“Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It’s how true friends talk.” – Peggy Noonan, Born Sep. 7, 1950. In times past, social interaction required a facade of formality. Especially in a business context. Gentlemen wore suits of clothes, and exchanged handshakes and cards and engaged in small talk, followed by queries and responses about […]
“Recalling a memory is not like playing a tape recorder. It’s a creative process.” – Susumu Tonegawa, Born Sep. 6, 1939. This little secret Susumu shared above is one reason why persuading and influencing people like we do can be so dangerous. See, when you recall a memory, you’re not accessing a permanent record. You
Your Memories Are Imaginary (And Easily Altered With This One Trick…) Read More »
“I have a different constitution. I have a different brain; I have a different heart; I got tiger blood, man.” – Charlie Sheen, Born Sep. 3, 1965. How are you different from every other boring jerk out there? What makes you unique? Your history? Your style? Your point of view? You need to know. Because
You Already Have a Built-in USP – You’re Just Suffocating It Read More »
“The greatest concubines in history knew that everything revealed with nothing concealed is a bore.” – Geoffrey Beene, Born Aug. 30, 1927. When it comes to sharing invaluable information with your audience, give away as much as you can. Ideally, give away what others try to sell. Drown people in quantities of quality… But always
What to Reveal and What to Conceal When Making an Irresistible Offer Read More »
“If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Born Aug. 28, 1749. Here’s an easy trick that many persuaders and influencers overlook. Our kind of communication is very audience-focused. We
Let’s Presume You Are Already Good At Persuasion… Read More »
“A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him.” – Man Ray, Born Aug. 27, 1890. You can start with a very small audience. But if you don’t have one, you’re not justified in spending too much time creating anything. Not if you want to create work people will connect with. Note – I’m obviously
How To Be Worth The Attention You Will Need To Succeed Read More »
“The minute you make people laugh, you get them to listen.” – Merrie Spaeth, Born Aug. 23, 1943. Aside from sharing an enemy, sharing a laugh is the quickest way I know to create rapport with a stranger. And it doesn’t have to be a belly laugh. It could be anything as simple as a
How to Clown on Fools for Fun and Profit Read More »
“I decided that I would be one of the biggest new names; and I actually had some little fancy business cards printed up to announce it, ‘Count Basie. Beware, the Count is Here.’” – William James “Count” Basie, Born Aug. 21, 1904. When you’ve got the goods… And you’re here to give the goods to
Warn The World of Your Awesomeness – BEWARE! Read More »
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H. P. Lovecraft, Born Aug. 20, 1890. There’s a cognitive bias all humans have called “the Ambiguity Effect”. Fancy science says: It describes our tendency to avoid choosing options for which missing
How To Create Fear and Use It To Guide People’s Choices Read More »
“Give me a laundry-list and I’ll set it to music.” – Gioachino Rossini, Born Feb. 29, 1792. I hate hearing people say they have nothing to write about or nothing to say. Take a thing. Any thing you find. Scroll way down your news feed. Click “random” on Wikipedia. Then, connect it to your core
Pumping Up Reader Brains With Metaphorical Muscle Read More »
