Newsletter Issue 187, August 2010

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 187, August 2010

Hi guys,

What does your body language say about you? Check out The Body-Language Gender Divide below.

For those of you who have been waiting for it, MS Office 2010 is nearly with us. 

Delete "Delete Unused Icons" Message   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

The Body-Language Gender Divide

In an article I read recently by Dr Carol Kinsey Goman entitled "10 Body Language Mistakes Women Leaders Make", Dr Goman lists ten differences in body language between men and women. Her article is very interesting, and she has been kind enough to allow me to reproduce it for you all here:

 

There are two sets of body language cues that followers look for in leaders: warmth (empathy, likeability, caring) and authority (power, credibility, status). Although I know several leaders of both sexes who do not fit the stereotypes, I’ve also observed that gender differences in body language most often align do align with these two groupings. Women are the champions in the warmth and empathy arena, but lose out with power and authority cues.

All leaders are judged by their body language. If a female wants to be perceived as powerful, credible, and confident, she has to be aware of the nonverbal signals she’s sending. There are a number of behaviours I’ve seen women unknowingly employ that reduce their authority by denoting vulnerability or submission. Here are ten body language mistakes that women leaders commonly make.

1. They use too many head tilts. Head tilting is a signal that someone is listening and involved -- and a particularly feminine gesture. Head tilts can be very positive cues, but they are also subconsciously processed as submission signals. Women who want to project power and authority should keep their heads straight up in a more neutral position.
2. They physically condense. One way that status is nonverbally demonstrated in a business meeting is by physically taking up room. Lower-status, less-confident men (and most women) tend to pull in their bodies and minimize their size, while high status males expand and take up space. So at your next meeting, spread out your belongings and claim your turf!
3. They act girlish. Everyone uses pacifying gestures when under stress. They rub their hands together, grab their upper arms, and touch their necks. But women are viewed as much less powerful when they pacify with girlish behaviours (twirling hair, playing with jewellery, or biting a finger).
4. They smile excessively. While smiling can be a powerful and positive nonverbal cue – especially for signalling likeability and friendliness – women should be aware that, when excessive or inappropriate, smiling can also be confusing and a credibility robber. This is especially true if you smile while discussing a serious subject, expressing anger, or giving negative feedback.
5. They nod too much. When a man nods, it means he agrees. When a woman nods, it means she agrees – or is listening to, empathizing with, or encouraging the speaker to continue. This excessive head nodding can make females look like a bobble-head doll. Constant head nodding can express encouragement and engagement, but not authority and power.
6. They speak “up”. Women's voices often rise at the ends of sentences as if they're asking a question or asking for approval. When stating your opinion, be sure to use the authoritative arc, in which your voice starts on one note, rises in pitch through the sentence and drops back down at the end.
7. They wait their turn. In negotiations, men talk more than women and interrupt more frequently. One perspective on the value of speaking up comes from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who – when asked what advice she had for up-and-coming professional women – replied, “Learn to interrupt.”
8. They are overly expressive. While a certain amount of movement and animation adds passion and meaning to a message, women who express the entire spectrum of emotions often overwhelm their audience (especially if the audience is comprised primarily of males). So in situations where you want to maximise your authority -- minimize your movements. When you appear calm and contained, you look more powerful.
9. They have a delicate handshake. Women with a weak handshake are judged to be passive and less confident. So take the time to cultivate your "professional shake.” Keep your body squared off to the other person - facing them fully. Make sure you have palm-to-palm contact and that the web of your hand (the skin between you thumb and first finger) touches the web of the other person's. And, most of all, remember to shake hands firmly.
10. They flirt. Women gain likeability, but lose the competitive advantage in a negotiation when they flirt. In a UC Berkeley study, female actors play the roles of sellers of a biotech business. Half were told to project a no-nonsense, business approach. Half were instructed to flirt (using the nonverbal behaviours of smiling, leaning forward suggestively, tossing their hair, etc) – but to do so subtly. The outcome was that the “buyers” offered the flirts (dubbed “likeable losers”) 20% less, on average, than what they offered the more straitlaced sellers.

