Looking to have more influence in business and personal communication? Look no further than Outfluence.

            Outfluence, LLC, according to founder Al Betz, is a company that helps clients to better use and understand silent communication techniques in everyday interpersonal communication. He mentioned that nearly 70 percent of all communication is silent and stressed the importance of becoming more cognizant of it. While this may initially seem like a counseling service, Betz would be the first to deny it.

Teach from experience

            “I am a teacher,” he said. “What qualifies me to teach interpersonal communications are my life experiences, 32 years as a business owner and employer, 40 years as a husband, 39 years as a father, and 13 years as a grandfather.”

             The company’s Web site gives a variety of examples of silent communication, from the case of a shy court reporter who misses an appointment because of his less-than-confident body language to examples where a simple smile can make or break first contact between two strangers. Outfluence, as explained on the site, “is comprised of your outward actions, your appearance, and your mannerisms.”

The site also houses many excerpts from Betz’s and his coworkers’ lives, all that drive home the importance of silent interaction. Betz himself was admittedly shy as a youth and had self-esteem issues, but that did not mean he was powerless. “I recognized that I had two personal attributes:  an easy smile and a strong work ethic,” he said. “I used those silent communicators to establish myself in my profession.”

            He said he later decided to turn his success story into a teaching mechanism. “Self-esteem issues could easily have held me to a life of mediocrity,” he explained. “A few years ago I realized that I might be able to use my experiences to help others who feel stuck in a life of mediocrity with no way out. That was the initial inspiration for the start of Outfluence.”

Guide the youth         

            Betz’s teachings do not stop with professional interaction. Having had esteem issues in his childhood and young adulthood, Betz has experience overcoming some of the problems youth today face. His teachings for the youth start with children of middle school age and culminate in high school and college.

            For them the site explains Outfluence with a turtle shell metaphor. “Both occur silently,” the Web site says, “A turtle has an outer shell.  If the integrity of the shell is compromised, it will completely hinder its ability to survive.”

According to Outfluence, the appearance, actions and manners of someone can be considered their shell. And, as the site states, “Some people have better ‘shells’ than others.”

Moving away from the metaphor, Betz offers a more straightforward explanation. “The most important aspect of this type of interaction is awareness of the power of silent communication, the fact that decisions are silently made about them as a result of the way they look, the way they speak, the content of their speech,” he said. “We want them to understand how their choice of friends and acquaintances affects their behavior and consequently the direction of their lives.”

His inspiration for teaching of the youth is humble. “I also tired of watching children whose lives ended either literally or figuratively before they reached legal age,” Betz explained. “I wanted to give them a chance by teaching them what life is really all about.”

Links:

For information on upcoming Outfluence classes, to view examples of what Outfluence is all about, or to buy materials related to Outfluence, visit the Web site: http://www.outfluence.com/

More info:

Is Outfluence for you? According to the site, it can help:

if you are timid,
if you suffer from a diminished self-esteem,
if your confidence could use a boost,
if you want to advance in your career,
if you are struggling in a relationship,
if you want to improve the customer service in your business,
if you want an effective sales team,
if good personal and business relationships are important to you,
if you want a family activity that is fun and promotes life-long learning.