened awareness of their perceptions, experiences, emotions, and personality styles can reveal why they feel the way they do so that you can choose your responses wisely and compassionately.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
My friend John is an urgent care physician who has several patients who come to see him for various ailments on a regular basis. In addition to being brilliant and taking wonderful care of his patients, he has a unique ability to empathetically listen to his patient’s needs. One of his patients is a repeat visitor, even when she's not exhibiting symptoms. He takes the time to listen to how she's feeling and responds with kindness, empathy, and caring. He has come to realize that her visits are filling her deep need to feel validated, cared for, and understood in ways which she does not receive at home. His empathetic listening delivers incredible customer service for patient care and makes him a better health care provider. Wouldn’t it be incredible if this was the manner for not only doctors, but all professionals?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
When my son Nick was five years old, he was sitting at the kitchen bar while I prepared dinner. In typical busy mother fashion, I was multitasking—cooking, cleaning, running the laundry, answering the phone, and attempting to listen to what he had to say.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Listening is one of the finest ways to demonstrate our love for another human being. How many marriages could be saved, friendships healed, careers made, and opportunities enjoyed if people would simply stop what they are doing and listen deeply to what another person has to say. If practiced by everyone, this principle could be a world-changer!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
The process of attentive listening makes the other person feel important, valued, and heard. For Nick, listening was, and still is, love. I've never forgotten that precious moment—and the lesson!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Think about the people in your life with whom you have the most engaging dialogue—the ones who will listen to you and consider your opinions regardless of the topic. They'll stop whatever they are doing to give you their full attention. They become completely present and hear you.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
The Physical Language of ListeningActive listening is a physical process which transcends simply hearing. Your body language speaks on your behalf as to whether you are fully present and engaged . . . •
— Make eye contact.•
Now let’s look at the flip side. When a diligent and caring person receives your complaint, they have the power to turn a challenge into a triumph. Through active listening, they demonstrate that your satisfaction is their top priority. They not only seek to solve your problem, but they are dedicated to re-earning your trust, your respect, and keeping your business.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
If you have ever experienced this type of unprofessional treatment, I doubt you would even consider giving them business in the future. Interrupting, ignoring, patronizing, or antagonizing a customer is like pouring gas on a fire and creates a more explosive situation than the original complaint. Still, it continues to happen every day, costing companies millions in lost revenue.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Have you ever had a legitimate complaint as a customer which made you angry, upset, or frustrated? How was it “handled?" If you were dealing with an inept, uncaring, or untrained employee, they may have made matters even worse by being rude, defensive, or apathetic. Simple acknowledgment and validation of your complaint is sometimes all that is needed. Without it, you're left frustrated or upset.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Active listening is not only a matter of making yourself available to hear someone talk, but it is showing the sender, physically, that you are receiving and understanding their message on all levels.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Active listening is the ultimate "Golden Rule" for sensational customer service. Just as the important people in your life will feel more valued and appreciated when you actively listen, so will your customers.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Active listening is one of the best services a company can provide.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
ASK YOURSELF: How can you utilize active listening to provide sensational customer service? How will this help resolve complaints from unhappy customers?•	Give them your full attention and listen without interruption or defensiveness.•	Thank them for bringing the issue to your attention.•	Take their concerns seriously and share their sense of urgency to resolve the problem quickly.•	Ask questions and focus on what they are really saying. •	Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. •	Beware of making assumptions or rushing to conclusions before you hear their concern fully.•	Explain, guide, educate, assist, and do what’s necessary to help them reach the resolution.•	Treat them with respect and empathy.When you do an amazing job of resolving an unhappy customer’s problem, you may end up impressing them more than if the problem had never occurred. You may have just earned their loyalty . . . forever!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
This method enabled me to expand my territory and create a strong network of loyal customers for referrals and repeat business. Make active listening a deliberate part of your business plan and success strategy. You will not only grow your business, but also make wonderful friends along the way.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
My success with customers on the telephone wasn’t by using pushy sales methods, but by engaging people in meaningful conversations which could lead to friendships on the phone before I ever met them. I would ask questions, listen to their stories, respond to their needs, develop rapport, and earn their business. When we would finally meet in person, it felt less like an introduction and more like a reunion. It was not only good business, we had fun in the process!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
For sixteen years, I had a spectacular real estate career in Tallahassee, Florida. I loved receiving telephone inquiries and making cold calls. I knew that if I could meet people on the phone, I could usually turn them into buyers.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
14 Ways to Become an Incredible Listener1.	Be present and provide your undivided attention.2.	Seek first to understand, then to be understood.3.	Listen attentively and respond appropriately.4.	Minimize or eliminate distractions.5.	Focus your attention and energy with singleness of purpose on what the other person is saying.6.	Quiet your mind and suspend your thoughts to make room in your head to hear what is said—in the moment!7.	Ask questions and demonstrate empathy.8.	Use your body language and nonverbal cues constructively and pay attention to theirs.9.	Follow the rhythm of their speech; hear their tone.10.	Repeat and summarize what you have heard them say to confirm understanding.11.	Be open-minded and non-defensive.12.	Respond rather than react. 13.	Be respectful, calm, and positive.14.	Try to resolve conflicts, not win them.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Every time you speak, you are using your voice to connect with others, whether it is in-person, on the phone, or in a recorded message.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Is your voice value delivering the image you wish to convey? Is your voice coming across as smart, friendly, and positive or ignorant, rude, and negative?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
The way you deliver the words you say becomes your “vocal image. This "vocal image" can make or break your first impressions, impact your communication, and determine how people respond to you.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
What can you do to ensure that your voice value translates into impression value?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Every professional voice coach worth their salt will bring you back to the importance of tone, pace, and pitch. While these concepts were introduced earlier in The Art of Body Language section, we can now elaborate and take a deeper dive into how you can use your voice to improve your communications.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Being grounded in your lifelong culture and your personal perspective, you are comfortable with the way you see things and may believe it is the best and only way.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Sociologically speaking, as Americans we often lack social, cultural, and mindful awareness. We hear the stories of how our arrogance has been known to offend, confuse, and alienate people from other cultures. Arrogance is the thief of mindfulness and it happens from both directions.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
To gain greater understanding, clarity, and awareness, you must become aware of your values and beliefs. Think of a triangle or an iceberg. Below the waterline, your beliefs and your values build the foundation for your behavior.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
We will judge others based on their behaviors with little to no understanding or regard for their beliefs or values—standards we may not know, nor typically see. When we do this, things can be taken completely out of context because we are assessing their behavior against our expectations, which are produced from our own personal value system.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Navigating relationships within our own culture can be challenging enough. When diverse cultures are involved, however, a huge potential for misunderstanding, disrespect, miscommunication, and intolerance is present.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
It is crucial to understand that there are myriad interpretations of behavior. When you subscribe only to yours, you may begin to think that everyone else is wrong and thus limit your flexibility and possibility. Developing cultural awareness will make your diverse relationships easier and more productive.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
