All of us like to be acknowledged. More than that, we like to feel that we are welcome in the various environments, social and otherwise that we find ourselves in.

In face-to-face interpersonal situations, this “greeting” may consist of just some brief eye contact and a smile, or there may be some gestures such as a simple wave, or there may be a verbal greeting such as a “hello”. If we are greeting someone who is closer to us, the greeting may consist of a kiss and hug perhaps, or sometimes a handshake.

Socially accepted rules and the personalities of those involved generally determine the type of greeting which is given. Regardless though, we do all expect some sort of acknowledgement, preferably a friendly interaction.

I have a friend who is particularly good at making everyone involved in any sort of social interaction feel welcome. If he is talking with a small group of people and someone else comes to join the group, he will make sure that everyone knows each other. He might say something like, “Joe do you know Fred”?

In courses on the subject of “communication” that I have taught at various tertiary institutes, I have demonstrated to students that it is impossible “not to communicate”. Everything that we do, or we don’t do, communicates something. For example on occasions I have asked one of my students to leave the classroom and to come back in the classroom a couple of minutes later and not communicate anything to the other students. The students in the classroom had the instruction not to communicate also. After a few tense minutes we would finish the role play and then discuss the scenario. The consensus would always be that communication had taken place. It may not have been desirable communication, but communication it was all the same.

The point is, if we are going to interact socially, we should generally try to make that interaction positive and friendly for all concerned. Of course there will be some exceptions to this, a teacher chastising a naughty school child for example, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.

Verbal communication is not always face-to-face. It may be over the telephone for example. Listening to and acknowledging what the other person is saying is an important part of this process.  Listening is important in the communication process, as is showing that we are listening. In face-to-face verbal communication we can show that we are listening to and acknowledging what the other person is saying by maintaining eye contact and giving the occasional gesture such as nodding the head. During a telephone conversation, we need to give verbal acknowledgement such as the occasional “mmm”, “yes” or “uhuh”. I remember a telephone conversation I had with a friend a few years ago. She was telling me a story, and I was listening. After a while she stopped the story and asked, “Ian are you still there”? I obviously had not been giving her enough verbal acknowledgment that I had been listening to her.

Communication with others, including greetings is not always face-to-face or over the telephone. It may be by the traditional letter or card through the mail, or it may use modern electronic media such as SMS messages from a mobile phone, e-mails, or faxes or even web pages.

Each of these methods of communication has its pros and its cons. There is however, a new way of sending greetings which combines the traditional postal service, and the modern electronic media. You can in fact send greeting cards for any purpose from your computer through the postal service. And, the cards can even have your own handwriting and signature.

Perhaps you have already heard of this service. It is being offered by others. However, I have called this web site “A Reciprocal Helping Hand”. I am in fact offering much more than others are. I would like you to persevere with me and go to a couple of other web sites of mine before coming back here. The first site is called Attention all Entrepreneurs. On the home page of that site are links to two other pages that I would like you to read also. After reading those, I would like you to come back here.

I have a page on this web site called You & Me & WIN/WIN. Whether or not you decide to participate in sending out greeting cards from your computer program, you can still be a winner by helping me. It is all explained on the You & Me & WIN/WIN page.

Another special and unique way of sending greetings is via a special web site. I have designed and built Happy Birthday web sites and Happy Anniversary web sites. There are 366 of each, one for each day of the year. The home page of each site is contextualised to suit the particular recipient. Information on the Happy Birthday site can be obtained by clicking the Happy Birthday link.

There is an example of the Happy Birthday Site here.

The Happy Anniversary Site information is here.

Now, whether or not you personally want to use any of these sites you can still be a winner, by assisting me. Once again the details are on the You & Me & WIN/WIN page.

©Ian McKenzie - 2008

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