When answering the phone, your emotional vibe is more important than the words that you say.
The same goes for your kid. Instead of teaching him the cheesy “Johnson residence?” line, simply have him focus on keeping a positive demeanor instead. Give him general guidelines to follow, and let his personality take the reigns.
The phone rings. Charlie picks up and responds with a warm and calm tone of voice. This should be his default affect at all times.
“Hello.” or, “Hi, this is Charlie speaking.”
“Hi. Can I speak with Marcia?”
“Sure. Who am I talking to?”
“This is Tim.”
Once the child knows with whom he is speaking, teach him to change his demeanor from warm and calm to enthusiastic. He wants to make Tim feel good about calling.
“Hi Tim! I’ll get my Mom in one second. Let me put you on hold.”
Charlie showed he was glad that Tim had called.
“Hey, Tim?
“Yeah?”
“She’s busy at the moment. Tell me your last name so she can give you a call back.”
Remember, it’s better to get multiple small commitments from someone rather than one big commitment.
Another thing to point out: notice how Charlie did not mention what his mother was doing? This is for safety reasons. We never want to let strangers, or even friends, know that your child is vulnerable.
If what you’re doing will only take a minute, tell Charlie to ask if the person would like to have a chat while he’s waiting. This is good practice for Charlie, and is better than making Tim wait in silence.
“She’s busy at the moment. If you stay on the line she can get to you in a minute, would you like that?”
“Sure.”
“Great. So what’s your favorite superhero, Tim?”
“Um… haha. I like Superman.”
“I like Superman too, but my favorite is Anakin Skywalker. Hold on Tim, here’s my Mom.”
“Hey Tim!”
Charlie, as taught, is the one who leads the conversation. He’s being taught how to act like an adult, and being Mom’s secretary can act as a medium for him to train.
I recommend teaching phone etiquette around when your child begins to read and write, for maturity reasons. As a guide, get out a piece of paper, write down these steps, and keep it near the kitchen phone. Feel free to use visual aids to help out.
They do their same thing every day, every week, and every year. They name their kids the same names everyone else names their kids. They enroll their kids in the activities every other kid is enrolled in, their family outings consist of the same top three places for families to go: Six flags, Disney, and Mt. Rushmore.
They:
Wear the same clothes
Make the same foods
Believe the same theories
Watch the same movies
Listen to the same music
This is not to say that this is bad. Most families are perfectly happy living this way, and that’s fine. That’s also not to say that if you are reading this and are realizing how boring your family life is, that you are a bad boring person.
It’s just that this is how everyone has been taught to think that families should be like. We just think, “This is the way it’s been for the past billion years, this is the way it must be.” So we never took a second thought at how we could mold our family to the way WE see fit.
As a family, you have the freedom to do whatever you damn like.
What I am simply trying to do is open your eyes to this. You have your own say at how to run the family, how to raise your kids, how you should live, how to spend your time. Instead of spending tons on Disney World, let them engage in different cultures. Instead of visiting the biggest tourist places when traveling, visit the small local towns where hardly anyone speaks English. Engulf yourself and your family in a different culture.
Not every family will care to do it any differently, most families are perfectly happy doing it “normal.” But to the family that is different, the family that goes off the tracks of the what always has been, theres a fire in your belly that needs to be fulfilled, to transcend the norm. You are “The New Parent,” the new family; because you are pioneering a new order, a new approach to how a family should be.
These families seek out each other; to have their kids mingle with each other, and the parents mingle with other “New Parents,” which makes your reality and worldview stronger. You may have different approaches to how to have a family, but that is the point. We are not trying to make a new “way to fam,” we are trying to tell you that you don’t necessarily have to do it the way everyone else is and how it’s been for years; you can ‘fam’ in any way that you’d like. Every “New Family” has their own way of living, and that is what is similar about them all, that they are all unique in what they do.
But there are distinctive similarities and trends with each “New Family.” They are innovators, they are creative, they are risk takers, and they are appreciative. They are passionate about something, they move towards their passions, they expose themselves to new things, they love people, and they don’t judge other families on how they fam or what they do. They love life and want to experience what it has to offer.
