Pardon my French March 15, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 6 comments
My first day in France consisted of a serious of (mis)adventures. I arrived safely on Eurostar and was all set to hop on the metro for what should have been a 15 minute trip. All I needed to do was buy a week-long metro pass.
Of course, I don’t speak French. The woman at the ticket window did her best, telling me “Photo! Photo!” and making scissors signs with her fingers. It took me ten minutes to realize that I needed a passport-sized photo for the travel pass, for which I needed Euros, for which I had to leave the station and find an ATM. Thankfully, the ATM had an English option.
Returning to the ticket window with brand-spanking new photos in hand, I purchased my metro pass. And so an hour after I arrived, I found myself pacing in front of the metro turnstiles trying to figure out how to open them. Other people were just waving their cards at the turnstile. I tried that. No luck.
I took out my card. No magnetic strip. Hmm…
There was another American there, looking as lost as I was. Working together, we finally realized that the tiny piece of cardboard they gave us each along with our photo pass had a magnetic strip on the back. That’s the ticket!
Inside the Paris metro, there are not one, but three maps displayed prominently on the walls. Only one of them is a metro map. Can you guess which one? I couldn’t. Nevertheless, I did somehow manage to find my way to the correct stop, where I disembarked and walked to my friend’s office.
Oh, the two sides of the street are numbered differently? And I’ve been walking in the wrong direction for 20 minutes? Sounds about right.
Of course, I couldn’t figure out how to dial international calls from my cell phone once I found his office, so I couldn’t reach him. Back to the streets. Do you speak English? You do! Could I make a very quick call from your cell phone? No, I didn’t think so. Thanks anyway.
The payphones here accept credit cards, but they have to have a smart card chip in them, which of course American credit cards do not. So I bought an apple to get some change to use for the 10 cent phone call, only to realize that the phones don’t take coins, either. Which left me walking the street trying to find a store that sold phone cards for the pay phones.
I did eventually find one, but their smallest denomination was 15 Euros. I am not spending $25 to make a phone call.
Finally, I found a flyer for a number to call to bill my credit card for an international call (even if it was to France, from France). If I was thinking, I would have cracked open my laptop, tapped into a wireless access point and just used Skype. Ah well, learning experience. From now on, my non-French-speaking ass is budgeting three times as much time as I think it should take to do anything.
And don’t even get me started on doing laundry this afternoon…
Your thoughts?Bonjour, Paris! March 14, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so far
I leave for Paris at 5 am this morning. It will be my first time exploring a country whose language I don’t speak. I’m considering picking up a French phrase book, but I just haven’t had a chance yet.
I’m sure this will only end well.
Your thoughts?Ask Niels: How do I leave an unsuccessful conversation? March 13, 2007
Posted by Niels in : How to, Other , 4 comments
I went to a bar last night with some guys from my corporate softball team. We lost the game and were drinking pretty hard. After they left, I walked over to a girl that I had been eyeing at the bar. I walked up to her and her friends, and struck up a conversation and used a lot of your blog advice to keep it going. After about 10 minutes she pointed to the other girl who was somewhat irritated by my presence and said, “this is my lesbian girlfriend”. Alright, so I was hitting on lesbians. I didn’t really know how to extricate myself from the conversation, so I pretty much just continued for awhile and then told them I needed to go take a whizz and bolted out the door. My question is, what is the best way to extricate yourself from these “clearly unsuccessful ventures”?
Sincerely,
“Cock blocked by lesbians”
Well, CBBL, before I answer your question, I can’t help pointing out a few details.
1) You were irritating her friends
2) They’re probably not lesbians
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what you were doing to annoy her friend. But next time, stop it. Don’t ignore her friend, include her in the conversation. Don’t make the girl you like uncomfortable either. Are you familiar with the concept of psychological space? And finally, even they are lesbians, so what? Were you enjoying the conversation? If so, stick around and chat with them some more. If not, what are you doing hanging around such a boring girl anyway?
But with regard to your question, here’s a no fail line to get you out of any conversation: “Hey, I’ve got to go find my friends. It was great talking to you. Have a great night!”
Your thoughts?Farewell, London March 12, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 2 comments
Against all odds, the London Art of Rapport was a resounding success. We brought eight stone-faced Europeans out of their emotional jails and the one we would have least expected fell in love with a woman he met in a bookstore. It was the most heartwarming story I’ve heard yet.
I’ve had a lot of fun here so far, but if I stay here any longer I’m going to break the bank. In a few hours I’ll check out of my company-paid hotel room, at which point I’m not sure where I’ll go. My plan is to somehow track down a hostel for this evening, then take the train to Paris where I’ll stay with a student from this weekend’s workshop. Perhaps Rome next? I hear Italy is very affordable.
Your thoughts?Ask Niels: Pickup for public speaking March 10, 2007
Posted by Niels in : How to , 1 comment so far
I am doing a small seminar on motivation and confidence with public speaking for my communications class. Can you offer me any advice on how I should teach my group to become more motivated and confident?
-Michelle
Most people know, at least subconsciously, that the way you feel affects your body language. If you are nervous, your shoulders slump and you take up less space. If you’re confident, your chest expands and you take up more space. What many people don’t realize, however, is that it also works the other way around.
Put a goofy smile on your face. No, even bigger! Now try to feel sad. Hard, isn’t it? When you open up your body language and really stand confidently, you can’t be nervous.
What’s more, the audience takes you more seriously. This was a tough lesson for me to learn when I started doing introductory seminars to large rooms. The first one I gave, the audience didn’t take me seriously. Small tells in my body language gave me away. I worked on fixing them for my next seminar and met with much more success. I completely controlled the room at last Sunday’s seminar in Los Angeles, which was a record-setting success.
Work on your students’ body language. Have them stand still, don’t fidget, head up, shoulders back, chest open, speak loudly, all that good stuff. Make them stand confidently before they even open their mouths. Make them dominate the room.
Your thoughts?