Conflict was the next topic for the class. I asked for a volunteer to stand next to me and make a fist. With no other directions to my volunteer, I made a fist and placed my knuckles directly against his. Slowly I pushed my knuckles into his with greater pressure. As I leaned more into his fist […]
My wife calls me at home and says, “Russ, I’m lost! Must be solar flares or something because neither of my gps devices are working. I need you to give me directions so I can get home.” Before I can give her any directions, what is my first question for her? “Where are you?” That’s right! It […]
Have you ever had a prospect become non-responsive right before you close the sale? Have you ever experienced a failure and wondered how you could’ve prevented it? You can avoid the potential paralysis of these situations by leveraging three forms of reasoning. I’m not a scholar of classic rhetoric and I don’t pretend to be one on […]
This past election cycle brought out the worst in many of us, including the candidates, at times. One observation I had is the candidate’s use of rhetoric to persuade. One logical fallacy they both used was presenting opinion as truth. The truth may hurt, but unchecked opinions can mislead. Both Hillary and Trump (as well as the […]
My student pulled me aside during our break to ask me a coaching question with regard to her recent classroom presentation. “When I was speaking, did you notice anything peculiar about how I was speaking?” When my students present for the first time, I often pick up on distractions in speech or body language, but doing […]
The salesman at my front door held out the vile and said, “Fill this with some water from your tap and I’ll show you what you’re drinking.” The football game wasn’t on for another 20 minutes so I was game. I also had a question in my head, “What am I drinking!?” After returning the tap […]
I recently finished the book, Change Anything by Kerry Patterson on how to create lasting change. Patterson and his team discovered 6 key elements required to achieve transformational change. When we think about changing our habits most of us think it all depends on will power. “If I’m strong enough, I’ll be able to make this change.” Patterson points out […]
“Can you help our engineers with their presentations? They’re horrible! They always bombard us with too much data.” I’ve been asked this question countless times by business leaders who sit through presentations from their engineering teams. The complaint is that the presentations include way too much data and detail. What needs to be done? There’s a […]
My brother’s favorite hunting buddy wasn’t me. It was his golden retriever, Dakota. This past week Dakota passed away peacefully at home. After my brother got home from work that day, Dakota greeted him as usual but wasn’t the same. After Dakota got to see his favorite hunting buddy for the last time, he went […]
