COMMUNICATION 
You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and en- liven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information-whether an idea, an event, a product's fea- tures and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson-to survive. You want to divert their at- tention toward you and then capture it,lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act. 

Communication sounds like this: Sheila K., general manager of a theme park: "Stories are the best way to make my point. Yesterday I wanted to show my executive committee the impact we can have on our guests, so I shared this story with them: One of our employees brought her father to the flag-raising ceremony we have for Veterans Day here at the theme park. He was disabled during World War n, and he now has a rare form of cancer and; has had a lot of surgery. He's dying. At the start of the little ceremony one of our em. ployees said to the group, 'This man is a World War n veteran. Can we give him ~ hand?' Everybody cheered, and his daughter started crying. Her dad took off his ha(;! He never takes off his hat because of the scars on his head from the war and the can~ 
c 
cer surgery, but when the national anthem started, he took off his hat and bowed hi~ii 
head. His daughter told me later that it was the best day he's had in years." i~; Tom P., banking executive: "My most recent client thought that the flow of capi*J 
tal toward Internet stocks was just a passing phase. I tried using rational argument t~! 
change his mind, but he couldn't or wouldn't be convinced. In the end, as I often d9! when faced with a client in denial, I resorted to imagery. I told him that he was like~ person sitting on a beach with his back to the sea. The Internet was like a fast-risin~ tide. No matter how comfortable he felt right now, the tide was rising with eac~ crashing wave, and very soon one of those waves would come crashing down ovel his head and engulf him. He got the point." ;, 
Margret D., marketing director: "I once read a book about giving speeches tha~ gave two suggestions: talk only about things you're really passionate about and alq ways use personal examples. 1 immediately started doing that, and I found lots of sto~ ries because I have kids and grandkids and a husband. 1 build my stories around my personal experiences because everyone can relate to them."