relationships – Page 4

GraceSOULutions Featured In Influencer Daily

July 10, 2023 // by Preston Test

I’m so excited to announce that I was featured in Influencer Daily!

Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

In a world where effective communication is paramount to successful relationships, Grace CW Liu, an expert Communication Navigator, is empowering sensitive, introverted women to confidently express their thoughts, feelings, and desires. Through her innovative approach at GraceSOULutions, Grace helps individuals and couples cultivate healthy communication strategies, fostering deep connection and understanding in personal relationships.
Communication lies at the heart of any thriving relationship, and Grace understands its true power. Drawing from her extensive background as a speech-language pathologist, she brings a unique perspective to the realm of communication, helping women discover their own communication style and recognizing the impact of their language on conversations. By providing this invaluable knowledge, even the most soft-spoken individuals can express themselves with ease, ensuring their voices are heard.

You can read the full article here:

If you’re an introverted, sensitive, conflict-phobic person who would love to become and feel like a communication warrior then click below to book your free Communication Breakthrough Session where we will discover 5 obstacles that is stopping your from becoming a communication warrior.

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

Let’s Play COMMUNICATES (Inspiration)

June 30, 2023 // by Preston Test

It doesn’t matter if you’re playing an actual board game, sports, the game of life, or a communication game, who doesn’t want to be inspired or want to inspire?

The definition of inspire means “to make someone feel that they want to do something and can do it”.

You can have a fun and constructive communication with your partner so that you can have a happy and harmonious relationship.

You and your partner can inspire each other to have constructive communication where you can openly communicate your thoughts, feelings, and desires without argument and criticism so that you’re feeling heard and understood.

Relationships are like a garden. Communication is part of that garden.

In order to have a beautiful and plentiful garden you need to tend to it and relationships are the same way.

In your garden you might plant some flowers and vegetables like roses and tomatoes.

The flowers and vegetables grow when they have been properly taken care of such as getting rid of weeds or pests.

It’s the same way with your relationships. For you to create a happy and harmonious relationship you need to cultivate your communication by getting rid of destructive communication.

You can cultivate a fun and constructive communication by being open-minded, willing to listen without judgement, throwing in some humor when appropriate, being supportive, and be inspired or inspire your partner.

You can inspire each other to have a happy and harmonious relationship by cultivating your communication so that it continues to grow and maintain good health.

The truth is that if you don’t cultivate (and continue to cultivate) your communication, then, like weeds that grow in the garden that can kill your flowers and vegetables, destructive communication can cause massive problems.

Destructive communication can smother and kill your relationships.

When communication is destructive with an abundance of arguments, criticism, an unwillingness to listen, this leads to a path of unwillingness to communicate. And when partners no longer want or think they can communicate with each other, then the relationship will deteriorate.

You can choose whether or not you want a happy and harmonious relationship. If you do then one of the important parts to having a happy and harmonious relationship is being able to communicate with one another.

That is the inspiration of cultivating constructive communication.

The truth is that you do have to work on cultivating your communication if you want to grow and have a happy and harmonious personal relationship.

Cultivating your communication doesn’t have to be hard work if you consistently work on it.

Just think of your relationship as your garden and the communication as your plant, flower, or vegetable.

If you want a beautiful relationship like your garden, then you’re going to work on getting rid of destructive communication which is like your weeds in your garden for your communication to grow in a constructive way so that you can continue to have a beautiful relationship with your partner.

You and your partner are inspired and inspire each other to grow your beautiful relationship together by cultivating your communication by removing the weeds of destructive communication so that you can maintain healthy constructive communication no matter the topic of conversation.

Yes, you’re going to need to work on and continue to work on your communication for you to have a happy and harmonious relationship. It’s just like your garden.

It’s about doing your best to inspire and cultivate constructive communication so that you can have a happy and harmonious relationship in your personal communication.

The Objective of the Game

The ‘winning’ objective is that you’re inspired, and you’ve inspired your partner to have constructive communication that supports a happy and harmonious relationship.

There are times that you might still have disagreements, and you and your partner know how to handle it so that it doesn’t lead to destructive communication.

If you managed to inspire communication that you were able to continue to have constructive communication… That’s a win!

If you still have destructive communication at times, and you’re unable to figure out how to change the communication pattern during the heat of your communication, that’s okay. Guess what?

You learned without losing.

Remember there is no losing in this game, only learning.

Learning points in this example might be:

What can you do differently so that you can create more constructive communication?
Why do you think and feel that destructive communication is occurring in the first place?
What can you do better next time?
What worked that you could continue to use?

You earn bonus points when you’re bold and step into your authenticity of who you want to portray and have a good balance of holding yourself accountable when it comes to inspiring yourself to cultivate communication in your personal relationship.

This is the Communication Warrior.

You know your way of inspiration… Now Go Play and Have Fun Communicating!

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

GraceSOULutions Featured In Economic Insider

June 22, 2023 // by Preston Test

I’m absolutely thrilled to have been featured in Economic Insider!

Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

In today’s fast-paced world, where communication has become more digital and impersonal, it’s easy to feel like nobody is listening. Misunderstandings and conflicts can arise due to poor communication skills, leading to strained relationships and even breakups. However, Grace CW Liu, the founder of GraceSOULutions, believes that healthy communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship.
Grace is a communication expert who understands that the words we use carry power and energy, but communication is more than just words. It’s also about body language and listening skills. According to Grace, effective communication is all about give and take. It’s about understanding and being understood. Grace’s philosophy is that there is a solution to every problem, and when those problems involve communication and conversation, you need grace.

You can read the full article here:

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

Nurture Feelings | The COMMUNICATES Game

June 9, 2023 // by Preston Test

If you’re a sensitive, introverted, conflict phobic person who would love to be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings and desires, without the fear of arguments and criticisms, so that you can have a happy and harmonious relationship so that you will never feel lonely again, in your relationship with your partner. Stay tuned for fun and valuable information!