These are the new families, they are sprouting up everywhere. I’m searching for them, and I’m going to showcase them on CharismaticKid. I will get to know everything about how they do it, so you can get an idea of how a “New Family” goes about doing things, and you can learn from their approach, tweak it a little bit, and make your own way of doing it.
Want in on the action?
Do you think you are this type of parent, and want to meet other families like your own? Come visit us for FREE in New York City on September 19th, meet the other parents, get the free 220-page book, and learn a ton about how to transform your family from “eh,” to “AH!.” Become “The New Family.”
Ripley Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave, New York, NY 10018
Cost:
Totally Free!
Get your shoes on!
CharismaticKid’s first ever Superhero Seminar will be in New York City on Sunday, September 19th. This is a parents-only seminar, packed with two full hours of intense social skills and confidence training for you and your child. This is the only place in the world where you will get to learn how to teach this kind of thing at this deep of a level.
And here’s the crazy part. It’s free!
What’s that you say, Anthony? Free? Yes. Totally free. Free drinks, free food, and a free copy of my eBook, “CharismaticKid: The New Breed of Superhero”. I want you and your children to be the most charismatic people in your town, so when the next birthday party comes around, your family can “own the place” with your charm. Your kids will impress parents, lead kids, and shake hands with the Grandpas; while you are the center of attention at the hors d’oeuvres table. Your stories will no longer be of the “fizzled out” type, your body language will be dead on, and you will bring gasps whenever you walk into a room.
Why superheroes?
Your family will resemble the fun Pixar-animated family, “The Incredibles,” except instead of kickin’ some bad guy butt, you will be putting smiles on the faces of everyone that you meet. That is the new breed of superhero.
CharismaticKid is not about coming from a victim mindset, where you teach your child to “get by” in life if they are shy. Instead, we focus on charisma, and seeing eye to eye with the rest of the kids in the group. This is highly potent stuff that I have spent years studying, formulating, and executing in my favorite science lab called life.
Bullies? BULLIES? As a CharismaticKid, there are no bullies. Bullies are what happens when a child without strong body language and vocal tone enters a room. Bullies are what happens when you haven’t properly prepared your child for social interactions. Just as an athlete cramps up if he hasn’t properly stretched and warmed himself up before a big game, children will cramp up emotionally if you haven’t first prepped them for being social.
You will walk out of the seminar feeling like a new person, and being a New Parent, having a fresh look on raising your children. Because not only do we focus on social skills, obedience, and confidence, but another necessary piece of the puzzle: passions. Your children can’t be content in life if they have nothing to live for, and that goes for every person on this earth. I will expose to you the secret formula I’ve put together on how to teach you and your child to be passionate about life. Whether it is a passion for people, sports, or art, your child will become more charismatic, focused, and psyched about life once there is a reason to be living in it.
I know. You wish you had these skills around when you were a kid; your children are fortunate to have parents like you that are ambitious enough to learn this kind of stuff. And you are fortunate enough to have an opportunity to capitalize on the most important part of your children’s life: relationships with others. Think about it, what good would math, science, english, and geography be if there was no one else on this earth? Human connections are of utmost importance in a person’s life, yet there is no place to learn how to teach it to your kids! There is no book on this type of thing, there is no class in school you or your kids can take. That’s until CharismaticKid. (You will be receiving the book in your e-mail at a surprise time!)
CharismaticKid is the first and only company that specializes in teaching skills in human interaction for parents and their children. We are the best at what we do.
Learn how to turn your rambunctious lil’ guy into a miniature soldier. No more treating yourself as the “servant” to your kids, but the leader.
Teach your child how to follow your every word and command, looking to please you at every moment of the day.
Discover the REAL way to reward good behavior, while ignoring the bad.
Confidence
Learn how to prevent the onset of an “ego” in your child before it has a chance to develop.
Teach them what it means to be a “selfless person.”
Get them to understand what it means to be a “value giver.”
Conversation
Bleeding-edge conversational techniques from “Hello!” all the way to “Let’s set up a playdate!”
