T’was the night before a Xmas, when all through the workspace
Not a creature was stirring, not even Alexa or a metaverse avatar face.
The stockings were hung by the whiteboard with care,
In the hopes that Good Communications Santa would soon appear.
My emails were nestled all snug in their cloud folders
While visions of projects danced in their heads.
(You probably didn’t know emails could dream, did you?)
The mobile phone was charging and I had unplugged.
We had just settled in for an intentional, neural enhancing,
off-line digital break when on my desk there arose such a clatter,
I sprang across the room to see what was the matter.
When what to my wondering eyes did appear?
There clattering across my lab top keyboard was a miniature sleigh
and eight tiny reindeer!
Driving the sleigh was a little old driver so lively and quick, it was none
other than Old St. Nick!
Yes, Good Communications Santa had ridden into town, bringing a bag full of helpful communication tips and coaching tools for next year. Backed up by his antlered and hooved Presentation Team, Santa whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Focused Attention!” “Active Listening!” “Eye Contact” “Patience!”
“Authenticity!” “Clarity!” “Coherence!” and “Respect!”
The reindeer lined up one way, then shifted and lined up again. No matter which way they moved or where they stood, they knew that each of them was important, and knew what each one had to do.
Then with a wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Santa spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Within moments, his work was done, but not before I heard him exclaim, as he drove his team out of sight—
“Happy holidays! Remember to remind people to do more listening than talking and learn from their mistakes… Keep practicing my list and they’ll get it right!”
* T’was the night before Christmas Poem by Clement Clarke Moore
Julienne B. Ryan is the author of The Learned-It-In-Queens Communications Playbook – Winning Against Digital Distraction” and an applied, narrative storyteller, speaker, trainer, and coach. She is on a mission to improve how we communicate with each other, one authentic conversation at a time. Click on this link to learn about her services.