Hi, I’m Grace, and welcome to the COMMUNICATES Game video series. If you have missed the other videos that I have done, and this video series, don’t worry, stay here for now. And you can always catch up with it later. So if you missed the other videos that I have done in the COMMUNICATES Game video series, that’s okay, stay here for now. And you can always catch up with those videos later. So in today’s video, we’re going to talk about nurturing feelings. Nurturing feelings in your communication. Now you or your partner may or may not be good at nurturing feelings in your communication.

So let me ask you this, have you ever engaged in conversation with your partner, and all of a sudden you or your partner changed, the mood changed? So in the beginning, perhaps you and your partner were having a really relaxing, good, calm, happy conversation. And then either you or your partner said something, and it upset, either you or your partner. And then all of a sudden, it’s like storm clouds are coming in. So either you took offense or your partner took offense, and one of you is just now upset. And either you or your partner decide to walk away from the conversation. And I don’t know about you. Once when you or your partner walk off, are you stumped? Like, all of a sudden, do you wonder like, Hey, what happened? It started off like a really good conversation, you’re stumped. And you’re like, “hey, we had a good conversation, everything was fine. And then all of a sudden, I said something or he or she said something. And now all of a sudden, one of us is upset and walked away from the conversation to cool off.”

So what happened? Right, so this is where nurturing feelings in the conversation in your communication becomes important because perhaps, if you gave some awareness to it, you might have realized that there were some clues as to how you were feeling or to how the other person was feeling during that conversation. You know, in the beginning, it was probably really good, you know, you’re joking with each other or something, you know, was said. And then somebody made a comment or their you made a comment or your partner made a comment, and all of a sudden, now the storm clouds have come in. So with the nurture feelings, it’s about looking for the subtle hints, so for subtle changes of either the conversation shifting from being happy to stormy clouds, or perhaps you can switch it like maybe the clouds are stormy and you see that and now you’re going to figure out how you can pivot and then you can see like there’s stormy clouds. But however, instead of getting further into the stormy clouds, because you see it coming, that perhaps you can pivot and maybe maneuver to a different direction by making either a little bit of a humorous statement, or perhaps saying something that’s more nurturing, so that you can pivot it back to instead of going further into the storm clouds. Now you can still go back to being having that sunny, happy conversation that you originally maybe had, or as this conversation has already begun storming, because it was a very serious conversation. Perhaps you don’t have to make it so serious. Perhaps you can also put a little bit of some light heartedness into this serious conversation so that it’s not going to be going further and to that storm clouds. And perhaps it’s not always the case, perhaps in some situations, you know, it’s going to be storm clouds, and you’re just doing your best to navigate through the storm clouds. But there might be some chances of yes as being storm clouds that perhaps there’s some way to lighten up the storm and again, by nurturing the conversation with some certain nurturing words, or some nurturing gestures.

And again, if there’s a shift from a happy conversation to a stormy conversation that’s coming up, again, look for those subtle hints, and then see about how to pivot away from it. Again, when you have that awareness of nurturing the conversation, and that could be just as simple as you know, being aware of what you said, perhaps, you know what you said, the other person took it wrong, right. So you might be able to change that. Or, if you see the other person, your partner, all of a sudden, is in a relaxed body posture, like with open arms and smiling, and all of a sudden, you said something, and now the your partner has his or her arm crossed, or all of a sudden, the face changed to almost like a serious looking tone, where the smile is no longer there, or perhaps just like kind of a small smile, not as big as what it was. These are little things that you can see like, oh, perhaps did I say something or, you know, and again, the same way. And once when your partner is aware, and can nurture the conversation, he or she can also maybe see when you’re getting a little bit upset and learn to pivot as well.

So this is where nurturing feelings in your conversation in your communication becomes important because it’s almost like another way of validating of your feeling now of what was being said and what was being discussed. And it’s an acknowledgement that “hey, I was okay. And then something was said, and now I’m not okay.” So and who doesn’t want to be validated? Right? So sometimes validation doesn’t have to be through words. It can be just saying, acknowledging like, “Oh, my goodness, there’s now a change in the mood in the conversation. I acknowledge that I acknowledged you’re changing, you’re in the mood that you’re in now in. So let’s see what we can do to fix it to repair it.” Right.

We’re going to talk about the nurture feelings. I’m using the four characters. Okay, so my first character is Stance and Stance is our confident communicator. So with the confident communicator, we’re just going to look at how each character’s not necessarily read or pivot in nurturing the feelings in the conversation, but how they might kind of address the nurturer feelings in the conversation. Starting with Stance, our confident communicator. Yay, hello Stance. Alright, so Stance is going to be the type of person that will try his or her best to monitor the feelings in the conversation. So Stance is most likely going to be the type of person that will do his or her best to see, you know, have an awareness of the person’s mood in a conversation. So if there is a subtle change Stance is going to do his or her best to kind of notice if the subtle changes and perhaps some person’s mood during the conversation, because again, Stance wants to have that constructive conversation. And so Stance again, is just confidence. And so he or she is going to try his or her best, you know, to see how the person is feeling, right? If the person is having a happy conversation, and all of a sudden the mood changes Stance is likely going to pick up on it and perhaps even try his or her best to pick up on it. As soon as like they’re heading into the storm clouds, like the person who has his or her arm crossed, Stance might, you know, kind of take awareness of that, so to speak, and say, oh, okay, maybe I said something or something was said and so Stance might just check in and say, Hey, are you okay? Did I just say something wrong? Because of the subtle, maybe body change. So, again, sometimes Stance might miss it, but Stance is going to be the type of person that will do his or her best to make sure that the feelings are being nurtured in the conversation notice any subtle changes so that the conversations can continue on onto a constructive path rather than a destructive path. So that is Stance.