Highly potent body language techniques that can disarm a bully before he has a chance to strike.
Learn how to work a group and teach your child to do the same.
Passions
Learn the three-step method for getting your kid ultra passionate about life.
Daily after-school activities that are sure turn your child from a video game junkie into a movie producer, artist, musician, or entrepreneur.
Find out how to go on “The New Vacation.”
What to get for his birthday. (It’s not what you’d think)
Games and Exercises
A bevy of improv games specifically made to skyrocket your child’s conversational skills up through the roof.
Creativity exercises that are so powerful, you will be stunned at how they work. (It’s almost black magic!)
We will be doing all of these exercises during the seminar, so you can see them working in action.
Do you see how ridiculously beneficial this seminar will be to you and your children? And the insane fact that it is free is just unheard of. The only reason I am making this seminar free, is because it is the world’s FIRST, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want as many parents to experience my teachings, and the only way to do that is to make it open to the public. But trust me, it won’t be like this for long. The Superhero Seminar will cost $500 to each family that signs up after this September 19th date. You’d be crazy not to sign-up and come to this. You are basically wasting $500 by missing out on this opportunity.
Since this seminar is totally free, I have but one request. Please bring as many friends as you can. Even if you can bring your spouse, that is excellent. The more people that can benefit from this program, the better. And it’s free. They do not need to sign-up on this page, only you do.
So how do you get in? Just sign-up below and you’re in. Afterwards, I’ll send you a letter in the mail and then give you a call the week before the seminar to confirm your guest count. And that’s it! Get excited.
…with a better personality than most people I know. This kid is outgoing, sociable, funny, positive, and energetic. He has already learned facial expressions normally possessed by nine-year-olds. He uses adjectives like colossal and gigantic. He has no fear, and he is an approval giver. He was giving ME compliments! Most of all, he’s always living in the moment.
He was at a birthday party I was doing, so I chatted with his Mom to see what was going on. The first thing she said was, “I talk to him all the time.” But I wasn’t satisfied, so I approached her again. I asked her what she did to make him have such great social skills at such a young age. She told me that instead of talking to him from a logistical standpoint, she is always stimulating his imagination.
For instance, instead of telling him, “Let’s get in the car and drive to school,” she will say, “Quick! There’s a dinosaur on our car and we have to get in there before he eats us! It’s a learning dinosaur and maybe he’ll come to school with us!”
She is exciting his imagination while teaching him the beauty of creative expression towards others. Instead of making life seem like a chore, she made every little task into an adventure that she and her child had the opportunity to engage in. To translate this into a lesson for you, this kid’s brain is always being stimulated, he is never thinking of something as work, or as a wall to climb over, but rather something to enjoy – all the time. His mind is always being challenged from his mother — constantly keeping his mind active.
I think he’ll grow up to be an actor, businessman, or maybe a political figure, but one thing I know for sure is that he will be a great conversationalist and loved by everyone he meets. If you are not enjoying your interactions with your kid, they are not going to enjoy their interactions with others. When you are having fun together, speak with your child like they are your best friend. When it is time to be a parent, be a parent. But without seeing your child as your friend, they will always see themselves as just a child.
You can wear shorts and a t-shirt and run around in the park, go hiking on the trails, throw frisbees and build sandcastles on the beach. This is exactly the time where you and your kids should be getting social and making friends with other families. Not only for your kids’ benefit, but for yours as well.
Don’t you find it weird that while chilling out on the beach with hundreds of people around you, nobody has the confidence to say one word to each other except for the peeps in their group? To me, life is about making connections with other people; I would hate to be one of those monks hiding inside a cave all my life.
But we still manage to keep to ourselves in public most of the time. It’s only if we are forced into a social situation or stumble upon a good social opportunity do we actually make the effort to interact with someone else. I dream of a world where people are making friends with each other while grocery shopping and there is no fear of making that push to meet someone new in our daily lives.
I hope you feel the same way, and I hope that’s why you’re here; because you want to change the way things are socially going in the world.
