Who I am

In more than thirty years of work in the field of Information Technology, twenty of which in continuous contact with clients, I have learned, at my own expense, the importance of communicating and, above all, listening.

Over time and in different roles, I have found myself many times selling, whether it was an idea, a product, or a project, it made little difference, since every time it was a two-player game, where the proposer and the receiver were driven by different goals and personalities and the challenge was to reach the meeting point that would allow both to close the deal positively.

Communicating and listening, therefore, as key elements and as acts aimed at achieving that mutual empathy, which I believe is the core on which to base every relationship, whether friendship or work.

Over time, however, I discovered that voice and hearing were not enough, because many of the contents - the most important ones, in fact - are not explicitly communicated, but must be derived from what we do while we speak and listen.

Speaking with the body and listening with the eyes, we could say, and this is the reason why, over the years, I have become passionate about non-verbal and paraverbal communication. At first out of curiosity, but then with the awareness of its importance in relationships, of any kind, which is why I approached it systematically, alternating study and practice, thanks to the work I have done for years.

This harmonious approach - holistic, I would dare say - made up of practice and study, has led me, among other things, to train and certify myself in the techniques and methodologies developed by Paul Ekman regarding the recognition of emotions (Micro Expressions, Subtle Expressions, and Facial Actions Coding System).

Moreover, since I believe that curiosity should never end, I have partially extended my studies to disciplines that we could define as adjacent to non-verbal communication, such as Neuro Linguistic Programming, which combines language, neurological processes, and behavioral patterns, and Persuasion Techniques, exploring how body language plays a very important role in the psychology of compliance.

In the end, I believe I have followed two parallel paths, which over time have positively contaminated each other, where what I did in practice thanks to my work in sales increasingly benefited from what I studied and observed in my interlocutors, allowing me to better understand what they were communicating, beyond the words they used to do so.

Two parallel paths, followed for about ten years, that I have now decided to share with those who need them and to do so in the same way I did, showing how non-verbal communication is a very powerful tool to improve what we already do every day: relating to others to achieve our and their goals, remembering that success is always a two-player game, based on agreement rather than conflict.

A sharing, therefore, that I have decided to do from the point of view of someone who has really been in the field, from the point of view of someone who has fought many communicative battles with a plethora of always different interlocutors, in character, role, personality, and attitude; a diversity that each time forced me to fine-tune the right strategy and choose the most suitable tools, always keeping in mind the final peace and not the continuation of the war.

So, if you are interested in how to expand your listening and understanding skills in those real situations you face every day in your work, whether it's a negotiation with a client or the presentation of your idea, then contact me and we will figure out together how I can help you.

If you are not interested, however, I still thank you for reading this far and I greet you by reminding you that “if words communicate information, non-verbal language communicates emotions and feelings”.

Andrea Zinno - andrea.zinno@decorporisvoce.com