4 Steps for Understanding Each Other1.
— Identify your beliefs and core values
Prepare yourself well by learning how to be more mindful in each interaction. The effort you put forth to gain insight will empower you to make a better impression on others, while enriching your opportunities to build enlightened, trusted relationships.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Conversation starters. Icebreakers. Openers. However you choose to label them, that moment when the first words come out of your mouth can make or break the outcome of your entire conversation. Been there, done that, right?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Your first words will not only shape your first impression, they can create amazing connections, lead you to your dream job, or help you discover a new best friend—or accomplish exactly the opposite.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Your first words will outlive your conversations and impact how you are remembered, liked, or regarded. Wouldn’t you enjoy opening conversations with ease and mutual recognition? The challenging part is that it can be . . . awkward!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Meeting someone for the first time has significance, but for some people, the awkwardness can be so great that they avoid a conversation altogether. The person who may be shy, introverted, or afraid of sounding stupid may just choose to remain silent rather than take the risk of engaging in embarrassing dialogue.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
The space between meeting a stranger and making a new friend can be a short distance or a gaping chasm. By understanding how to open a conversation well, you will be better able to bridge the gaps and build rapport more successfully.
— Susan C. Young
You can certainly take the easy road and use the predictable and boring defaults like:•	How are you doing?•	How about this weather?•	What do you do for a living?•	Hi. My name is _________. What’s yours?•	Blah, blah, blah, blah . . .Break out of the defaults you have been using for years. Shake it up. Make it fun. Make it memorable. Dive in with more engagement and interaction. Taking the initiative to be more creative will help you build a bridge to close the gap.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
How do you minimize the awkwardness in that moment? What are some of the conversations starters you've used to open, encourage, and support enjoyable and beneficial conversations?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
10 Conversation Bridge Builders1.	Simply say hello with a smile.2.	Ask them what they love about their work.3.	Ask natural questions out of genuine curiosity. 4.	Get a person talking about what’s important to them.5.	Compliment something positive which you’ve noticed.6.	Engage them with questions which are easy to answer. 7.	Introduce them to someone whom you think they’ll enjoy meeting.8.	Ask them if they have any trips or vacations planned.9.	Look for something you may have in common so that the conversation begins with shared interests.10.	Think of questions that begin with how, what, when, why and where.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Add a fresh twist of creativity to make a stellar impression which people won’t soon forget. Granted, your venue will determine how far you can stretch and how creative you can be. Making small tweaks to your conversation starters can make a memorable impact!
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
14 Awesome Conversation Starters1.	What do you do for fun? Hobbies, recreation . . . 2.	What are your super powers? Gifts, talents, strengths.3.	Good morning! It’s great to see you! 4.	What is your story? Tell me about yourself.5.	What brought you to __________?6.	Do you have anything special happening in your life (or your business)?7.	What’s the best thing that’s happened this week?8.	Are you living your life purpose or still searching for it?9.	What gives you passion and makes you happy to be alive?10.	Do you have any pets?11.	How do you know the host?12.	When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? 13.	If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?14.	What's next on your bucket list?
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Speaking on StageSpeakers and presenters have only a few short seconds before their audience members begin forming opinions. True professionals know that beginning with impact determines audience engagement, the energy in the room, positive feedback, the quality of the experience, and whether or not their performance will be a success. A few of the popular methods which you can use to break the ice from the stage are:•	Using music.•	Using quotes.•	Telling a joke.•	Citing statistics.•	Showing a video.•	Asking questions.•	Stating a problem.•	Sharing acronyms.•	Sharing a personal story.•	Laying down a challenge.•	Using analogies and comparisons.•	Taking surveys; raise your hand if . . . Once you refine, define, and discover great conversation starters, you will enjoy renewed confidence for communicating well with new people.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Listening is one thing; however, ACTIVE listening is quite another. The first is a passive act which does not require great involvement, whereas, the latter is a consciously aware and deliberately focused effort to actively participate in the conversation.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Think of the communication that takes place in your own life on a continuous basis—at home, at work, with friends, and beyond. When you actively listen to people, you enhance communication.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact
Listening actively confirms for people that you are positively receiving and thoroughly understanding the message they are conveying.
— Susan C. Young, The Art of Communication: 8 Ways to Confirm Clarity & Understanding for Positive Impact