Do you find it difficult to express your opinions to others? Are you unable to pronounce what you experience? The problem might just not be with the communication skills, but it can rather be the way you put them to use. 

To communicate effectively you need to remember the basics, practice your skills, put them to good use and enhance them too. Communication begins with the true listening. You have to be a true and a patient listener. Focus on what the other person has to say to you. Only then will you be able to react and reciprocate. 

On no account should you hesitate to make an eye contact whether you are speaking or being spoken to. An eye to eye contact, a non verbal cue,  can effectively support the verbal messages. It conveys as well as arouses the interest. 

Beware of  your body language which can easily convey your interest and can hence decide the way your conversation might go. A negative body language can alltogether put an end to a converstion before it actually starts!

Be emphatic and audible and most importantly have the courage to speak what you feel. Happy communicating!

Severely obese patients have reportedly lost weight by changing their diet and exercises perhaps would be as successful as those who lost weight after bariatric surgery and then retaining it. Reports say that while weight loss and maintenance were comparable between the two approaches, patients who relied on non-surgical methods had to work harder over a longer duration to maintain their weight losses,.

Sources also say that behavioural modifications and lifestyle changes are critical components to long-term weight loss maintenance. The participants who were involved in this diet changing exercise managed to lose an average of 60 kg and had maintained their weight loss for an average of 5.5 years at the beginning of its two-year study.

Have you heard that inhaling essential oils can help change your mood?

Citrus scents such as lemon, orange and grapefruit are great mood lifters, while herbs such as eucalyptus will make you less grouchy and can also perk you up. Sources say that you can find essential oils in health food stores or in ayurvedic stores. But be careful not to put the pure oil on your skin because it can be very potent and can cause irritation and sun sensitivity.

Don’t hide those emotions

Keeping a stiff upper lip during stressful situations appears to interfere with the ability to think clearly during the event and to recall the details afterwards.

Suppressing emotions is a common and often highly regarded habit of modern life. It’s what we do to hide ourselves from others. But keeping a lid on emotions takes so much vigilance that it seriously drains brainpower, according to recent studies conducted at Stanford University.

Research suggests that people who can adjust and reappraise the situation as challenging, rather than threatening or uncomfortable, feel and perform better. It also helps to take on the demeanour of a more-disinterested party who wouldn’t feel upset in the same situation.

While analyzing the best feud in 2008, this one still keeps up to the ‘A’ grade. After almost four years after Brad Pitt split from Jennifer Aniston and almost immediately took up with Angelina Jolie, the world is still in an uproar over this love triangle.  

And a clear cut proof that this celebrity feud remains in tact is that Angie recently said she was looking to forward to her kids watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the movie where their parents fell in love. Sources say that she was really sticking it to Jen, who was married to Brad at the time of the shoot. Jennifer retaliated by going on the record with Vogue to say that she thought Angie’s comments were extremely “uncool.” Something tells us these girls won’t be making nice next year, either.

A paparazzi photographer has filed USD 1 million law suit against R&B singers Rihanna and Chris Brown after their bodyguards allegedly assaulted him. The photographer Luis Santana alleged that the bodyguards of the stars knocked him down and stole his camera outside a nightclub while he was trying to take the pictures of the rumoured couple, say reports.  

Reacting to the incident, Rihanna’s publicist, Jonathan Hay has called the lawsuit a “really unfortunate event” adding that the matter has been completely blown out of proportion. Santana claims to have been working outside the Vintage Ultra Lounge in St Petersburg when he clicked a picture of the pair through their limousine window. He says the stars’ employees then assaulted him and took his equipment. Santana’s attorney, Paul Kimsey, claims that the stolen photographs were worth a fortune as they contained the proof of Rihana and Brown’s romance.

Santana is demanding a compensation for the photographs and the stolen camera, as well as his own personal injuries and distress. While Rihanna and Brown have been seen together frequebtly, neither of them have confirmed of them being a couple.

More than three years of nomadic uncertainty, many of the children of Hurricane Katrina are behind in school, acting out and suffering from extraordinarily high rates of illness and mental health problems. Their parents, many still anxious or depressed themselves, are struggling to keep the lights on and the refrigerator stocked.

For some boys who are expelled from their schools are now awaiting their turn for a G.E.D. program, to retrieve what may have been lost. For others, recovery may lie in other neighborhood schools near the New Orleans duplex where families may have found their home. The government on its part is trying to nudge the poorest, least-educated and sickest evacuees toward self-sufficiency — or at least toward agencies other than FEMA. 

Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson’s estranged brother-in-law killed her relatives in a jealous rage because he thought his wife was seeing another man stated a prosecutor at a hearing that denied bail. William Balfour, 27, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew in October. He is also charged with one count of home invasion. Estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson; and the stepfather of 7-year-old Julian King, who was found killed by Balfour in a car near the Chicago, Illinois home where the other two victims were killed.

Balfour’s defense lawyer Josh Kutnick tried to fight the case stating his client being ‘a victim of circumstance.’ Although Balfour did not speak during the hearing, his defense lawyer attempted to discredit statements from a woman whom prosecutors say heard Balfour confess to the killings. The judge however has dismissed the case and has set a next court date for December 30.

Louisiana rapper Lil Wayne garnered the most Grammy nominations, about eight of them while its British alternative rock band Coldplay grabbed close to seven nominations as the Recording Academy announced this year’s nominees on Wednesday.

Both nominated for their prestigious albums, Lil Wayne and Coldplay maintained stiff competition for the album of the year award at the 51st annual Grammy Awards. Rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West and R&B crooner Ne-Yo, received six nominations each, while Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and newcomer Jazmine Sullivan received five each.

In a way it’s an odd time for the industry to celebrate. With CD sales dipping by the minute in the last few years, and music downloads, that continue to rise, have yet to fill the gap, musicians too are feeling the pinch as record labels struggle with piracy issues from consumers and direct marketing by artists.

In what would possibly be the world’s most expensive tree this Christmas, Japan had the glittering piece of work on display recently. Amounting to a cool £1million (Rs 7.5 crore), it sure has created a gorgeous atmosphere during global recession. Created out of 24 karat gold, the is decorated with more than 240 jewels including diamond baubles and strings of pearls and it weighs more than 21 kg.

It went on display earlier this week at the Ginza Tanaka jewellery shop in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. With a sluggish economic sentiment, it seems to hold stiff competition to its Internet counter part that costs a measly £70, available online.

“Weak hearts” are supposedly going to get weaker as the mercury lowers in several parts of the globe. Experts say that cardiac patients need to spend more time indoors and cut down exposures to cold. Doctors also claim that winter brings in an increase of about 20 per cent incidence of cardiac arrests as compared to warmer months, as low temperatures increase the possibility of spasms in arteries.

Low temperature is one of the primary causes of spasms in arteries that carry blood to the heart, thus forcing the heart to pump more blood. This increases the BP levels as well as raises the probability of heart attacks. Most doctors insist that people with heart ailments should take precautions and their early morning walks should be delayed to post sunrise.