Author Bio: Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., is an international keynote speaker, executive coach, and management consultant. Author of THE NONVERBAL ADVANTAGE - Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work, Carol’s new book, THE SILENT LANGUAGE OF LEADERS will be published by Jossey-Bass in the spring of 2011.For information contact Carol by phone: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or through her web sites: www.CKG.com and www.NonverbalAdvantage.com.

MS Office 2010

In April this year, Microsoft announced that Office 2010 was being "released to manufacturing", which Window's Secrets reports as being the final step before release of Microsoft's retail pack. The retail release dates are unclear - "sometime in June".

WindowsSecrets newsletter reports that Microsoft is offering 7 versions of Office 2010:

1. Office 2010 Starter: Available only pre-installed on new PCs, Starter includes limited versions of Word and Excel — and that's it. Users will get it free but will have to put up with embedded advertising. No need to extend this one.
2. Home and Student: With Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, this edition is licensed for non-commercial use only. Buyers will, however, be allowed to install it on up to three machines.
3. Home and Business: This version adds Outlook.
4. Standard: Adding Publisher and Office Web Applications, Standard is available only via Microsoft's volume-licensing program — you'll not find it on store shelves.
5. Professional: It will be available in stores and contains the entire suite of core applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access.
6. Professional Academic: This is essentially the same product as Professional but costs significantly less. It will be sold only through bona fide academic channels.
7. Professional Plus: Like the Standard edition, Professional Plus will be available only through Microsoft's volume licensing. It has all of Professional's components plus Communicator, InfoPath, and SharePoint support.

One important point about Office 2010: Microsoft has stated that it will not offer an upgrade option for Office. Users who want Office 2010 will no longer face confusing upgrade paths. WindowsSecrets also report that Microsoft has a 60-day free trial version of Office Professional Plus available at TechNet. It's targeted at IT professionals, and has to be uninstalled after the 60 days.

Also, for those of you who loathed the inflexibility of the ribbons in Office 2007, in 2010 they are fully customisable. Yay!

Delete "Delete Unused Icons" Message

If you would like to know how to get rid of that annoying XP prompt to delete unused icons on the desktop, read on.

This is the Cleanup Wizard. To permanently silence it:

1. Right-click on an empty spot on the desktop. Select Properties from the pop-up menu
2. In the Properties box, select the Desktop tab
3. Click the "Customize Desktop" button
4. On the Desktop Items window, untick the "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days" box. Click OK.
5. Click Apply, then OK on the Desktop Tab.

 Easy. peasy and you're finished :-)

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for you:

• ERMA, Environmental Risk Management Authority. New Zealand's government department tasked with ensuring public safety with research materials - mainly Hazardous Substances and New Organisms

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Function keys. This time it is F10:

• Access, Excel, Explorer, IE, FrontPage, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Windows, Word "Activate the menu bar" F10
• Access, Excel, Explorer, IE, FrontPage, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Windows, Word "Show the shortcut menu" Shift & F10
• Excel "Maximize or restore the workbook window" Ctrl & F10
• PowerPoint "Activate the menu bar" Ctrl & Shift & F10
• PowerPoint "Maximize the presentation window" Ctrl & F10
• PowerPoint "Maximize the program window" Alt & F10
• Windows Media Player "Increase the volume" F10
• Windows Media Player "Show the shortcut menu for the selected item" Shift & F10
• Word "Activate the ruler while working in a document" Ctrl & Shift & F10
• Word "Maximize document window" Ctrl & F10
• Word "Maximize the program window" Alt & F10

Hot Linx

If you are thinking about purchasing an iPad (great for photos & customer presentations), check out Ubergizmo's review at http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/04/ipad-review.html

Already a Torpedo 7 customer? Then consider taking a trip to http://www.1-day.co.nz/ and http://www.1-daytee.co.nz/ as well for super deals

Interested in what is happening in our environment? Then check out the list of what is happening at http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/news-events/new.html

Spend five minutes scrolling through an old list of movies rated by the twist in their tail at http://alltopmovies.com/twist-endings-in-movies/. Most interesting were the missing movies...

---

                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here