Communication Junkie

Every communication episode takes place in a unique and specific context. And context matters. Just walk into a restroom and you'll see what I mean.

No one is thinking about you. But that’s a good thing.

There's a myth that compromise is always the best way to manage interpersonal conflict, but that's not true in long-term relationships.

Communication misunderstandings cause conflict in our careers and relationships. I'll explain a simple way to create meaning and avoid those misunderstandings.

Manufactured worry is usually worse than the actual consequences.

When you communicate, you are not the reason you're communicating.

It was definitely blue and black. Or white and gold. One of the two.

This one simple trick can help you always be the most interesting person in the room.

Do you know the secret to a longer life, more happiness, better relationships, and more rewarding careers?

Air conditioning is humanity’s greatest accomplishment.

The Bible got at least one thing right.

Sometimes your brain needs to be jolted awake.

The number one cause of relationship fights and the number two cause of divorce.

Hint: It has nothing to do with the plot.

Spoiler alert: It has nothing to do with Hawk Tuah Girl or Bored Apes.

Life teaches you how you should have lived it.

Can meaning and happiness coexist?

This simple perspective shift can lead to a happier, more fulfilling life.

Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to move forward.

Creativity's biggest enemy isn't what you think.

If you’re unhappy, you might be using the wrong scoring system.

The secret to accomplishing anything is complex. But also simple.

A tale of two bridges.

I found an unexpected treasure on a California beach.

Isaiah Austin's story may change your life.

Powerful communicators set goals, then make decisions to reach those goals. Weak communicators just do stuff, then complain when life doesn't work out the way they want. In the Season 4 finale, Steve discusses how to be a powerful communicator.

Other relationships may come and go, but family bonds are much more difficult to break. In this episode, Steve discusses what characteristics and qualities make family communication unique.

In this special election week episode, Steve discusses the origins of fake news and how Donald Trump hijacked the term, then explains the difference between media bias and fake news. Finally, he shares how to become more aware of how media framing affects personal worldveiws.

In this episode, Steve discusses the first few months of a romantic relationship. From first meeting someone, to the tests we give each other, to the infatuation that overtakes our senses, this necessary phase can lead to some questionable decisions.

In this episode, Steve explains why we're attracted to some people and not others. And, by using simple math, he explains why choosing "the one" might be harder than you think.

Ever wonder why you make the choices you do? Why did you eat cereal for breakfast instead of eggs? Why that brand of cereal? How do you choose who to vote for? What religion to follow? In this episode, Steve discusses the factors that influence our decisions, and then shares how understanding those factors can help you better understand people.

The first step to becoming a better communicator and relationship partner is being aware of who you truly are and how your personality affects others. In this episode, Steve discusses the importance of self-awareness and how to discover your blind self.

In this week's episode, Steve discusses the key difference between introverts and extroverts, then shares how embracing your unique personality improves your interpersonal relationships and overall happiness.

The way we talk about ourselves, to ourselves, matters. In this week's episode, Steve discusses the importance of positive self-talk to our overall health and happiness.

Being happy isn't always easy, but one factor that affects our personal happiness is within our control. The people we surround ourselves with affect our personality, mood, and overall happiness. Who are the people that you've givien permission to tell you who you are? Check out Good vs Gooder: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goodvsgooder/good-vs-gooder

The most successful people in the world fail over and over again. The reason they finally succeed is because successful people keep getting back up after they fall down. In the Season 3 finale, Steve discusses why perseverance is the real secret to success.

Technology has made the world a much bigger place. Instead of playing to an audience of a few hundred neighbors, classmates, and coworkers, social media allows us to play to an audience of billions. In this week's episode, Steve explains why larger communities lead to more loneliness.

As we get older, being a spouse, parent, and employee seems to take all of our time and energy. In this week's episode, Steve explains why we should spend an equal amount of time and energy being a good friend. Also, he sings The Golden Girls theme song.

Ever notice how difficult it is to make friends after high school and college? In the first of three episodes about friendship, Steve discusses why it's so hard to make new friends and how loneliness contributes to the Quarter-Life Crisis.

In this week's episode, Steve discusses the number one cause of relationship conflict and the number two cause of divorce: Money. Whether you have very little or very much, a healthy association with money leads to healthy interpersonal relationships.

Sometimes two people love each other very much, but neither person feels loved by the other. Gary Chapman solved this mystery with his book, "The Five Love Languages." In this episode, Steve explains how understanding the love languages can save relationships.

Our thoughts affect our emotions. In this episode, Steve discusses how the lies we tell ourselves can sabotage our mental health and interpersonal relationships.

