Blog

Hello, everyone. After nearly ten years of posting, I find it is time to retire my ‘Make What You Say Pay!” Blog, although my monthly Metaphor Minute newsletter and my online presentation coaching and consulting work with start-ups, salespeople, marketers, and executives are all continuing full-force.

Over the years, I have appreciated your support and generous comments about the Blog, which was designed to help you open minds, close business and wow crowds, whether you sell and present one-on-one, one-to-a-group, in-person or on-line.  

Again, many, many thanks for stopping by and reading what I had to say. I hope you found the posts as helpful as I enjoyed writing them.

If you missed any of these posts, below are some of the most popular (and still timely) ones from each year.

When the stakes are high, strong presentation strategy is a necessity, not a luxury.  That strategy was in full display this week when Ukraine’s President Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.  Not to minimize the seriousness of his talk, here are three lessons for all presenters to take away from his speech.

Two people I recently coached from two different start-ups made the same error in their PowerPoint presentations, so, if you show PPTs in your online client meetings or webinars, I thought I would share this tip with you. 

Two people I recently coached from two different start-ups made the same error in their PowerPoint presentations, so, if you show PPTs in your online client meetings or webinars, I thought I would share this tip with you. 

Do you have any idea what “synchronized organizational hardware” is or what “compatible logistical mobility” means?  Do you want to know more about either? Probably not and neither does anyone else—except maybe the person who created these names.  In an age of short attention spans, many choices, and increasing complexity, keeping names and processes, simple has never been more important.  Business strategist and marketing guru Jim Nowakaski drives this point home in this entertaining, but quite important, post for successful business communication. 

I recently changed dentists. My new dentist doesn’t talk. Oh, he can physically talk, but beyond, “Hello.” “Open.” “Close.” “Done.” and “Good-bye”, he. does. not. talk.  Not exactly a hoot to be around. My old dentist not only talked throughout our session, but would occasionally step outside his office into the waiting room where there is a piano and play some jazz for his patients. Visiting him was fun.  But why I dropped him reminded me what the basic requirements are for sales success.

This true story led to lost business. It didn’t have to happen. What would you have done? Stasha had a long-time monthly contract with XYZ service to clean her shop every other Wednesday. On the day before the scheduled cleaning, XYZ owner Robert texted Stasha his usual pre-cleaning date reminder that asked for a confirmation …

Clients may leave for many reasons beyond our control: a change in decision-makers, a budget cut, a change in strategy, a better product, etc. However, there is no excuse for them leaving because of one common stupid mistake that is all too easy to make. Late Responses To The Phone Call One buyer called his …

You’ve heard of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Intelligence). PQ (Presentation Intelligence) is the ability to keep listeners engaged and excited throughout your presentation — no matter how dry the material is — and move them easily to a positive outcome. And now, for the first time, you can measure your PQ with a …

Champion gymnast Simone Biles suffered the “twisties” the first week of the Olympics and dropped out of the competition, only to return a week later with her needed mental reset to win a bronze medal. The “twisties” is a condition in gymnastics where the brain and body go out of sync, making it extremely dangerous if you have to twist in the air and land on your feet. The “twisties” can happen in sales as well when your mind and your performance go equally out of sync. When that happens, here are some thoughts on what to do and what NOT to do.

Ever notice how you manage to get every important thing done before you have to leave on a vacation? Having that departure date as a deadline drives you to suddenly prioritize and execute the right activities to do.  As we all return to “normal,” there are many things to do to get business revved up for future growth (market, staff up, modify/change product, increase sales, etc.).  Setting clear deadlines for each of those activities will help ensure they get done. Why is that?