One coaching question a day - #1. The Google question

If I would google you, what would I find?

How are you behaving online, what are you sharing, posting, commenting on?

Many people don't pay so much attention to their digital footprints these days. Even more, if they are digital natives that have always been "on" and can't relate at all to a time where one had to choose to go "online" and being "offline" was the norm. 

Funny enough, if you have been living "offline" forever and there is no "online" yet, you don't ever know that you are offline, to be more precise. But this is another story.

[In which way are you going to spend your time,

online and offline?]

Still, some people behave in a very different way online and offline, acting online in a more sloppy, rude or insensitive way, as if the people they are interacting with online and they can't see would not be real people.

As if insulting someone, being flaky or letting people down would not count, just because the other person is on the other side of a screen.

Still, it doesn't have to be this way.

Do you want me to accept your LinkedIn invitation? Pay attention to these five things

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, they say.
Most of the time, they are right. (It happens a lot that they are right, just deal with it)

Still, when it is about networking and having an account on websites for professionals, I like to keep things simple and to embrace a minimalist approach.
This means that besides the Google+ account related to this blog, you can find me on LinkedIn, and on LinkedIn only. When people send me invitations for other networks, I pass, even if I feel flattered. Time is limited, and I prefer to focus on one network, where I have a strong and well-tailored profile.

Thanks to my profile and professional experience, I receive new invitations on a regular basis.
Some people follow a strict policy and they accept only invitations from people they know well in real life. I consider it a good option to also accept invitations from people that I don't know yet, if their profile is relevant to me. That said, I am always amazed at how sloppy and amateurish LinkedIn profiles and above all invitations can get.

[You don't have to look like a modern dandy, 

in order to make a great impression on LinkedIn,

but displaying a drunken selfie or some weird cat pic

would just not help. Just saying.

Image credit: ISO Republic]

Do you want me (= and probably other people as well) to accept your LinkedIn invitation? Then you should probably pay a little bit more attention to the following five things:

25 acronyms to use while chatting, texting and messaging in your personal and professional life

Chatting, texting and messaging should be like fun, right?

And... it is not rocket science, even if the devices we use for that keep getting upgraded and improved and are now as complex as a small space shuttle could be.

Are you a fan of the good ol' emoticons or do you prefer emojis?

Telegram stickers or any type of GIFs?

Do you read all your messages immediately or do you check the phone twice a day and that's it?

How often do you reply? Or are you the one starting a new thread after the other? Group chat, anyone?

In the end, of course, having fun with texting is all about sharing the same expectations, communication style, and language.

And the same acronyms! Below you can find 25 of the most used ones. Enjoy!

[Repeat after me: your keyboard is your friend.

Even more, if you start writing "AFK" when necessary.

Image credit: ISO Republic]

AFK - Away From Keyboard

BFF - Best Female Friend

BRB - Be Right Back

The rocket science of a good Skype conversation, or how not to forget the human being on the other side of the line...

To me, Skype is one of the best inventions ever.
It makes it possible to communicate with everyone provided with an Internet-connection almost everywhere in the world in a very convenient, easy and pleasant way. In real-time. At almost no cost. With a webcam, if needed or desired. Just awesome, right?

Yes. And yet, communication via Skype can also be a thorn in one's side.

Let's imagine a pretty mundane scenario: you are online, logged in on Skype, you are maybe working or reading an article or listening to a wonderful playlist or doing something else and at the same time you are chatting with someone, and then...

Tears on my pillow? Better a giant Ryan Gosling, thanks!

Crazy, Stupid, Love. was funny, but also a little bit too conventional. But with that Dirty Dancing scene...

The Believer is like an hidden gem. How many people have seen it? It's from 2001 and it is absolutely still worth it!

The Notebook was toooooo sweet and in Italian I would say 'Too much saccarine for me, thanks'. But the famous scenes with all that kissing were amazing. Which girl wouldn't like to be kissed like that?!

Murder by Numbers was the typical Sandra Bullock movie. Take it or leave it. I will take it.

[Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in Crazy, Stupid, Love

These two actors are just so good together]

I really enjoyed Half Nelson for the bravery of the plot. 

And I think that Lars and the Real Girl is better than a lot of anthropological essays about our society, systemic therapy and group dynamics.

Blue Valentine made me almost cry. Ok, you got me. I cried like a baby.

And All good things was disturbing and challenging, even if I always wanted to visit Vermont, once in a life.

Everybody has seen The Ides of March, most because of George Clooney anyway.

But Drive is really something special, even more special if you know The Driver by Walter Hill, with Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani.

I have missed out The United States of Leland, The Slaughter Rule and Remember the Titans, it's true. And I can't imagine Ryan as a young Hercules at all.

But I can say that I know Ryan Gosling's movies pretty well and that I like a lot his acting style, his professional and personal choices and the way he wants to be something different from just another hot guy like the others and he works hard for it.

So I really had to smile when a friend of mine sent me this Ryan Gosling "Husband Pillow": something that a lot of women could consider perfect for bad days, bad hair days, bad eye-liner days and for every other day as well.

[Image Source: Life for Films]

Genial, isn't?

I am sure that a company that would actually produce this kind of commodity would become rich in a couple of weeks. Or maybe hours...
And what a hell of perfect gift for the woman that has "almost" everything already...

Thanks T. for the link!

Tags: Ryan Gosling, Hey Girl meme, Drive, Ryan Gosling Husband Pillow

What to read next:

'The Notebook', or why Ryan Gosling as Noah Calhoun is considered kind of a mirage by women of the Facebook generation

One of the biggest Skype mysteries ever

[While communicating, 

please don't waste other people's time]

In my humble opinion... one of the biggest Skype mysteries ever is why people contact other people on Skype by asking 'How are you?' if they don't really want to wait for the time necessary to get a reply...

Tags: Skype, Skype netiquette, Virtual communication