Ever notice that you judge others for the same things you do? Or that you hold other people to standards that you don't meet yourself? Ever found yourself unable to break free from someone's first impression of you. In this week's episode, Steve discusses the power of first impressions and the self-serving bias.

Intercultural Communication takes place every day when we interact with people who don't look, think, or act the way we do. Improving our intercultural communication skills makes it easier to interact with others, and developing diverse relationships makes the world a better place.

Of course people should be held responsible for their actions, but Steve shares why obsessing over fault and blame (instead of solving actual problems) can ruin our interpersonal relationships.

In the Season 2 finale, Steve discusses how to become a more powerful person and communicator by sharing two words that changed his life.

The coronavirus is on everyone's mind. In this week's episode, Steve discusses health anxiety and how the coronavirus global pandemic has affected our mental health as much as our physical health.

What we pay attention to, what we ignore, and the lenses we use to view the world all shape our beliefs. In this week's episode, Steve explains how perception affects everything we do, including how we respond to global pandemics.

Conflict creates problems. How we handle conflict can create even bigger problems. In this week's episode, Steve gives three simple steps for managing healthier interpersonal conflict.

Older couples often say the secret to a happy marriage is compromise. In this week's episode, Steve explains why that isn't necessarily true.

People are so focused on "winning" and "being right," that fighting those short-term battles often causes long-term problems. In this episode, Steve talks about the importance of thinking about the long-term health of our relationships.

Couples want to live happily ever after, but rushing "forever" causes problems. In this week's episode, Steve discusses why playing house too early causes emotional turmoil and can keep you trapped in unhealthy relationships.

Ever wonder why the divorce rate spikes after 20+ years of marriage? There's a really simple explanation. In this week's episode, Steve explains how learning to manage relationship tensions might just save your marriage.

Ever wonder why some people stay in bad relationships even though everyone is telling them to leave? Ever wonder why some people leave good relationships when everyone is telling them to stay? In this week's episode, Steve uses Social Exchange Theory to explain both.

"Either or" thinking is rarely accurate and almost never helpful. In this episode, Steve encourages everyone to see happiness, goodness, gender, sexuality, and life in general as a series of spectrums, with most people falling somewhere between the two extremes.

Ever stare at someone and wonder what the heck is wrong with them? Ever look in the mirror and wonder what the heck is wrong with yourself? There are reasons why people do what they do. In this episode, Steve helps you understand your personal strategies for making life work.

People want to be popular and beloved, but their strategies for doing so are all wrong. In this episode, Steve shares the simple secret to always being the most interesting person in the room.

Steve shares his poem, "Twas the Day of the Shootout" leading up to Cincinnati playing Xavier in their annual crosstown rivalry basketball game.

In the Season One finale, Steve discusses how social comparisons affect self-concept, then he explains the secret to happiness.

Powerful communicators all have one thing in common: They say no to the wrong things so they can say yes to the right things. Steve shares why learning to say no will help you achieve greatness.

The way we argue usually causes more problems than the topic of the argument itself. If you keep having the same fights over and over again in your relationships, Steve helps get to the root of those conflicts.

People can't always control what happens to them, but they can control how they react by reframing negatives into positives. Happy people and healthy relationships accomplish this by practicing recalibration regularly.

If you have ever snapped emotionally and said or did something you later regretted, then you're familiar with the Amygdala Hijack. Steve explains what happens during an Amygdala Hijack and what we can do to prevent emotional outbursts from ruining our lives and relationships.

When Steve moved to an area of Cincinnati known for prostitution, the naive suburban kid was shocked. He became obsessed with their lives and wanted to learn more, so he observed the women, their pimps, and the men who paid for sex. Then one night, Steve picked up a prostitute, paid her $40, and drove around for an hour asking questions about her life. He shares the story of their conversation and why it motivated him to assign a similar ethnographical experience to his students.

Steve explains why he believes the only hope for humanity is to begin empathizing with people who don't look, think, or act like us. He shares stories and examples from the #MeToo and #BLM (Black Lives Matter) movements.

Steve peed his pants in first grade. Eleven years later, he watched "Billy Madison" in the movie theater four times. Little did he know, those two experiences would teach him a life lesson about Emotional Intelligence, Social Analysis, and how to be a better human being.

If you've ever stood at a urinal or sat on a public toilet and wondered why you chose that particular pee vessel, Steve explains what bathroom habits teach us about communication context.

During communication, we're usually so focused on being heard (making clever comments, sounding smarter than everyone else, getting the big laugh), that we give away our power. Steve shares the secret to regaining that power while reading other people's minds.

