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How to Improve Commiuncation Skills

Think before you speak. Plan your presentations and other addresses to groups whenever possible, especially in business. Even if you don't know everything you want to say, you should have a general idea. In more private conversations, take the time to be clear about the points you want to make before talking. Always be honest in your communication.

Be an active listener. Listening is often more important than speaking. To improve your communication skills, pay attention to what others are saying without getting distracted.

Make good eye contact. Shifty eyes make you seem less than trustworthy in business and personal life. If you are looking everywhere but in the eyes of your audience, it will arouse suspicion. This doesn't mean you should initiate a staring contest. Just make sure to put your audience at ease by holding the gaze at times.

Take it slow. Don't slur your words together or mumble. Enunciate. If you speak too fast, then you'll lose your audience. Use words only if you are sure of their meaning. Make yourself easily understood.

Use appropriate volume and tone. Of course, you should speak louder when addressing a group than you would in private conversations. Reflect emotion in your voice. A monotone approach is never appropriate in any setting.

Practice; it's the best way to improve your communication skills. The more you do it, the easier it will get.

credits: ehow

Economic Development

"'Economic development' or 'development' is a term that economists, politicians, and others have used frequently in the 20th century. The concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are other terms people have used when discussing economic development. Although no one is sure when the concept originated, most people agree that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism and the demise of feudalism.

Among other things, the contemporary social scientific study of economic development encompasses broad theories of the causes of industrial-economic modernization plus organizational and related aspects of enterprise development in modern societies. It embraces sociological-type research relating to business organization and enterprise development from a historical and comparative perspective; specific processes of the evolution (growth, modernization) of markets and management-employee relations; and culturally related cross-national similarities and differences in patterns of industrial organization in contemporary Western societies. On the subject of the nature and causes of the considerable variations that exist in levels of industrial-economic growth and performance internationally, it seeks answers to such questions as: "Why are levels of direct foreign investment and labour productivity significantly higher in some countries than in others?"

credits: wikipedia

How to Socialize

Develop a talent for small talk and have several topics ready to use as conversation starters. Read a variety of books, magazines and newspapers, watch the news and surf the Internet regularly to keep up on pop culture, local and world events.

Be approachable by facing the crowd, "opening" your stance and smiling. If you turn your back on everyone to study the books on a shelf or huddle in the corner with your arms folded, people might think you're in no mood to socialize.

Ask open-ended questions to allow the other person to discuss his background, personal stories, work or pastimes. Listen intently and interrupt only to ask clarifying questions. People will think you're an excellent communicator even if all you do is listen.

Reveal your sense of humor. Be a little self-deprecating, discuss something funny you saw the day before or bring up a skit or one-liner that you saw on a late-night talk show. Keep your jokes clean unless you know the other person well so there's no chance of offending them.

Respect others' personal space when you talk. If you notice the other person folding their arms or taking steps away from you, you may be getting uncomfortably close.

credits: ehow

How to Stop Watching TV

Read during break periods. Engaging with a good novel or non-fiction work is a great way to distract yourself from the day's tasks, refresh your batteries, and inspire new ideas. Keep it where your remote would be.

Interact. Join groups that share similar interests, or start an informal club of your own. As tempting as t. v. can be, the interaction is one-sided. Nothing compares with actually engaging with a person. The positive effects from doing this, including closer friendships, increased confidence, and less reliance on artificial entertainment, will spill over into all other facets of your life.

Exercise. 15-30 minutes of concentrated physical exercise is a great starting point into an active lifestyle. Start off slow, such as a daily walking regimen, and gradually build from there. The more active your lifestyle becomes, the less sedentary pursuits such as watching t. v. will be a temptation.

credits: ehow

Causes of Indigestion

A disease or an ulcer in the digestive tract might cause indigestion. However, for most people, it is the result of eating too much, eating too fast, eating high-fat foods, or eating during stressful situations. Indigestion is not caused by excess stomach acid. Swallowing excessive air when eating may increase the symptoms of belching and bloating which are often associated with indigestion. Some medications can also irritate the stomach lining and cause indigestion.

Being tired or stressed, smoking, or drinking too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages can cause indigestion or make it worse. These factors can also worsen underlying conditions that cause indigestion, such as hiatal hernias and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD). Emotional stress or other psychological conditions may result in abdominal pain.