All right. Our next communicator is Brash and Brash is our arrogant communicator. So here’s Brash, Brash is more concerned about making sure that he or she looks good, right? Looks the best. So Brash is most likely not going to be a good communicator when it comes to nurturing feelings. Because, again, Brash is only worried about making sure he or she looks good and looking the best. And sometimes that might mean not being aware of nurturing feelings, because again, they just want to make sure they look good. So it’s not so much about how the other person feels, they might, you know, boast about their achievements and what have you, while the other person may not be feeling good about it, but Brash is not going to be aware of that Brash is most likely going to just, you know, continue on and say, Look, kind of, like, continue on with his or her achievements, say, Look at me, and, you know, I did this and this and this, you know, not kind of stepping back a little bit and saying, but, you know, everybody else did great here or something like that, you know, and most likely is just that Brash is gonna say, Yeah, I did great. So hey, you know, pay attention and not so much as being aware of how the other person might be feeling, right? When it comes to nurturing feelings, I don’t want to say that Brash doesn’t nurture feelings, is just that perhaps Brash is more, because the intention is to make him or herself looking good. Sometimes that means, you know, not paying attention to other things such as nurturing feelings, you know, the intention is not to be aware of how the other person’s feeling. The intention is more about making sure he or she looks good. So sometimes that, means that what gets missed is the nurturing feeling in the communication in the conversation. And not to say that Brash will always miss, you know, the feelings or will always, you know, miss on the opportunity to nurture feelings, you know, perhaps, you know, afterwards in a in Brash’s way, he or she might just say, oh, you know, you’ll get there next time, or I’m sure, you know, you’ll, you’ll achieve that someday, you know, type of thing. And, again, it’s maybe Brash’s way of just saying, hey, you know, I know I did great and everything and, but you know, in Brash’s way of saying, you know, you’ll, you’ll get it sometime in the future, perhaps it’s just saying, you know, there is opportunity for you as well. And that’s Brash’s way perhaps nurturing feeling, you might be like, Brash, or you might know somebody like Brash, and that’s okay. Sometimes we do want people to look at us, right? To look at the are achievements. And then sometimes, you know, we just might need to still be a little bit aware of the feelings. So with Brash, it’s just very, I’m going to just start off saying it is very difficult to address the nurturing feelings with Brash because Brash is so concerned is more concerned about making him or herself looking good. Again, what gets lost will be the nurturing feelings, I don’t want to say that Brash always misses the opportunity of nurturing feelings. However, because it’s not really top priority Brash is going to be the type of person that really just focused on him or herself. And not so much on the other person. So sometimes you almost need to be a Brash yourself, to bring out that nurture feeling of what you need. So perhaps you just need to, you know, be– be, like Brash and say, “You know what, I’m feeling this way, and you need to stop or, you know, I’m happy for your accomplishments, but everybody deserves a chance,” right? So sometimes you yourself need to be like, Brash in order for your partner who might be Brash to understand, you know, where the boundaries are, where for nurturing of feelings, and making sure that whatever needs to be addressed is addressed. And you might have to do that in a brash way for Brash to understand. Alright, so, hope that makes sense.

All right, now we’re moving on to our third character. All right, so our third communication character communicator is Gray. So Gray is our timid communicator. Hello gray. So, Gray is going to be a type of person that is going to nurture the other person rather than nurture him or her Self. So Gray is a type of person that is fully aware of how the other person is feeling during the conversation. Gray is going to notice the subtle changes right away not to say that Gray gets it all the time. But Gray gets it, most of the times the majority of the time Gray is on top of it notices this shift in the conversation notices, the feeling of the other person based on perhaps the tone or the body language or something Gray is going to pick up on it because Gray is more concerned about how the other person is feeling in the conversation than about him or herself. So Gray is more like that observer and the communication group. Because again, Gray stepping back, you know, stepping away from being in the limelight. So Gray prefers to be just in the background and observing and processing. So Gray is going to be the one that observes and process what you are saying to him or her. And then from there, Gray is going to say, “okay, I can continue this path or Oh, the person– I sense that this person is not happy.” And you know, and so Gray is going to apologize and acknowledge like perhaps it was something he or she said or something that happened. So Gray is more wanting to have that peace and calm and you know, in the conversation and trying to avoid the conflict and the argument. So in that aspect, that’s why Gray is going to be more engaged and more aware of, you know, picking up any subtle hints to pick up the mood and a change in the conversation so that Gray can then move on and move away from any conflict or argument that might be creeping up. So that is why Gray is more likely to be aware of the subtle changes in the communication and the gestures and what have you saw that, again, Gray is wanting the person to feel like they are being nurtured and acknowledged that there’s might be a change. And then if, you know, Gray feels like he or she that caused the change will apologize and everything. Again, it’s all about trying to move away from the argument and a conflict.

Okay, so then we have Blend and Blend is our Shapeshifter communicator. So there’s Blend, all right. So, Blend, again, because Blend can sense the room sense the person, Blend is just going to see how the situation is what is happening, and then determine which communication character would best fit into the situation that will continue to nurture the feelings in a conversation with his or her partner. So according to Blend, whether Blend is going to be like Stance or Brash or Gray, it would all depend on the communication situation, what’s being discussed and where the changes and why they change. And then from there, Blend then can decide which of the communication character or characters will be best to address the changes in the communication and make sure to nurture it in a way so that again, it can be constructive, rather than destructive, because Blend is good at sensing the mood of the person or of the situation, he or she is just going to decide and choose the characters that were best fit the situation to continue to nurture the feeling in his or her communication.

And then, of course, the goal is for you to be the Communication Warrior. So this is you as the Communication Warrior, where you can communicate your thoughts, feelings and desires confidently openly. You know how to best nurture feelings in your communication. And if you don’t feel nurtured in your communication by your partner, you know how to communicate that with confidence so that you are being heard and understood by your partner so that you can have that happy and harmonious relationship with your partner.

So this is what being a Communication Warrior is all about. Now If you don’t feel like you’re a Communication Warrior yet, that’s okay. I’m going to invite you to visit my website, GraceSOULutions.com That’s GraceSOULutions.com to see how you can book a free Communication Breakthrough Session with me, where we will discover five obstacles that are stopping you, and one key thing that you can do to help to move you forward and in the next COMMUNICATES Game videos we’re going to see how the four characters Stance, Brash, Gray and Blend deal with inspiration in communication.

So until next time, have fun communicating!

