So March is international listening month. I’ll admit, the thought of dedicating a month to listening seems a bit silly (and who gets to decide what month is dedicated to what?) But listening is important stuff. It’s easy to think that a conversation is about what we bring to the table. We focus on sharing something that is interesting or … Read More
Testing Adsense
So as you might have noticed, there is now a shiny new ad bar along the bottom of the site. I decided to test some Adsense ads on the site for the next 2-3 weeks and see what the results are. Because it’s very important that you guys have a positive experience with Improve Your Social Skills, the ads will … Read More
Asperger’s High
Hi guys, Things have been pretty quiet here recently, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. I finished the transition to a new, much more stable host, and I’ve been working on an entirely new section to the guide, as well as some extra member features. I don’t have an ETA on those things yet, but stay tuned … Read More
Server Issues
Improve Your Social Skills had significant downtime recently, and I wanted to let everyone know the story. Over the past few weeks, my host noticed that my shared server was having sporadic slowdowns and timeouts. They found some configuration issues with the server, so they decided to reset the server to fix the configuration issues. The reset did not go … Read More
Better Every Day
So my work just unveiled a new slogan: “Better Every Day.” Normally, company slogans are pretty bland. But there’s a powerful idea here. Greatness doesn’t happen overnight. Most things worth doing take persistence and hard work. But often, we look for a quick fix and fast results. When we put in some effort and don’t see immediate improvement, it’s easy to … Read More
How To Learn Social Skills With Asperger’s Syndrome
I wrote this blog post to share the most important rule I learned for learning social skills with Asperger’s syndrome. I’ve addressed this post to readers who have Asperger’s themselves, but these tips can just as easily be used to help a loved one who has Asperger’s. The most important rule I’ve discovered is this: Learn social skills by understanding … Read More
How To Make Great First Impressions: The Name Game
Last week, we talked about how you can use body language to make great first impressions. This week, let’s talk about something equally important—remembering the name of the person you just met. People like hearing their names. When you use someone’s name, it helps them to feel comfortable, and remembering their name makes it much easier for you to strike … Read More
MLK
Martin Luther King Jr is a personal hero of mine. Today, in celebration of MLK day, I’ve posted an excerpt from one of his greatest (but least-known speeches) on Improve Your Social Skills. I encourage you to read the Excerpt from MLK’s address to a Methodist youth leadership conference and be inspired. Once you read it, come back and leave … Read More
How To Make Great First Impressions: Heart-To-Heart Body Language
So in the week since I’ve launched the site, I’ve been thinking a lot about first impressions. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the first impression that people have of the site. I think Improve Your Social Skills has a lot of great content, but if nobody ever moves past the front page, nobody will ever discover what it has to … Read More
Beginnings
Improve Your Social Skills launches today. It’s been a long road. I began the guide on February 24, 2011. Nearly one year later, I finally get to share it with you. Improve Your Social Skills has more than 28,000 words across more than 50 pages. If it were a printed book it would be over 100 pages long. It’s the product of a … Read More
