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Tip: Think Ahead!

May 16

Posted by Parents Place in Modern Renaissance, Raising Your Child | No Comments

By Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.
Personality Insights, Inc.

As most of you know, I do a lot of public speaking. I recently sat down and tried to determine approximately how many different talks I have done in my lifetime. Conservatively speaking, I have done over 30,000 talks. By any stretch of the imagination, that is a lot of talking! I have learned a great deal about audiences and how to keep them interested in my topic. I have learned to be animated and use humor to keep my audience engaged while I am speaking. However, even though I have learned many techniques over the years, I must admit that I have occasionally been caught off guard by some unexpected occurrence. I believe those learning experiences have served to make me a better speaker and communicator. One such incident completely blew my mind!

When I speak, I like to use a handout because I have discovered that it helps the audience to follow along with me better. And, I have noticed that audiences enjoy having some notes to refer to when they get home. But, on one particular occasion, I realized that even though I may have the best handout in the world for my audience, it still might not work. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tip: Responding is Better Than Reacting!

Jun 16

Posted by Parents Place in Modern Renaissance, Raising Your Child | No Comments

By Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.
Personality Insights, Inc.

One day recently, I was driving in Atlanta traffic when suddenly it came to a stop.  Everywhere I looked, traffic was at a stand-still.  It just so happened that I was sitting on an overpass above the interstate, so I had a birds-eye view of what was happening.  I noticed that one side of Interstate 285 was being closed down.  From where I sat, I could see that it was because of a funeral procession for a police officer.  The first part of the procession included several hundred motorcycle policemen.  They were followed by a long line of police cars.  After that were several fire trucks, ambulances and other medical vehicles.  Finally, five helicopters flew overhead.  With such a large procession, it completely shut down Interstate 285 for a long time.  It was one of the most powerful things I had ever seen!
The last time I remember actually seeing that much authority and power in one place, was several years ago when I was in traffic and the Vice President of the United States came to town.  It really was amazing to watch the respect that was shown to the fallen police officer.  He had been killed in the line of duty.  Everyone who was able to observe what was taking place was very respectful.  People stopped, got out of their cars, took off their hats, stood at attention, and paid their respects.  It was a very moving moment.

Again, because I was stopped on an overpass, I had a front-row seat to everything that was taking place around me, and I noticed that something else was happening.  From my vantage point, I noticed that there were some drivers who were full of rage and anger because someone slowed down their progress.  They were unaware of the reason for the delay, so they were angry.  Someone actually had the audacity to get their spot on a piece of the pavement right in the middle of a funeral!  I thought to myself, “If they only knew what was taking place, they would not react that way.”  Had they known that the traffic jam was because of a funeral for a fallen police office, they would have certainly changed their attitude.  And, that is when it dawned on me that they were not responding to the situation, they were reacting to it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tip: Be Responsive!

Jun 14

Posted by Parents Place in Modern Renaissance, Raising Your Child | No Comments

By Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.
Personality Insights, Inc.

As a teenager, I had a summer job.  I was a lifeguard at our local Elk’s Club swimming pool.  It was a country-club atmosphere and most of the people of our small town of Griffin, Georgia, were members.  Everyone knew each other and during the summer, we all had a great time at the club pool.

Because I was so young and it was one of my first jobs, I really didn’t know much about what I was supposed to be doing.  I thought my main job was to get a good tan and look good in front of all the girls.  Occasionally I would walk around the pool and pick up a piece of trash, if I happened to see it.

I also had the responsibility of cleaning out the baby pool every morning.  Sometimes that could be a real challenge!  On a few occasions I saw things floating in the baby pool that were questionable.  I always used the pool “scooper” to pick up items I was afraid to touch! Read the rest of this entry »

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Sometimes be Brief, Specific and to The Point – It Gets People’s Attention!

Jun 7

Posted by Parents Place in Modern Renaissance, Raising Your Child | 1 Comment

By Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.
Personality Insights, Inc.

A word of explanation is probably in order.

I (Robert A. Rohm Ph.D.) graduated from three different colleges with graduate degrees and I can honestly say that the story I am about to relate only occurred once in all of my educational experience!  However, it is the point of this Tip.

One day a student in one of my classes decided that he would challenge our professor.  Since we all know that it is acceptable to question what we are being taught, the fact that this student challenged the professor was not the issue.  It was the attitude with which he did it.  He had a sharp tone to his voice and was rude and disrespectful.  He went to great lengths to discredit the professor’s viewpoint and to explain his own.  It was clear that he wanted the professor (and the rest of the class) to know just how smart he was and that his point of view was right. Read the rest of this entry »

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