Let’s Play COMMUNICATES (Nurture Feelings)

May 29, 2023 // by Preston Test

During your ‘communication game’ has this ever happened to you?

You’re having a nice communication and then all of the sudden the mood suddenly changes?

The mood has changed because either another person joined the group, or something was said which totally changed the whole mood of the conversation.

If you resonate as being a sensitive, introverted, and a conflict-phobic person, then you’re likely able to sense the change in the mood of a person or the whole mood of a conversation.

However, the person you’re speaking with might not have that ‘special skill’ of sensing the change of the mood or the conversation.

Your communication partner may not even realize that the mood of the conversation had changed at all. They might continue to be oblivious as to what is going on until someone it blows off and walks out of the conversation altogether.

Some people don’t have what I call the ‘Spidey Senses’ of sensing when the mood of a person or conversation is turning from calm into stormy weather.

If there is sudden mood change in the person or of the conversation, you as a sensitive, introverted, and conflict-phobic person might feel that it was your fault that it changed or you might even be dumbstruck yourself as to what happened and why things changed in such a way.

The thing is… You can sense the change.

One minute you’re having a nice joyful, peaceful conversation, then something was said, and now someone is pissed off and the best way to describe it is that you’re heading into a horrible storm.

In the communication game, it’s important to be aware and keep track of the various feelings and moods within the conversation.

If the person you’re speaking with doesn’t have the ‘Spidey Senses’ to sense the change in the mood, then you can give some warnings like a weather reporter who gives warnings when bad storms are coming.

You can say something to the person who is oblivious to the mood change something like, “let’s change the subject”, or “let’s table this discussion for now and discuss it at a later time”, or “I didn’t like the last comment you just said so let’s take a break”.

It doesn’t matter if you have Spidey Senses or not. All it takes is everyone paying attention to the people they’re speaking with.

There are hints, they might be subtle hints, that someone is getting upset during the conversation, and to quit while you’re ahead so that you don’t have to enter into the storm cloud. And sometimes they can leave people thinking “if only you had paid attention…”

The subtle hints or warnings might’ve been a change in facial expression, body language, tone of voice, or even a direct comment to stop that was ignored.

Think about it…

The subtle changes could’ve been anything from a large smile to a small weak smile, open arm movements to folded arms across the stomach, or a change in tone of voice from friendly to a more serious tone that gives the vibe of “don’t push my buttons.“

There are some people that have a natural gift of nurturing feelings in conversation while others may learn the necessary skills to develop nurture feelings during conversation.

Sadly, there are others who might not care to nurture any feelings in conversations. These are the people who don’t care if they pissed people off by what they said.

The type of people who don’t care about nurturing feelings in conversation are the ones who only care about what they wanted to say in the first place and say it in exactly the way that they wanted to say it.

Those who do nurture feelings in conversation or pay attention to it are usually the sensitive type. The ones who can sense the room or the person’s feelings because the people who nurture feelings might feel they are responsible for everyone’s feelings during the conversation.

A nice balance when it comes to nurturing feelings in a conversation is to be aware of the other person’s feelings, but also to realize that you are not fully responsible for the other person’s feelings.

You might’ve said something that was picked up wrong, you apologized for the mistake, and if the other person continues to be upset, well it’s on that person, and not on you.

You did your best to remedy the situation by apologizing and held yourself accountable for the mistake made and you just need to let the person work through their emotions, and you don’t need to beat yourself up about it or hold on to the responsibility.

The truth is that the mood of the person or change of mood during a conversation can happen at any time.

It’s about doing your best to nurture feelings so that you can have a happy and harmonious relationship in your personal communication.

The Objective of the Game

The ‘winning’ objective is that you’re aware of nurturing feelings in your communication.

There are times that you might be able to sense the change in a person’s mood or the conversation and there are times you might miss it.

If you’ve managed to nurture feelings in your communication so that you were able to continue to have constructive communication… That’s a win!

If your communication changed because the person’s mood changed or the conversation changed from calm to stormy weather because you missed the changes that were happening during your communication, that’s okay. Guess what?

You learned without losing.

Remember there is no losing in this game, only learning.

Learning points in this example might be:

What can you do differently so that you can nurture feelings in your communication?
Why do you think you missed the changes that were occurring in the first place?
What can you do better next time?
What worked that you could continue to use?

You earn bonus points when you’re bold and step into the authenticity of who you want to portray and have a good balance of holding yourself accountable when it comes to nurturing feelings in your communication.

This is the Communication Warrior.

You know your way to nurture feelings… Now Go Play and Have Fun Communicating!

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

GraceSOULutions Featured In New York Weekly

May 12, 2023 // by Preston Test

I’m so excited to have been featured in New York Weekly!

Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

Grace CW Liu, a renowned communication expert and founder of GraceSOULutions, is revolutionizing the way introverted, sensitive women communicate in their personal relationships. Through her expertise as a speech-language pathologist and her understanding of the power of words and energy, Grace is helping individuals and couples cultivate healthy communication strategies that foster understanding, connection, and happiness in their relationships so that they can create their happily ever after
In a world where communication is essential for building and maintaining successful relationships, GraceSOULutions offers a unique approach that focuses solely on communication skills. Grace understands that communication is more than just the words we speak; it encompasses body language, tone of voice, and active listening skills. By empowering her clients to recognize and leverage their own communication styles, Grace helps them express their thoughts, feelings, and desires openly and confidently.

You can read the full article here:

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

Misunderstandings | The COMMUNICATES Game

April 28, 2023 // by Preston Test

If you’re a sensitive, introverted, conflict phobic person, who would love to be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings and desires, without the feeling of being overlooked, overshadowed and overwhelmed in your communication, so that you can have that happy and harmonious relationship. Stay tuned for fun and valuable information.

Hi, I’m Grace, and welcome to the COMMUNICATES Game video series. Now, if you have missed the previous videos, and this COMMUNICATES Game video series, that’s okay, stay here for now. And you can always catch up to those videos later.

So in this video, we’re going to talk about misunderstandings, or what happens when a communication breaks down. When communication is lost, or the understanding is lost, because there was a breakdown in the communication. And to talk about misunderstandings, or about communication breakdowns, of course, we’re going to use our four communication characters. So let’s get started.

