This week in
Vitamin V…
We’re talking about what you should do in a conversation.
And… what you should not do.
Or as we say in English, the Dos and the Don’ts.
Don’t #1: Don’t ask the other person to correct you.
Do #1: Listen
And today, Do #2…
Have Fun
Remember that great birthday party you had when you were a kid?
For me, it was my seventh birthday. I remember the dinosaur cake. I remember the balloon animals. I remember my friends Jim and Dale were there….
I had so much fun! And it was so many years ago!
Now, remember that finance meeting last Tuesday?
No?
Why not?
Because it was boring, of course.
We remember things when we’re feeling lots of emotion, positive or negative.
But before you start learning vocabulary to talk about the holocaust, let me tell you why fun conversation is better than boring, serious, or sad conversation.
Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Cortisol.
Mr. Cortisol likes to visit your brain when you’re stressed.
And when he’s visiting your brain, he likes to wander over to the hard drive where your memories are stored and beat them with his baseball bat.
So the next time you’re feeling stress during a conversation and can’t remember an easy word, you know why.
But did you know that Mr. Cortisol doesn’t have a sense of humor?
It’s true. He doesn’t know even one joke!
I read an interesting study in a publication called Bottom Line that said adults who watched a funny video for 20 minutes improved their performance on a memory test by 20%.
So if you want to have a stronger brain, remember more and learn more, then you need to relax, laugh and talk about something fun.