The #1 Success Factor

Reading time: 100 seconds.Professor Thomas Harrell at the Stanford Business School spent 20 years examining Stanford MBAs looking for the success factor. He concluded the only identifiable predictor of success is something he called "social extroversion" - the ability...

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A simple risk/reward calculator.

 A Simple Risk/Reward CalculatorREADING TIME: 30 SecondsWe are pre-conditioned to avoid risks even though we deal with them on a daily basis. As a result, we turn away from opportunities to create the jobs we dream of, build the lives we long for, and make the moves...

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I Tap Dance to Work

When Bill Gates, the richest man in the US asked Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the US “How do you define success?” he replied, “I tap dance to work.” That’s StorySpeak. Warren Buffett used the happy tone of old Hollywood song and dance movies where the...

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The Rewards of Introducing People

READING TIME: 100 Seconds Introductions are an important part of business. Learn to handle them graciously, and you display the hallmark of a polished business professional. Introducing Others If you introduce your boss to a friendly media contact, or a client to...

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What’s Wrong with Mr. Perfect?

An editor at Esquire magazine asked me why a certain reader’s profile wasn’t getting the desired results. On the surface this 39-year-old, good-looking guy with a great life/job/future seemed like Mr. Perfect. I gathered eight women aged 23 to 35 (his desired range)...

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Nobody wants to be lonely. Daisy’s story.

READING TIME: 60 SECONDS I’ll never forget the first words Daisy spoke when she introduced herself at one of my workshops several years ago: “I’m so used to jerks I can’t even recognize the nice guys anymore.” Ever since childhood, Daisy explained, she had been...

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Do one thing well.

Success really is that simple. Find your unique gift and do it repeatedly. When you’re really good at that one thing, people will want to pay you for it, or to teach them how to do it. You can find your unique gift in part 2 of The Irresistible Power of StorySpeak.

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What is StorySpeak?

When Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the US and holder of the unofficial title “America’s Greatest Storyteller” was asked, “Do you enjoy your work?”  He replied, “I tap-dance to work.”  That’s StorySpeak. He credits his ability to create short stories and...

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The irresistible benefits of StorySpeak

READING TIME: 4 MINUTES StorySpeak invigorates ideas, stimulates cooperation, sways attitudes and opinions and arouses growth. In Education… Ask any high school student who his or her favorite teacher is and then ask why. Chances are the answer will be, “Because she...

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Party your Way to the Top

READING TIME 90 SECONDS On March 16th, 2008 Jussi Karppinen closed his office door in downtown Helsinki, sat down at his desk and Googled “borrow money.” On the other side of the door his staff of twenty-five realtors plodded about their business convinced any day...

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Nobody wants to be lonely.

READING TIME 70 SECONDS Why is having someone special so important to us human beings? Not just for companionship, for safety, or for convenience, but because we have a need to express ourselves emotionally and intellectually, we all need someone we can trust to talk...

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5 Ways to Manage Constant Complainers

Reading time: 90 Seconds 1.    Interrupt 2.    Investigate 3.    Validate 4.    Motivate 5.    Delegate It can be really frustrating having to deal with people who are always complaining. Of course, you have the usual four options for dealing with difficult people:...

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Leadership from Beneath

READING TIME: 90 SECONDS - On the surface Abigail is an everyday woman. Beneath the surface she is an assertive leader. An assertive leader’s language may be artfully vague and her body language gentle, but never doubt that she is always focused on what she...

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Connect Like You Give a Damn

READING TIME: 90 SECONDS. I care passionately about human potential - and it shows. I give a damn about my books, my readers and my corporate speaking clients – and it shows. 80 percent of all my speaking engagements are word of mouth and repeat business, 9 of them in...

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Keynote Speaker – The Different Types!

Once upon a time, a keynote speaker was a smartly dressed person in a suit who stepped up onto the stage at the beginning of an event or convention or after a dinner. The job of the chosen keynote speaker was make a strong emotional and rational connection with the...

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Motivational Speaker vs. Inspirational Speaker

“Why do you think there are so many motivational speakers around?" Could it be that hiring a motivational speaker doesn't work? Oh sure, the message a motivational speaker delivers works for a day or two, or maybe even a few weeks but, sooner or later, the happy...

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There’s No Such Thing as Shy

READING TIME: 80 SECONDS: I am consistently asked, "but what if I'm shy by nature?" Here's the good news. Nobody was born shy - it's not a human attribute. So-called shy people were more than likely born "Cautious" or Reserved." These are excellent human attributes. I...

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Does Public Speaking Turn Your World Upside Down?

READING TIME: 100 SECONDS. A lot of people are afraid of public speaking, so much so that fear of public speaking outranks fear of death. And according to a recent article, the only greater fears than public speaking are acrophobia (fear of heights) and ophidiophobia...

