As an Image Consultant and a life Coach, I like to say that the most essential elements of good communication are three – V’s.Visual Communication
Vocal Communication
Verbal CommunicationVisual Communication:Visual Communication is all about what you communicate through your body language, dressing, grooming, hygiene eye contact, hand gestures, tone and everything else that you are not speaking or saying. In other words, we communicate a lot without having to speak.Knowing well about Visual Communication, not only helps you to maintain a relaxed, open stance like arms open, legs relaxed and a friendly tone, it also helps you read other people’s mind through their visual communication.Remember, at all times keep a smile on your face and keep a healthy eye contact through out your conversation. It will make the other person sure that you are focused on the conversation, however, be sure not staring at the person, which can make him or her uncomfortable.Often, nonverbal signals do convey how a person is feels. For example, if the person is not looking you in the eye, he or she might be uncomfortable or hiding the truth.For your upcoming important meeting, dress well, be well groomed – your hair should be made up well, beard trimmed (for men, clean shaven look is the best otherwise), clean and well trimmed nails, make sure you are smelling good, maintain a smile and a good eye contact. It will surely increase the chances of success of that meeting by creating a good and a powerful first impression.Vocal Communication:Vocal Communication is all about what we speak – the tone and how much. The right vocal means saying just enough – don’t talk too much or too little. You must convey the message in as few words as possible. Say what you want as clearly and directly as possible, whether you’re speaking to someone in person, on the phone, or via email. If you are not able to do that, your listener will either tune you out or will be unsure of exactly want you want to communicate.Always be polite in all of your professional or workplace communication. If you do so, you will encourage your colleagues to engage in an honest communication with you.At all times, be confident in your communication with others. Confidence shows your personal as well as your coworkers that you believe in what you’re communicating and will follow through. A firm, yet friendly tone is always advisable.Verbal Communication:Effective verbal communication skill is much more than just talking. It is highly ranked on the candidate evaluation parameters used by many corporate job interviewers.Verbal communication is a two way street, in other words both, how you deliver messages and how you receive them.What constitutes effective verbal communication on the job depends on the relationship between communication partners and reference of their communication. If it is a personal communication the communication partners are family and friends and at workplace the communication partners are different individuals and groups such as co-workers, bosses and subordinates, employees, customers, teachers and students, and speakers and their audiences.Verbal communication occurs in many different contexts including training sessions, presentations, group meetings, performance appraisals, one-on-one discussions, interviews, disciplinary sessions, sales pitches and consulting engagements.A few examples of effective verbal communication skills are:• Advising others about an appropriate action.
• Selecting language appropriate and suitable to the audience
• Speaking at a moderate pace, neither too fast nor too slowly
• Communicating confidently but with modesty
• Using affirmative sounds and words like yes, I understand, for sure, yes off course, I see etc. to demonstrate understanding
• Using humor to engage an audience
• Utilizing self-disclosure to encourage sharing

How do you make money investing in mutual funds? There are basically two ways to make money and two ways to lose money investing in mutual funds. Let’s get down to basics.There are thousands of funds to choose from and the vast majority of them will fall into one of four categories based on where they invest money (your money). They are called: equity (stock), bond, money market, and balanced funds. In all of the above you open an account, invest money, and this buys you shares. You make money investing based on the number of shares you own. The same goes if you lose money investing.Let’s start with the most popular and the riskiest category called EQUITY FUNDS, which invest money in stocks, which are also called “equities”. Why invest money here? The primary objective is growth, with dividend income as a secondary objective. You make money investing here when the share price goes up, and from dividends. You lose money when the share price goes down. The dividends come from the stocks in the fund portfolio and are passed on to you. They (like all dividends) are yours to keep. The primary attraction of equity funds: the potential for high returns.BOND FUNDS have one primary objective: higher income in the form of dividends. They are also called INCOME FUNDS, and are generally safer than the equity variety. You invest money here to earn higher dividends than you can get elsewhere. The dividends come from the interest earned in the fund’s bond portfolio. You can also make money investing when the share price goes up; and lose money when the share price falls. Normally, there is considerably less price fluctuation than you’ll find in the equity or stock category.BALANCED FUNDS are a happy medium between the two above, because they invest money in both stocks and bonds. Hence you make money from both rising share prices and dividends, and lose money investing when share prices tumble. Here you have moderate risk.MONEY MARKET FUNDS are the safe alternative and you make money investing in them in only one way: dividends. They invest money and earn interest in high quality, short-term IOUs (in the money market). This interest they pass on to you in the form of dividends. Share price is pegged at $1 and does not fluctuate. Very rarely do investors lose money investing here.Most people invest money in mutual funds as a long term investment. So, in most cases they simply allow the fund company to reinvest all dividends (and other distributions) to buy more shares. Distributions (like capital gains from the sale of stock) are a bit technical. Don’t worry – if you have them coming, you’ll get your share. And you’ll also receive periodic statements showing the activity in your account.In the beginning we said that there are basically two ways to make money and two ways to lose money investing in mutual funds. What’s the second way you can lose money? Let me give you an example, and as a former financial planner I’ve seen this happen time and time again. Joe Blow decided to invest money in mutual funds through a “financial planner” (not me). He put $20,000 into a stock fund, and about a year later he looked at his latest statement and it showed a total value of $19,000.The stock market in that year showed a modest gain. How did he lose money investing? Answer: $1000 came off the top to pay for sales charges called “loads”. About $300 went to yearly fund expenses, and another $300 to extra fees. Joe claims that he didn’t know anything about these charges and fees.It is not necessary to pay big bucks when you invest money in mutual funds. Had Joe gone with NO-LOAD funds, he could have invested for a total cost of about $200 a year, for expenses. You can make money investing in mutual funds as a long term investment. Just don’t work against yourself by losing money to high charges and fees.