The thing is, other people are not going to make that effort for you, you have to be the fiery thunderbird that rises above and takes the first step each day to “break the social ice” as I like to call it. That moment you feel hesitant to say something to the person next to you, that is the exact time you should open your mouth. Take the social initiative!
When you see that Mom grabbing the obscure “bread and butter” pickle jar at Shoprite, let her know you dig weird pickles too, and then branch into other favorite foods you like. If you see a family building a sandcastle next to you at the beach, instead of making your own, walk over with your kid and help them build it.
This isn’t a suggestion. I’m not asking you to do this — I’m TELLING YOU. Each day I want you to take a new initiative with your kid to meet new people and make connections. Show your kids how it’s done, and then encourage them to do the same thing. I like to call it, “throwing them into the lion’s den,” sometimes kids have to be thrown into new situations in order for them to experience and enjoy them. It’s like getting into a cold pool, you can’t stick your toes in there and gradually make your way into it, sometimes you just have to jump. That is the kick in the butt that your kids’ sometimes need.
Just like I said in the video, I want you to go onto the Faybo page, (CharismaticKid’s Facebook) and post a comment on the question asked, “How have you been a Superhero and taken the social initiative with your kids so far this Summer?” I’m looking forward to your answers, and I better see some great and unique ways to make friends.
CharismaticClub members, I’m especially looking at you! It’s your job to set an example; you are deemed superheroes by CharismaticKid, don’t you let me down!
“The New Parent” is a series where I interview parents that embody the idea of what I call “The New Parent.” These parents challenge the status quo and raise confident, superhero-like, charismatic kids by exposing them to their parents’ passions. You can notice these families from a mile away; they are unique and passionate about life. They teach their kids to dive head first into what life has to offer, and are raising the entrepreneurs, the artists, the musicians, the actors, the politicians, the athletes, the travelers, any job that takes charisma, creativity, confidence, and passion.
Aside from making people laugh, Brian Huskey is very much not like the arrogant Dad that he portrays in those Swagger Wagon commercials. He’s a humble family man with a three-year-old daughter. He taught me so much about how to inspire a creative confidence into kids, and I think he’ll do the same for you.
Brian: She’s seen me perform, I did a kids’ show one time, and I was dressed like an elf, and just acted ridiculous, and she does understand now, when I say “Daddy has to go to work,” she’s like “Oh, daddy’s gonna go be silly” which I think is great.. That she can sort of equate that yes, you can be paid to go be silly. So sort of a long-winded answer, I think she’s by proxy maybe getting an idea of what I do, and what I’m really into, and she has a great sense of humor. But it’s not anything I’m dictating to her. I definitely don’t want to take her to commercial auditions, because that is a horrible road for a kid to go down.
Anthony: I agree. And I think a big thing is not necessarily pushing your child to do what you do, but more of encouraging your child to be passionate about life in any way, through the same way that you do it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be acting, or comedy, but just getting her to see how much you enjoy doing what you do, and then letting her realize that she can do something that she loves on her own.
Brian: Age three, she’s into just complete invention of worlds, and spontaneous games, and I always participate whole-heartedly because it is like improv, she has the understanding of improv, just like “We’re gonna do this,” “Yes, we’re gonna do this, and we’re gonna do it as much as we can.” So as much as I’m available to that, I’m always like, “Sure, we are both rabbits driving a bus, let’s do this.” Because I know a lot of parents probably are just like playtime, and there’s this time, and I just.. the rewards I get from being with her during during this time that you have this unfiltered creativity, you gotta go for it while it’s there. Because come age 13, she’s gonna resent us, and turn into a teenager.
Anthony: I definitely like that you’re kinda letting her use her spontaneous, creative self, and that’s something else that I really like to teach to parents. Do you have any types of specific games that you play with her, that you think help her bring out that creative side?
