Anne’s Presentation & Sales Blog

I was deeply flattered last week when a U.S. Senator’s assistant wrote to say her boss loved my metaphor book, “The Tall Lady with the Iceberg,” and would I have some time for a conversation with him? Of course, I said, “Yes.” A student of language, as all politicians–and all communicators–must be, we had a lovely conversation discussing the power of metaphors to frame an argument. For anyone who still doubts the power of metaphors to frame an issue or to shape thinking, here are two current examples from the news.

Though these issues may be of greater global import than those in your business, the key principle is the same: what people see is what they believe and what they believe drives how they act.  What metaphors do you use to help people see the value that ultimately gets them to do business with you?

I will leave it to you to decide who sold both themselves and their respective tickets better  at the Vice President debate Wednesday evening. However, from a strictly sales point of view, here are three lessons learned for anyone in sales.

As Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state at the Supreme Court, she is remembered for inspiring many hundreds of people who worked for her over her long and illustrious career.  Interesting, known for the clarity and strength of her written opinions, when asked in a 2016 interview, which teachers inspired her, she named Vladimir Nabokov at Cornell, who “…changed the way I read and the way I write. Words could paint pictures, I learned from him. Choosing the right word, he illustrated, could make an enormous difference in conveying an image or an idea.” 

Wise to remember in our world when you …

Octavio Urzúa is CEO OSoji Robotics, based in Chile with offices in the U.S. and Japan. He wrote to tell me how he has used metaphors successfully at critical points throughout his business life from getting a raise to positioning his start-up to hiring a new team.  I am happy to share his letter and those stories to inspire ideas for your business as well.

Find out how to create winning metaphors to help you close
business faster in my free webinar “Metaphor: The Ultimate Short Story for Selling” on Sept. 16 at 1PM east coast time. Sign up today at Brighttalk

Everyone talks about the importance of telling stories while you sell (including me – see recent blog), but did you realize that the ultimate sales short story is a metaphor?

Find out why, and how to create winning metaphors to help you close
business faster in my webinar “Metaphor: The Ultimate Short Story for Selling” on Sept. 16 at 1PM east coast time.  Sign up today at Brighttalk

What inspires this week’s post was an email I received from my first graphic designer who I worked with some 30 years ago. We always liked each other.  It was a nice change of pace to hear from her–and it put her top of mind for me for future design needs. Here are examples of what you might include in a similar message to your old clients.

Republican or Democrat, if you were watching the Democratic convention, you saw how telling stories engages, elicits emotion, and underscores the issues they are illustrating. Zooming to millions in politics or selling to one person in business, stories sell. It doesn’t matter how complex or how simple your business is, you will benefit from becoming a “story seller.” Some examples…

Quick! Imagine you  have to come up with a catchy name for a project and website whose mission is to expose false political information online. Knowing that the name needs to be unique, memorable, intriguing to arouse attention, and also accurately reflect the mission, what metaphor for a title comes to mind?

Not actually a question, here’s a very simple, yet powerful, way to get prospects to open up about the real issues, goals, hopes and concerns they have that will affect their decision to work with you.

A friend sent me the following, which is a great example of how to take large abstract numbers and make them real for your viewers, clients, or readers.