Wow...where to start?  I guess I'll start with nonverbal communication that Jeff brought up.  From a mediation standpoint I think we have to be aware of a few things  that happen when it comes to nonverbal communication.  First of all, I think we have to be aware of the signals that we are sending off.  As we all have noted and are aware, our body language speaks for a large percentage of our communication with the other people in the room.  We have to make sure that through our body language we are actually listening to both parties, as well as genuinely interested in what they are saying.  If we are not genuinely interested, our body language will definitely portray that.  I could probably go on longer about this, but it seems that others have covered this portion pretty well.

Another thing that really struck me was the idea of the Connector.  This has less to do with the actual mediation side of things, but more on getting people into our mediation room.  Michael Port in his book Book Yourself Solid talks about making connections with people that have influence around you.  Gladwell talks about people that are connectors, and people that are loosely connected with, or friends with, people who are connectors.  While I was reading Gladwell's words about this, I had many different people float through my mind, and I'm sure you did as well.  These are people that are willing to connect people with others that would be helpful to those people.  So if you are in the Family Mediation business, and you know some connectors, chances are they will be the ones to refer you cases.  I can't help but  think that Gladwell is saying that to have a thriving practice/business you need to be connected to Connectors and maybe even be a connector yourself.