Brian: I let her be the leader, and I think that’s been a good thing because I think we’ve just been like, “What do you want to do?” And let her take the lead and she’s starting to do that with her friends more. She’s been like, “Let’s play this game.” She kind of opens the rules and learns about collaborating and sharing. And those are big things in improv, you should say, “Yes, and..” Whatever information or ideas someone offers up, you say, “Yes, and..” then you add something else to it. And I totally see that with her. Now talking, I guess I am sort of bringing some of my own passion because my passion for improv is ten years plus, and I’m still completely into it. And for her it’s naturally. it just gravitates towards her. It’s great. I hope that never gets squashed because I think self-conciousness or someone else saying, “No, you can’t do that,” that’s where.. someone issuing that authority of “No, we can’t do that.” If you don’t have creative confidence or excitement about it, you’re gonna be like “Oh, you’re right, we can’t.” So, hopefully she’ll have enough of that, like “No, this is a much clearer option. Let’s be two rabbits driving a bus.”
Anthony: I think you bring up a good point about.. I find a lot of times people feel obligated, it’s not really parents’ faults or anything, but it’s just kind of a social constraint of keeping with rules when we play games, just because that’s how it’s always been. For instance, if you’re telling a stotry to your kid at night, and they say “Why don’t I tell you the story?” That’s something cool that I think parents should do. It’s something that I teach. Have your child tell you a story before they go to bed.
Brian: Yeah, we totally do that. I’m quite often the baby that she tucks me in, and she’ll leave the room, and I’ll cry, and she’ll say “What’s wrong, baby?” And I’ll say, “Can you give me a kiss?” Or, “I want a story” and she’s really into.. the stories are like, “There was a bear, and he went into the house and ate a sandwich. The end.” To.. now they they really have a long arc to them. And then she’s also starting reading books to us. She’ll take her favorite book that we like to read to her and she’ll look at the pages, and tell us the story. And then, once she started doing that, she started adding stuff. She starts layering the ideas she has on top of what she already knows or what she’s imagining at that moment, which is really great. My wife was really smart that she’s like.. even though she’s learning colors and shapes and stuff.. when we’re playing, even if she says that blue is pink, blue is pink, just let it be, blue is pink. Or, for the games, we just started doing that, and then after a while she started to say, “Oh, you’re right,” And then she would correct like “No, that’s not pink, it’s blue.” And she’s been saying like she has the authority in the game, and she can say whether we’re gonna pretend like this is blue, or no, you misunderstand, this is actually blue. So that’s kind of cool.
Anthony: So who do you think is funnier, you or your daughter? Or your wife?
Brian: Oh God.. My daughter. For sure. I don’t know if she can remember lines, but if you just let her go, pretty great. She should be hocking cars instead of me, I should just sit back, relax. But then I’d turn into one of those “Stage Dads.” It’d be terrible.
Anthony: This doesn’t have to be as deep as it sounds, but already taking into account the unconditional love you and all parents have for their children, how do you think that you do differently with your daughter compared to what you see everyone else doing?
Brian: For us, it’s just very natural. It’s like, “You are so awesome, whatever you wanna do, just do it, and you’re going to.. we’re just gonna be there with that.” And for her, given what I said about her being shy and stuff, I think it’s kinda helped her to just be like, “Yeah, here I am.” Like, we started to notice that she’s sorta started posing out of nowhere, she’ll just walk into the room, and make a little pose, this triumphant thing, and then run out. And that’s pretty great that she has the impulse to come in like, “What’s up world? Here I am!” And then just be out. And I think that just comes from.. if she’s doing something, we’re always kinda blown away by it.. “That’s pretty great.” So if that’s a philosophy, it’s more just an impulsive organic reaction to how much we love her. Try to whittle that down to a sound bite!
Anthony: Well I think what you’re trying to say is, allow her to be who she wants to be.
Brian: Yeah, and I think the other thing is, maybe the other part of that is, allow yourself to be unfiltered with that. I think that’s a big part, I think a lot of parents are like, “Oh, that’s not appropriate right now in the setting to react to you.” But no, I want everybody else to see how much I love you.
Did you like this? If so, shoot me an e-mail or ‘wall’ me on Facebook with a suggestion for the next parent in our “New Parent” series. I hope you were able to take something from Brian’s words, something that you can transfer to your own child to help them become a more “CharismaticKid.”
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