The summer vacation is closing in and if you haven’t already took time off, you might do that in the near future. Looking forward to be disconnected from work, e-mails and finally read those books you have stored on the shelves at home. Not the show-off books you might have to be a perceived in a specific way but the other ones..
(Did you know that there are studies made on this. That if we have visible book shelves we have show-off books in them?)
Universally, the weather is probably the safest ice-breaker. Yet, Oscar Wilde once said: “Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” But talking about the weather is about more than making small talk. It’s also about being polite, finding shared interests, getting closer to others and creating trust before asking for cooperation.
The weather affects us all. It’s also ever-changing, which means we have something new to talk about every day. What’s more, it’s easy to talk about the weather. You can share weather comments with strangers and lovers, and with superiors and subordinates. You can talk about the weather anywhere in the world. So, the weather unites people.
In a paper entitled “How about this weather?” authors Timothy Bickmore and Justine Cassel (Gesture and Narrative Language Group, MIT Media Laboratory) say that people use conversational language to establish and maintain social relationships, and to accomplish tasks. The weather in Sweden is cold.. So I hope this might change in two weeks when it’s time for my vacation! If you haven’t a shelf full of unread books at home, here’s some of Straylight’s most read articles you can print and read wherever you are..
– Subliminal Messages in Logos
– 5 Hands-On Tips For Better Advertising
– Learn Basic Behavioral Economic
– Can Spending Money Increase Happiness?
– Colors Speak With The Unconscious
– What Neuromarketing Really Means
Straylight will be back in august with new exciting Neuromarketing projects, seminars and articles. But until then.. Have a fantastic summer!