We’ve gritted our teeth for years as customer service reps of cellphone and streaming companies, internet service providers and other vendors routinely say, “I apologize for…” Frustration becomes anger when every other response is “I apologize….”Now companies have come up with a new way to...
African Gray parrots have over 1,000 words in their vocabulary and can repeat a word they’ve heard only once or twice. Humans have between twenty and forty thousand words, although in the age of tweets and TikTok, that number has shrunk precipitously. Hearing the story of...
Kris Kristofferson has left the building. Many remember only his film acting career, but on his passport, he’s listed as “Writer.” Kristofferson penned Country and Western hits, many recorded by other artists. But Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through the Night, and Sunday Morning Coming...
We train an Eloqui module called “Differentiators,” using interview techniques to elicit qualities that set our clients apart. Last week, an outstanding group of professionals dug deep into this exercise. One was born to two deaf parents, so at an early age became the translator...
Mirror neurons allow animals to imitate the actions of one another. Chimps learn grooming techniques from their mothers and then mimic these actions by grooming other chimps, even those unrelated. The more they like one another, the longer they groom. But humans have taken copycatting...
Olympic gymnastics are judged on Difficulty and Execution. The flashiness of a performance is weighed against how hard a move is to accomplish. The same concept applies in business presentations; the higher return, the more risk you must take.We just returned from Nashville, where Deborah...
Great thinkers and speakers operate in a similar way, no matter their area of study. Seven hundred years ago, Occam’s Razor, the Principle of Parsimony stated that the simplest explanation is often the best. Richard Feynman, Nobel prize-winning physicist, invented Feynman Diagrams-- visualizations of highly complex...
For the past 23+ years, we’ve sent out a speaker tip, quote and word every Sunday morning. Our tip has always been free because we believe in providing value. And we know how important it is to have tools from the professionals’ playbook-- to engage...
Last week we traveled to the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was an escape from the pressures of a book launch and desert heat. First dawn found us on a slate gray beach, early rays of sun filtering through dense forests, lighting up glistening...
Breaking was introduced into this year’s Olympic Games. At first, we dismissed the event as young people spinning on their heads, but were we wrong. Not only is breaking athletic and entertaining, it throws down a challenge for anyone who performs to an audience.Breaking has...