All right, so our first communication character is Stance. So Stance, of course, is our confident communicator. And here is Stance, all right. So when a communication breakdown occurs, or when some misunderstanding may have occurred, Stance is going to be the type of person that is likely to find out what happened and perhaps take him or herself accountable for perhaps the misunderstanding that has occurred. So Stance is going to want to know what happened. And of course, then make sure that he or she takes accountability if necessary to the communication breakdown, and then figure out how to pivot so that the communication can continue. So an example might be, you know, if Stance happens to be talking to a person while that person was busy, and the person didn’t listen, or didn’t hear what Stance might have said, and then there was a misunderstanding of what the person wants to do, then Stance is going to say, “well, I said this, but perhaps you didn’t hear me because you were distracted. And I should have realized not to converse with you or tell you these instructions until you were less distracted.” So Stance then will make sure that next time that he or she gives the instructions or the information that the person is not distracted by other things. And so, that would be how Stance as a confident communicator might deal with communication breakdowns or when misunderstandings occur. So you perhaps you are like Stance, and in some situations, you might say “this is what I did. And now I know what to do better next time.”

All right, moving on to our next character. So here we have Brash and Brash is our arrogant communicators. So let’s welcome Brash All right. So Brash might be a type of person that when a communication breakdown occurred, that he or she may not take full responsibility. And in other words, Brash might likely to put the blame on the other person. So again, remember Brash is type of person that wants to make him or herself look good. And so by making himself look good, it’s having to make the other person look not so great. And one of the ways to do that is to put the blame on the other person. So if a misunderstanding occurred, or there was a communication breakdown, you know, again, if the other person was distracted, then Brash might say something like, “you know, I told you this, obviously, you didn’t hear me well next time when I tell you something, you need to stop what you’re doing and pay attention to what I am telling you.” So Brash is likely not going to hold him or self accountable in a way that Stance might have done Brash is going to most likely, because again, making him or herself look great. So would most likely put the blame on the other person for the misunderstanding (that type of attitude). Now sometimes, because like I mentioned before, there are no good or bad characters. Sometimes it is necessary perhaps to be like Brash, you know? In some situations, perhaps, it is not fully Brash’s responsibility. It might be the other person’s responsibility and so Brash may feel he or she is right. Or perhaps he or she has the reasoning to say, “You know what, next time, you really need to stop what you’re doing, and listen to what I’m telling you,” because perhaps it might be something of an emergency, something urgent, and, you know, Brash might say, “you know, I did call your name, and I did say that this was important, and I need you to, to listen to this, and you didn’t.” So in that case, perhaps, you know, there might be some situations where you might need to be, like, Brash, and say, “Hey, you should have listened.” So it’s, I don’t want to say putting the blame, and I know I used that word earlier, but it’s just to put the responsibility or the accountability on to the person and maybe perhaps, with Brash, sometimes you need to put more of that accountability on the other person, depending upon the situation. So sometimes, yes, it can be a little bit tricky. And that is why, you know, communication is like a game, right? Because sometimes you have to maneuver around obstacles. And misunderstanding is one of those obstacles that I have mentioned in the previous videos of when I talked about obstacles, and misunderstanding happens to be one of those. So again, it’s how to maneuver around it. So anyway, that might be helped Brash with deal with a misunderstanding, is putting the accountability or the responsibility on to the other person for why the misunderstanding occurred.

And so our next character is Gray, and Gray is our timid character. So let’s meet Gray. All right, so when a misunderstanding occurs, Gray is most likely going to be the type of person to say, “I’m sorry.” Gray is just going to apologize for the misunderstanding that occurred. So you know, an instruction was given to Gray, obviously, Gray might have been distracted, and didn’t fall through or something? And the person comes back to Gray and say, hey, you know, why didn’t you do this? Or, you know, I said this, and this was not done correctly. And Gray is gonna most likely just say, “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. I didn’t hear you properly out corrected right now. And I’m just very sorry,” not going to say, Oh, you did this, or you could have done this no Gray, it’s just going to take the full responsibility that okay, the misunderstanding occured, yes, it was my fault, I could have done better. And now I’m going to remedy the situation as best to my ability, so that we can just move on from this experience, because again Gray doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable when there’s an argument or conflict. So Gray is just going to apologize and fix the problem. And try then to have it move on. So that the conflict and the argument can be resolved. So that might be like you or you might know somebody who is like Gray. And again, in some situations, you know, that’s might be the best way, you know, you were given some instructions, and you know, you didn’t follow through or the person didn’t follow through. And sometimes the best way is just to apologize, try to fix the problem if you can, right then and there or as quickly as you can, and then hopefully, that just solves a problem. So that way, everybody is no longer upset and then conversations, activities can carry forward.

Okay, and then of course, we have our character Blend and Blend is our Shape Shifter communicator. Yay, there’s Blend. So Blend is a type of person that can sense the mood of the person or of the room. And if a misunderstanding occurs, Blend is the type of person that’s going to see the situation and then decide perhaps you know which character or characters he or she is going to be in to help to solve the misunderstanding to help to repair the communication. And so in some situations, Blend is gonna maybe perhaps start off as great apologize, fix it, and then perhaps be like Stance and say, You know what, I take full responsibility. I should have like clarified with you when I wasn’t sure next time, if I’m not sure I know what we’ll know to ask the questions I need to ask whatever it might be.” So and in some situations, it might be that Blend decides he or she needs to be more like Brash and then perhaps then move to a Stance or you know, move on to a different character. So, again, Blend is going to just see the situation figure out what would be the best way to be, you know, what character communication character to be to solve the problem to resolve the communication breakdown to resolve the misunderstanding, so that the next time it won’t occur or if it does, he or she knows what to do, and or hold himself or herself accountable if a mistake happens. So it all just really depends on the situation. And that’s what Blend is good at its Blend is good at being the shapeshifter and figuring out which character or characters to be to solve the communication breakdown, and to solve the misunderstandings. And so that hopefully doesn’t happen again the next time or knows how to solve it when it occurs, so that everybody hopefully can move on.

