Many of you know I’m a fan of improv. A lot of the warm-up games I’ve learned from taking improv comedy classes with friend and colleague Shawn Westfall could be written off by the corporate crowd as silly or meaningless. But the positive reaction I once-again got recently from the engineers and scientists who tried one of them out in a mastery-level workshop of mine has prompted me to take the risk to share it with you here.

I’m a big fan of stories as vivid illustrations of trust-building moments, which is why we have so many in The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook. I’m especially inspired by the “extra miles” stories that highlight the extraordinary ways people find to be of service. Like the story about the advertising staffers who spent 14 weeks living the life of diabetic patients before beginning to create an ad campaign for Type 2 diabetes medication. Or the one about the savvy private wealth manager who once offered free investment planning for a client’s 12- and 14-year-old children. This week’s tip features an executive who earned a client for life by running a race.

I’ve written many times about the importance of making communications personal. I often follow my own advice. And sometimes I don’t. Here’s a tale of a failure on my part, including what I did to attempt to rectify things. Perhaps you’ll find it a useful template (the rectifying part, not the failing part).

I’m on a Southwest flight at the time of this writing, where employees are known for taking creative license with the more mundane aspects of the job, including on-board announcements. The flight attendant who just delivered the usual stuff prior to takeoff did something we should all do.

There’s a “modern” communication tool that’s become really popular in recent years. You’d think I’d be too old to appreciate them (although I learned from Wikipedia that they actually date back to the 80s, so maybe not). Instead, I’m enamored of them. Humor me for a moment while I share the trust-building applications of … GIFs.