How and why the ability to connect with strangers is vital to business success Good communication with colleagues and clients is an important aspect of doing business successfully. But if you're only talking to your associates, you're missing out on half the story and leaving money on the table. Start with "Hello" reveals how the most successful businesspeople and leaders share an overlooked and underappreciated talent—the ability to engage and communicate with strangers in productive, creative ways. Put simply, people like to do business with people they know, like, and trust. So get to know more people! Even if you don't think of yourself as the most outgoing person, you can learn to be more open and engaging to strangers. The book explains simple, key aspects of communication that make it easy to connect with new people, including behavioral styles, body language, and eye contact. Add together simple tips for starting conversations and following-up on them, and you'll be well on your way to making the business connections that count. Features straightforward guidance for anyone who needs help building new connections with new people Written by a high-profile expert and thought leader in the art of relationship building Includes real stories that reveal how often chance meetings and conversations develop into profitable business relationships In a small, hyper-connected world, today's stranger might be tomorrow's client. If you want to boost your business prospects in simple, practical ways, Start with "Hello" is the resource for you.

A simple path to a more deeply connected life You want more. You want to belong to a community that looks out for each other. You believe in your bones we don't have to live detached, distracted, and divided. The question is, How? Shannan Martin invites you into deeper connection through simple resets, such as · Open Door > Perfect Décor. We invite others in, seeking to connect, not impress. · Familiar > Fussy. We serve tacos and pizza like the feasts they are, because fancy is overrated. · Tender > Tough. We greet the world with our hearts exposed and our guards down. Packed with street-level practices and real-talk storytelling, Start with Hello is your field guide for a life of security, camaraderie, and joy. There is no step too small. "As it turns out, there is no them but only us, and this is the book we both want and need to help us find our way back to each other."--Emily P. Freeman, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Next Right Thing "Start with Hello is a love letter to community and a call to action toward radical, realistic hospitality."--Osheta Moore, pastor, speaker, and author of Dear White Peacemakers "This book will change you in a way you've been craving to change. It makes being a neighbor, not to mention a person, just so beautifully . . . doable."--Kendra Adachi, New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way "This book is lovely, warm, honest. It brims with possibility."--Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire

Popular blogger Shannan Martin offers Christians who are longing for a more meaningful life a simple starting point: learn what it is to love and be loved right where God has placed you. For Christ-followers living in an increasingly complicated world, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to live a life of intention and meaning. Where do we even begin? Shannan Martin offers a surprisingly simple answer: uncover the hidden corners of our cities and neighborhoods and invest deeply in the lives of people around us. She walks us through her own discoveries about the vital importance of paying attention, as well as the hard but rewarding truth about showing up and committing for the long haul, despite the inevitable encounters with brokenness and uncertainty. With transparency, humor, heart-tugging storytelling, and more than a little personal confession, Martin shows us that no matter where we live or how much we have, as we learn what it is to be with people as Jesus was, we'll find our very lives. The details will look quiet and ordinary, and the call will both exhaust and exhilarate us. But it will be the most worth-it adventure we will ever take. “This is a message the world needs. So often we overcomplicate ‘service’ or this elusive call to ministry when all the while ministry is right in front of us. Shannan reminds us of the simple, yet beautiful call to love our neighbor and what that could really look like today. We are reminded that extravagant love in ordinary moments does indeed lead to an extraordinary life.” --Katie Davis Majors, New York Times bestselling author of Kisses from Katie (I made up this attribution, so you may want to check on that) “This is the book we all need right now. If you’re longing for authentic community but aren’t sure where to begin, Shannan and this beautifully written book are the perfect guide. I truly believe when we stand together we stand a chance. I cheered along with every word.” —Korie Robertson, New York Times bestselling author “These are the days when we could all use a firm but gentle nudge to extend extra kindness to the people around us. Shannan reminds us to pay attention, look outside of ourselves, to lay aside our preconceived judgments, and stay put, bearing with each other, carrying each other‘s burdens, and finding Jesus at the center of it all.” —LaTasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge “Our nonstop consumer society seduces us into forsaking the ordinary. Even as believers, we are prone to aspire to do sexy ministry that garners headlines and warrants photo ops. But Shannan Martin helps us resist these impulses by calling the body to reclaim the sanctity and significance of ordinary places. Through personal stories, theology, and Scripture, she helps us discern God’s call upon our lives right where we are and illuminates why the most faithful ministry is oftentimes mundane, overlooked, and seemingly unimpressive. This book will help you thrive in your faith in practical and rooted ways!” —Dominique DuBois Gilliard, author of Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores “Sometimes when reading a book, I think ‘I’ll recommend this to that group’ or ‘this one goes go that community,’ but hand to heaven, I would put this book in every single pair of hands across ideology, camps, and tribes. Part storytelling, part prophetic, with dizzyingly wonderful writing, Shannan brings us back to the neighborhood, back to ordinary tables, back to a life we know in our deepest hearts is meant for us. I love her. I love this book.” —Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of 7, For the Love, and Of Mess and Moxie

Cozy illustrations make this the perfect introduction to the joy of school. A diverse class of excited youngsters are about to start school and experience all its wonders! Small moments like discovering one's own cubby space and big moments like a first nature walk are all brought to life with inviting artwork. This is a great book to help familiarize children with all the activities they can expect at school, from circle time to snack time to goodbye time, all the while sharing the experiences with lots of great new friends.

This is a fill-in-your-story book for adults who want to share who they really are with the children in their lives. Through 50 questions, you'll be able to tell your story: how you see yourself, the reader and the world around you. Our hope is that this book starts many conversations and brings its author and its reader even closer together.

What is courage? Certainly it takes courage for a firefighter to rescue someone trapped in a burning building, but there are many other kinds of courage too. Everyday kinds that normal, ordinary people exhibit all the time, like “being the first to make up after an argument,” or “going to bed without a nightlight.” Bernard Waber explores the many varied kinds of courage and celebrates the moments, big and small, that bring out the hero in each of us.