“You’ve never seen Alan?!,” my husband, Tom, asked me. “Alan” in this case is a Saturday Night Live sketch, but one that was “cut for time.” That means the cast ran and recorded it in dress rehearsal, but for various reasons, the show decided not to include it in the live version of the show. The premise […]
Why your pitch deck needs a “primer” Read More »
If you’re struggling to justify: What it is that you do, Why it’s important, Why you’re the right person to do it, or even Why you’re the right person for a dream job you want to do …then there’s something I want you to do: I want you to start thinking about that justification in
Need to justify what you do? Start here. Read More »
For those of you familiar with my first book, Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible, I talk about what I call the “problem pair,” or more familiarly, the “duck bunny,” after an old 19th-century optical illusion of a duck that looks like a bunny, or a bunny that looks like a duck,
Ten years ago, I had high hopes. I was going to take everything I’d learned from marketing and brand messaging and apply it to sales messaging. And I struggled. I struggled with what most salespeople struggle with, and that was anticipating objections. After all, a grand and glorious aspirational brand message doesn’t always account for
Anticipating objections Read More »
If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “All persuasion is self-persuasion” then you have just experienced for yourself one of the most important concepts when it comes to inspiring internally motivated action. Why is internally motivated action important? Well, it’s important if what you’re looking for is not just action on something new, but when you’re
“A thousand songs in your pocket.” “Two great tastes that taste great together.” “Jaws in space.” Do any of those sound familiar? The first is how Steve Jobs famously introduced the Apple iPod in 2001. The second is the 1970s and ’80s tagline for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups—the “two great tastes” being chocolate and peanut
There’s no such thing as believers remorse Read More »
Want to know a secret? For someone to act on the change you’re suggesting—whether it’s a shift in idea, approach, strategy, or behavior—they need to be motivated. Sounds obvious, right? But here’s where it gets interesting: We’re never neutral about the things we’re not neutral about. Yes, yes, I know that’s another obvious idea. When
Remove the neutral position Read More »
All you want to do is cancel your cable service. You pick up the phone, dial the number, and brace yourself for the inevitable. The customer service representative answers, and upon hearing your request, switches into high gear. They start pitching every imaginable package, deal, and special offer. It’s a relentless barrage of benefits, each
You can’t want it more than they do Read More »
How do you inspire someone to act, to change, or to think differently than they do right now? There are two key principles at play: So, what does that mean when it comes to creating the foundation of your message? Because intuition drives agreement—and agreement drives action—your message must be intuitively agreeable from the start.
Want to inspire action? Start here. Read More »