So before I move on to our next character, I just want to let you know that for our next video, we’re going to see how the four characters Stance, Brash, Gray and Blend deal with nurturing feelings in communication. So stay tuned for that video next month.

Alright, so this is the goal that we want for you to be the Communication Character. Yay! And this is the Communication Warrior: You! Where you can communicate your thoughts, feelings and desires, and be able to repair any misunderstandings or communication breakdown, as you want to be to repair your communication breakdown or misunderstandings so that no matter in whatever situation or the person you’re speaking with, you feel like that Communication Warrior that you are being the character the communication character or characters you want to be when dealing with the communication breakdown and the misunderstanding.

And if you don’t feel like you’re a Communication Warrior yet, then I invite you to visit my website, GraceSOULutions.com That’s GraceSOULutions.com to see how you can book a free communication breakthrough session with me where we will discover five obstacles that stopping you and one action step that you can take to move you forward.

So until next time, go and have fun communicating!

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

Let’s Play COMMUNICATES (Understanding is Broken)

April 28, 2023 // by Preston Test

When playing a game or sport, misunderstandings can happen at any time.

Any player can misunderstand the given instructions for playing the game or misunderstand an action to take during game play.

If misunderstandings can occur while playing a game or sport, then they certainly can also occur during a conversation or in communication!

Afterall, communication can feel like you’re playing a game.

Let’s talk about misunderstandings or: when there is a breakdown in understanding during a conversation.

For people who are sensitive, introverted, and conflict-phobic, misunderstandings can make you feel uncomfortable, making you feel as if it was your fault, or that what you said didn’t really matter to the person who you were speaking with.

The main thing that most sensitive, introverted, and conflict-phobic people would like to avoid is conflict or argument in their communication that could lead to creating disharmony in relationships.

The truth is, yes, misunderstandings can sometimes lead to conflict or even big arguments.

Let’s explore why misunderstandings occur.

There can be few reasons…

One of them is the delivery of the message.

Misunderstandings can easily occur if you delivered your message while the person was distracted or if there was a lot of background noise.

The person may have only received half or less of what you said depending upon how much the person heard due to distractions or the attention paid to what you said in the first place.

Another reason for misunderstanding might be due to dialect or foreign-born accent.

People who are not familiar with different dialects or hearing people speak with foreign accents might have a hard time understanding a person who speaks with a heavy dialect or accent.

This is my own personal example that I’m sharing. Growing up I became accustomed to hearing my parents and their friends speak with heavy Chinese accents because English is their second language.

My friends were not accustomed to hearing accents and had a hard time understanding my parents when they spoke English.

I remember this one time when my mom told my friend to ‘take the card’ (birthday card), except it sounded like ‘take the car’.

My friend was confused because she was 10 years old at the time and wasn’t old enough to have a license to drive a car so she said, ‘I can’t take your car.’

My mom insisted she take the card and my friend declined to take the car.

I was busy wrapping up the treats in the kitchen at the time and I could hear bits and pieces of the conversation that was going on in the living room.

I explained to my friend that my mom was telling her to take the card and not the car.

We had a good laugh at that misunderstanding because mom couldn’t understand why my friend didn’t want her birthday card and my friend couldn’t figure out why my mom wanted her to break the driving law.

Another reason for misunderstandings might be due to making assumptions.

Have you ever made assumptions about something that you heard and later found out that your assumptions were wrong?

Rather than making assumptions it’s a good rule of thumb to ask for clarification.

Don’t assume because you end up risking being wrong and creating misunderstandings.

If you aren’t careful, some assumptions can lead to disastrous misunderstandings and results.

This is why nurses call physicians or pharmacists when they’re not sure about a patient’s medications, ask for clarification, and then repeat it back. It’s to make sure that there is no misunderstanding with the patient’s medication in order to avoid severe consequences.

There are ways to help prevent misunderstandings or reduce the breakdown in your personal communication so that you can have happy and harmonious relationships when you communicate.

Just do the following:

Deliver your message in a quiet environment if possible and make sure you have the person’s attention when you deliver your message.

Be patient when listening to a foreign-born speaker with a heavy accent or someone with a heavy dialect. Slow down your rate of speech and kindly ask the person with the heavy accent to slow down rate of speech as well.

Don’t make assumptions. If you’re not sure, ask for clarification.

Misunderstandings may still occur, but at least you know some ways to maneuver around it if it happened.

It’s about doing your best to reduce the misunderstandings from occurring in your communication using the tools that you have been given.

Sometimes one of the best things you can do if misunderstanding did occur is to laugh it off when appropriate, or let it go. Avoid overthinking about it or being overly serious.

The Objective of the Game

The ‘winning’ objective is that you’re aware that misunderstandings can happen.

There are times that you might be able to avoid misunderstandings or gracefully maneuver around them.

If you managed to avoid or maneuver around misunderstandings so that you were able to continue to have constructive communication…That’s a win!

If you couldn’t avoid misunderstandings or repair a communication breakdown that occurred due to misunderstandings, that’s okay. Guess what?

You learned without losing.

Remember there is no losing in this game, only learning.

Learning points in this example might be:
-What can you do differently next time to avoid misunderstanding?
–Why do you think the misunderstanding occurred in the first place?
–What can you do better next time?

You earn bonus points when you’re bold and step into the authenticity of the character you want to portray and hold yourself accountable to when misunderstanding occurs.

This is the Communication Warrior.

You know your way to repair misunderstandings… Now Go Play and Have Fun Communicating!

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Coach & Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

Body Language | The COMMUNICATES Game

April 7, 2023 // by Preston Test

If you’re an introvert, sensitive, conflict phobic person who would love to be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings and desires without the feeling of being overlooked, overshadowed and overwhelmed, stay tuned for fun and valuable information.

Hi, I’m Grace, and welcome to The Communicates Warrior Game video series, or what I like to call The COMMUNICATES Game. If you missed the previous videos that I have done for this video series, that’s okay, stay here for now. And you can always catch up with the previous videos later.