Sometimes people have persistent indigestion that is not related to any of these factors. This type of indigestion is called functional, or nonulcer, and is caused by a problem associated with how food moves through the digestive tract.

credits: revolution health

Eating Sunflower Seeds For Health

Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dried, 1/4 cup

Nutrient	Units	.25 X 1 cup ------- 36g
Proximates
Water	g	1.93
Energy	kcal	205
Energy	kj	859
Protein	g	8.20
Total lipid (fat)	g	17.85
Ash	g	1.27
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	6.75
Fiber, total dietary	g	3.8
Sugars, total	g	0.94
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	42
Iron, Fe	mg	2.44
Magnesium, Mg	mg	127
Phosphorus, P	mg	254
Potassium, K	mg	248
Sodium, Na	mg	1
Zinc, Zn	mg	1.82
Copper, Cu	mg	0.631
Manganese, Mn	mg	0.727
Selenium, Se	mcg	21.4
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	0.5
Thiamin	mg	0.824
Riboflavin	mg	0.090
Niacin	mg	1.620
Pantothenic acid	mg	2.428
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.277
Folate, total	mcg	82
Folic acid	mcg	0
Folate, food	mcg	82
Folate, DFE	mcg_DFE	82
Vitamin B-12	mcg	0.00
Vitamin B-12, added	mcg	0.00
Vitamin A, IU	IU	18
Vitamin A, RAE	mcg_RAE	1
Retinol	mcg	0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	mg	12.42
Vitamin E, added	mg	0.00
Tocopherol, beta	mg	0.47
Tocopherol, gamma	mg	0.00
Tocopherol, delta	mg	0.00
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	mcg	1.0
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	1.870
4:0	g	0.000
6:0	g	0.000
8:0	g	0.000
10:0	g	0.000
12:0	g	0.000
14:0	g	0.018
16:0	g	1.006
18:0	g	0.793
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	3.406
16:1 undifferentiated	g	0.018
18:1 undifferentiated	g	3.368
20:1	g	0.017
22:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	11.785
18:2 undifferentiated	g	11.748
18:3 undifferentiated	g	0.025
18:4	g	0.000
20:4 undifferentiated	g	0.000
20:5 n-3	g	0.000
22:5 n-3	g	0.000
22:6 n-3	g	0.000
Cholesterol	mg	0
Phytosterols	mg	192
Amino acids
Tryptophan	g	0.125
Threonine	g	0.334
Isoleucine	g	0.410
Leucine	g	0.597
Lysine	g	0.337
Methionine	g	0.178
Cystine	g	0.162
Phenylalanine	g	0.421
Tyrosine	g	0.240
Valine	g	0.473
Arginine	g	0.865
Histidine	g	0.228
Alanine	g	0.402
Aspartic acid	g	0.881
Glutamic acid	g	2.008
Glycine	g	0.526
Proline	g	0.426
Serine	g	0.387
Other
Alcohol, ethyl	g	0.0
Caffeine	mg	0
Theobromine	mg	0
Carotene, beta	mcg	11
Carotene, alpha	mcg	0
Cryptoxanthin, beta	mcg	0
Lycopene	mcg	0
Lutein + zeaxanthin	mcg	0

USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18 (2005)

credits: health recipes

Stop Unwanted Thoughts

TUNE IN: Tune in when a negative thought starts to surface in your mind, pause. Just stop what you are doing for a few seconds. Don't say anything-talking reinforces the bad feeling.

DEEP BREATH: Take five deep slow relaxing breaths. By taking in more oxygen you flush the system and lower your level of anxiety. If you do this correctly you will reach a meditative state.

PLEASENT THINGS: Concentrate on a pleasant, relaxing scene, a walk on a breezy beach, for example. Take 2 to 3 minutes for minor troubles, up to 10 minutes for major upsets.


credits: e how

Psoriasis Treatment

Treatment for psoriasis includes topical ointments or creams on the rash, and systemic medications taken by mouth or by injection. Most topical creams and ointments are steroid-based (cortisone-like). Ultraviolet light either as sunlight or as phototherapy is also helpful, as are Retin-A products.

Systemic medications include nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), mild forms of chemotherapy (also used in RA), and biologic drugs, which are medications that are aimed at specific substances that bring on the psoriasis inflammation. NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. Chemotherapy includes methotrexate given as tablets or injection once a week, cyclosporine, azathioprine, leflunomide (all of them are also used in RA) and injections of biologics. Some of these are the same as we use in RA, for example, etanercept (Enbrel), Infliximab (Remicade), and adalimumab (Humira). Other biologics (alefacept, efalizumab) have been tried primarily for the skin lesions of psoriasis.

credits: everyday health