Steves shares the story of going viral after tweeting a joke about the 2014 Cincinnati-Ohio State football game.

Steve explains why misunderstandings are so common in relationships, tells the (maybe) true story of how language was invented, shares how long it took him to say "I love you" to his wife, then gives practical suggestions for reducing interpersonal conflict.

In this season, Steve shares practical tips for giving a speech. In episode eight, we discuss how your speech is a performance, and you're the star of the show.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode seven, we discuss how your personality affects your speech delivery.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode six, we discuss how to exude confidence during your speech delivery.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode five, we discuss the conclusion.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode four, we discuss how to avoid reasoning fallacies.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode three, we discuss the importance of using evidence.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode two, we discuss the importance of a thesis statement.

In this season, Steve will share practical tips for giving a speech. In episode one, we start at the beginning with the introduction.

Ever wonder why miserable people want to make everyone around them miserable too? Or why people get so much pleasure from trolling strangers on social media. In the Season 6 finale, Steve explains why misery loves company and how to break the downward spiral in our own lives.

From Cabbage Patch Kids, to Tickle Me Elmo, Beanie Babies, and dozens of other products along the way, companies use scarcity to make cheap toys more valuable than diamonds. In this episode, Steve discusses why people always want what they can't have.

In this episode, Steve explains every hideous fashion trend that has ever existed. Cargo shorts. Low-rise jeans. Belly chains. Big hair. What were we thinking? There's actually a very simple explanation.

Ever say something and wonder why the heck you said it? Ever found yourself acting like someone you aren’t? In this episode, Steve uses Communication Accommodation Theory to explain why.

In this episode, Steve discusses how perfectionism can be paralyzing, but for creative people, the cure can make us happier and healthier human beings.

Old metaphors like "melting pot" never accurately represented the United States. Instead of melting down many cultures to form one new culture, Steve discusses why recognizing cultural differences actually improves communication and relationships.

The world keeps getting louder. More than ever, distractions interfere with interpersonal communication and relationships. In this episode, Steve discusses how to turn down the noise and focus on what's right in front of us.

Hopefully all of our romantic relationships last forever and we all live happily ever after, but statistically speaking, the majority of our relationships will fail. In this episode, Steve discusses why that happens and how to avoid heartbreak.

In this episode, Steve discusses Social Identity Theory. Why is our identity so influenced by our group affiliations? Why do sports teams, bands, and political parties define who we are as people? And why do we spend our lives criticizing all of the opposing groups?

Ever wish you could travel back in time and relive memories? Ever try to replicate special moments, but it never quite feels the same? In the Season 6 premiere, Steve discusses one of the basic principles of Communication.

Ever known someone who is constantly making excuses? They're usually weak, ineffective communicators and relationship partners. Ever known someone who steps up and takes responsibility when things go wrong? They're usually powerful, effective communicators and relationship partners. In the Season 5 finale, Steve discusses the importance of taking responsibility for your words and actions.

Steve discusses how unchecked emotions can damage interpersonal relationships, then gives some practical suggestions for managing debilitating emotions in healthier ways.

Words, language, spelling, grammar, and punctuation aren't just for English class. In this week's episode, Steve discusses why choosing the right words, spelling those words correctly, using proper grammar, and knowing when to insert commas also affects our communication skills.

From the clothes we wear to the coffee we drink, we all make decisions about how to present ourselves to the world. In this episode, Steve discusses what those nonverbal choices communicate to other people.

With so many distractions in the world, it's becoming more difficult to focus while listening to others, but effective listening can improve your relationships overnight. Steve discusses five reasons why you might struggle listening to friends, family, romantic partners, and strangers.

Steve discusses why the next thing you say or do is always the most important thing you say or do.

If you don't think white privilege and systemic racism are real, give Steve six minutes to share one example of how systemic racism puts black children in danger every summer.

In honor of Valentine's Day, Steve discusses the many varieties of love. While most people have their hearts set on the love we see in romantic comedies, what happens to those couples after the movie ends? What happens if you never get married? Perhaps there isn't one version of love that's right for everyone. Maybe every type has a place in our lives.

The Golden Rule has many forms throughout nearly all religious and secular worldviews, but all of them can be explained through basic human nature. In this episode, Steve explains why reciprocity is such a powerful persuasive strategy.

No one likes to admit they're wrong, but the reason goes much deeper than just stubborn pride. In this week's episode, Steve discusses what we can learn from cults and why people have so much trouble admitting they made a mistake.