So today’s video, we’re going to talk about body language and facial expressions. So we’re going to do so by using the four characters that we have been discussing so far.

All right, so we have our first character Stance. And remember, Stance is our confident communicator. So let’s introduce Stance. All right, so here is Stance. And, as you can see, Stance is standing up nice and tall, shoulders back, back straight. And it’s also doing a power pose. Why? Because when you’re confident, you might feel like you’re a superhero. And what do superheroes like to do? They like to stand in their power pose! Yes, they like to feel that extra power, that confidence that they have in helping people, right? So you might be like Stance, the confident communicator, where you are standing nice and tall and straight. And you feel like that superhero because you’re helping and empowering people in your own way, whatever it is that you do. Now, as you can also see, Stance has a smile on the face. And why does Stance have smile on his or her face, because Stance is a type of person that is happy, passionate and enthusiastic about what he or she is sharing. And when you have that passion and enthusiasm, what are you going to do, you’re going to smile naturally, right? So when Stance makes eye contact, it’s going to make the person feel inclusive, and perhaps you’re like Stance, the confident communicator so that when you make eye contact with that person that you’re speaking with, or the group that you’re talking to, you’re going to make them feel inclusive. So you’re going to make the appropriate eye contact, just the right amount of eye contact, so that the person knows that they are included into your conversation. And you are engaging them in the topic that you’re discussing, because you want them to also feel the passion and the enthusiasm of the topic that you’re discussing, or you want them to feel inclusive, in the discussion. So you’re going to help the person or the group that you’re speaking to, to feel inclusive by making the appropriate eye contact, as well as having a smile on your face, standing up nice and tall and believing when you’re speaking about so that the people can also feel the same passion and also feel they are part of the discussion. And everyone is included. Right? Everyone’s included in the discussion. No one is left out and everyone feels empowered in the topic. All right. So that is Stance.

All right now we have Brash, Brash is our arrogant communicator. So as you can see, Brash also has the big positive posture, right, the shoulders back standing up straight, great posture. However, Brash is not afraid to take up space, and perhaps Brash is also going to take up your personal space. Why? Because again, Brash is interested in making him or herself look great and stand out in the crowd. Brash is also going to be the type of person who makes eye contact with you. But it almost feels like it’s a stare or a dare. Right? When Brash, makes eye contact. It’s more like Oh, who is going to be the better person that comes out of this? So it’s almost like a dare As in, I dare you to be the best or I dare you to be, like better than me where it’s almost feeling like who is going to show up as the best person. So, perhaps, sometimes it is necessary to be like, Brash, right? You know, like I say, there’s no good or bad characters, all characters are necessary. And sometimes because of the hard work you have put in, and you know, all the things that you have done. And you would like to have that recognition. And nobody in– perhaps is recognizing, so what do you have to do, right? You– you want to show up. And so, you know, perhaps, you know, you do show up as like Stance, but nobody stills paying attention. So now you’re going to show up as Brash, be bigger than you know the person or be bigger as or as big as you can be? Right? So that you’re taking up space, and so that people are now noticing you noticing your accomplishments, noticing all the work that you’ve done, so that you can finally be recognized for the hard work that you have put in. And so, you know, sometimes it’s necessary to be like, Brash, and sometimes you might encounter someone who’s like, Brash. And so sometimes you might be in a situation where you are in the presence of someone who is like, Brash, and perhaps wants to be the type of person that wants to be the best to stand out. And then it’s up to you to decide or to choose whether or not you’re going to outshine Brash in by being Brash yourself, or if you’re going to step back a bit and be a different character. So, again, Brash is just interested, and looking the best in the group, right? So and by doing that, it’s, you know, perhaps the eye contact might almost be like a dare like, of, you know, I dare you to be better than me, I dare you to, you know, outshine me. And also the body language is, you know, they’re going to stand up tall, and perhaps almost feel like they’re taking up space and taking up your space and taking up everyone’s space. So that again, the only person that is shining and is looking the best right again, is going to be Brash. Alright, so now we’re gonna move on to our next character.

Alright, so our next character is Gray. And again, Gray is our timid communicator. All right, so you can see with Gray, you know, the posture is not so strong, right, it’s the back the shoulders not back, but rather rounded. And you can see that with the timid not only is the shoulder rounded, but in a way timid wants to kind of hide, right again, timid is a type of person that likes to process information doesn’t really want to stand out. So the postures in a way, kind of in a shrinking pose, so that again, Gray doesn’t stand out and blends in the background, right. So kind of goes in the background in order to be able to process the information that he or she is listening rather than stepping forward right away so Gray doesn’t necessarily want to notice right away because again, he or she would like to listen and process the information and so it’s easier to do that when you’re in the background. So a lot of the times they don’t feel like they want to stand up nice and tall and straight because again, the whole purpose is to blend in the background and in some situations Gray may make eye contact you know and it’s gonna be kind of quick it’s gonna be like a look and look away perhaps Gray might also have a smile but it’s going to be just kind of a very minimal subtle smile not a really big you know, showed the whole teeth kind of smile but just so you know like almost like that Mona Lisa type of smile I like to say just again closed mouth minimal subtle smile and again make try to avoid eye contact Gray may try to avoid eye contact again trying not to draw attention to him or herself or perhaps does make eye contact but again may just cut a eye contact and a quick look away and you know, it might be again with Gray he or she is not wanting to stand out he or she perhaps just want to listen and process what is going on. So Gray might be the shy person. And so in Gray’s mind, like you can see this picture there’s like a lot of question marks and exclamation points because there’s a lot of thoughts that is going in Gray’s mind of you know what the other person might be thinking about and all these other things that’s going on. So again, Gray is just going to do whatever he or she can to not stand out to blend, like I say into the background.

All right, and then we have our character Blend. So Blend is our Shape Shifter communicator. All right, and there’s Blend. So because blend can sense the room can sense the mood of the person or the group that he or she is speaking to or speaking, with, Blend is going to determine which character will be best in that situation is going to be the confident communicator or like Stance or is it going to be better to be like Brash or Gray because depending upon the situation, you know, in a topic, it might be appropriate to one to empower the group, right? So therefore, Blend is then going to be like Stance, or perhaps Blend feels like you know, what I’m doing all this work, I’m not getting recognized, you know, what, I’m going to show up bigger than myself much bigger, and so therefore, it might show up as Brash. And sometimes because Blend might feel like, you know, what, there’s a lot of discussions going on, I have my ideas, but you know, maybe I’m gonna hold off a bit, and I’m just gonna listen and process what some other people are saying first, before I jump in, and then you know, I’ll share so perhaps then, and that case, Blend is going to be like Gray, you know, not stand out kind of be part of the background initially, and then decide perhaps at the right moment, okay, now I’m going to be like Stance, or I’m going to be like, Brash, so with Blend again, blend is a shapeshifter. So depending upon the situation, Blend is going to use the body posture, that’s the most appropriate to the character that he or she wants to represent and the discussion.

And, of course, our goal is this, you as the Communication Warrior, where you are standing up nice and tall smile on your face. And you are communicating your thoughts, feelings and ideas the way you want to using the appropriate body language that you want to represent the message that you are sharing. So whether it be that you want to share your passion and enthusiasm like Stance, so you’re using a posture as the confident communicator, or if you want to be bigger than yourself. So you’re going to show up as Brash, using the posture as such, or you’re going to want to listen and process the information. And so you’re going to use the body posture as Gray in order to do that, or you’re going to be like Blend and be able to sense the room. And so know which character you want to be to represent how you want to show up in your communication. But whichever character you choose, you feel like that Communication Warrior, that you know exactly what body language, what facial expression you want to use, so that your message is loud and clear and understood by others of what you are communicating. So that is the goal, you as the Communication Warrior.

Now if you don’t feel like you are a Communication Warrior just yet. That’s okay. Because I’m going to invite you to book that free communication breakthrough session with me visit my website, GraceSOULutions.com. That’s GraceSOULutions.com to see how you can book a free Communication Breakthrough Session with me, where we will walk through five obstacles that is stopping you from becoming a Communication Warrior, and one step that will guide you to become the Communication Warrior that you would like to be. In the meantime, if you haven’t watched the previous videos, you can go watch them now and in the next video, we’re going to see how each of the four characters Stance, Brash, Gray and Blend deal with misunderstandings when they occur in communication.

So until next time, go and have fun communicating!

Let’s Play COMMUNICATES (Movement AKA Body Language)

March 30, 2023 // by Preston Test

If you’re a sensitive introvert and conflict-phobic person you might be more aware and pay attention to details such to body language more than a person who is not sensitive, conflict-phobic and an extrovert.

With the communicates game, you are likely to notice the different facial and body movements of the people you’re playing the communicates game with because you’re using the facial and body movement to gage how the people in the group are feeling and if their body language aligned with what they were saying.

You would have noticed if they were having fun or if they were bored by their body language and facial expressions.

No one wants to be bored including you, and if everyone talked and acted stiff as a board, how boring would that be?

Let’s talk about facial and body movements or better known as body language, and see how people might be giving away how they are actually feeling and how you can use body language to communicate confidence if you’re feeling otherwise.

Your facial and body language may give away your secret or your actual feelings about a person or situation that you may be feeling on a subconscious level.

Sometimes your spoken words don’t match with your body language.

There are times that you might communicate what you actually feel about a person or situation, and you want that person to know so you can let your body language do the communicating for you.

There are maaaannnny facial and body movements so if I went through each and every one of them you’ll be reading this for unlimited hours.

In this blog, only a few body language items will be discussed to get you started and learn how your body language can help or hinder you to creating a happy and harmonious relationship in your personal communication.

First one of course is body posture.

How many times have you been told to stand up straight?

By standing up straight you automatically look like a confident person versus someone who is hunched over.

Strike a power pose and you look like one of the confident superheroes that you admired as a kid.

So why not admire yourself and strike a power pose?

On the flip side some people can take the power pose too far and end up taking up other people’s personal space because he or she admires him or herself so much that he or she don’t care or don’t see the other people in the room.

You might be that person and that’s okay if that is who you want to be.

If your body posture is hunched, you’re communicating either trying to blend in the background and not stand out or you have a bad back.

If you like to fidget such as fidget with your fingers, hair, or anything you can touch then you’re likely communicating that you’re feeling nervous, anxious, bored, or timid in the communication.

Let’s not forget about the eyes.

If you are able to make appropriate eye contact with the other person you’re speaking with then you’re likely communicating that your feeling confident.

If you avoid making any eye contact, then you’re likely either a shy communicator or someone who dislikes communicating.

Or how about the person who makes extreme eye contact as if staring that person down?

Has that ever happened to you?

Lastly, smile.

A smile can naturally brighten a room, brighten your face, and automatically makes you look like a confident and friendly person.

Would you feel more comfortable talking to a person with a smile on his or her face or a person with a frown or no smile at all?

If you chose the person with a smile, why wouldn’t it be the same way with other people you communicate with.

There isn’t necessary a right or wrong way for body language.

It’s about making others feel comfortable and sometimes your body language can make others feel uncomfortable such as lack of eye contact, too much of eye contact (staring), taking up personal space, and so forth.

The Objective of the Game

The ‘winning’ objective is that you’re aware of your body language and understand other people’s body language.

If you’re comfortable with your body language and feel that you know how you use your body language in your communication. That’s a win!

If you’re not comfortable with your body language or don’t feel you know how to appropriately use your body language in your communication, guess what?

You learned without losing.

Remember there is no losing in this game, only learning.

Learning points in this example might be what are your fears? Why do have these fears? What went well and want to keep? What didn’t go well that you want to change? What can you do better next time?

You earn bonus points when you’re bold and step into your authenticity of the character you want to portray when you use the body language that communicate what you wanted and intended in your communication.

This is the Communication Warrior.

You know your way of body language…Now Go Play and Have Fun Communicating!

Warm regards,

Grace CW Liu
Communication Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

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