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Nothing beats face-to-face

Sure we're in the electronic age but nothing beats the impact, speed and results of a face-to-face encounter. When more than 90% of your communication comes from non-verbal signals nothing beats the personal touch. Here are my top ten reasons why face-to-face beats...

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It Takes Crazy Courage to Make Great Things Happen

Researchers out of the University of British Columbia asked the question, “What makes extreme athletes take risks?” It’s a good question, especially in light of watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Why do people do crazy things? According to their research,...

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Humbility – the winning combo

Reading time: 150 seconds. Ever wonder what's the best way to open people up and make them feel good? Try a little "Humbility" in your conversations. Humbility is simply a big ego cloaked in a slightly bigger humility. You can use Humbility to cement the foundations...

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Easy Public Speaking

READING TIME: 90 SECONDS. It’s always puzzled me why public speaking is higher on America's list of fears than death or the economy.  What's the big deal? The catch-22 of public speaking is that the more you do it the easier it becomes. The problem is that most of us...

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Flirting your way to the top!

Reading time: 90 seconds + 30 Ever wonder why some people get promoted even though they don't deserve it? Success doesn't just depend on how well you do your job, it depends on how people feel about you. And plenty of people know how to flirt their way to the top. I'm...

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The Power of Because

READING TIME: 110 SECONDS. Telling people the reason why you are doing something has a major influence on how they react to you because, more often than not, people willingly comply with requests when given reasons why they should. Ellen Langer, a social psychologist...

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Snap judgments.

Reading time: 90 seconds. Try this at a function, a trade show, or in the grocery store line—somewhere you encounter strangers you can approach. Pick out a person you think has some negative aspects. Ask them where something is—the rest room or the deli—and check out...

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You are me and we are all together

Reading time: 45 seconds. Just take a look at the person sitting next to you, or in front of you - or look at anybody. The great truth is that person is just you, going through a different set of experiences since the day they were born - and doing their best to get...

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What’s your “Big Idea”?

Reading Time: 90 Seconds - Smart companies recognize the value of tapping into their employees’ values, of making their work meaningful. One of the ways they do this is by creating a mission statement. Some go even further and distill their mission statements down to...

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Pitching for Profit

  Reading time: 90 seconds. "Every person who got a deal on Dragon's Den, without exception, was able to articulate their business idea in 90 seconds or less." Kevin O'Leary, Dragons Den on CBC, Shark Tank on ABC. To illustrate what Kevin means here's an excerpt...

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Changing minds with body language

Reading time: 85 Seconds - Sometimes getting people to move from one emotional state to an entirely different one can be difficult. For example, if you intend to move someone from indifference (“I’m busy; I’ve got a lot of other things on my mind; can’t this wait?”)...

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The Dreaded Question

READING TIME: 90 SECONDS- “So. Why should we hire you?” You grimace as your shoulders slump and the wind goes out of your sails. “Well,” your stomach sinks as you answer. “I have a number of accomplishments I'd like to tell you about, but I want to make the best use...

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Celebrity Service

Reading time: 55 seconds - A couple of years ago I spoke to 400 financial advisers on a one week cruise around the Caribbean. The service aboard the Celebrity Millennium was exceptional (there are ways to tell if it’s for real). By chance I learned that the head of...

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Let’s say you want to date a hog farmer.

Reading time: 150 seconds Sarah Edwards, 26, grew up on an Ohio horse farm surrounded by cornfields. She met her husband, Grant Edwards, 27, on FarmersOnly.com, when she was living in Columbus and tired of dating city boys who didn't understand her. A former boyfriend...

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What’s in a username?

Reading time: 120 Seconds How about love at first “site.” Janice, a divorced mother of three, was lonely. “I just wanted some intelligent conversation,” she confided. “I knew nothing about Internet dating.” At her 17 year-old daughter’s urging, Janice signed up for a...

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The art of flirting

Reading time: 8 Minutes Flirting is more than just fun - it’s fundamental. We are made for love: our entire survival as a species depends on it. If we stopped flirting, connecting and reproducing with each other we’d soon disappear. So, while nature has endowed us...

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8.2 seconds to fall in love

Reading time: 70 Seconds London - The Daily Telegraph - March 25/09 The time needed for a man to fall in love at first sight is 8.2 seconds, scientists claim. The longer a man's gaze rests on a woman when they meet for the first time, the more interested he is. If it...

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A gift that makes sense

Reading time: 50 seconds. Is there a way to figure out what someone will love as a gift? Imagine being able to know which sense somebody relies on most. When you find out, you can appeal to that sense above all others. The other person won't realize why, but they'll...

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How to succeed without trying.

Reading time: 90 seconds. Try this: place a pen in the extended palm of one hand. Now, with your other hand try to pick it up. If you picked it up, put it back down and try again. I said “Try to pick it up,” I didn’t say “Pick it up.” If you actually hovered over the...

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Perfectionism

Reading time: 90 seconds. What do you say to the student with a 96% average who thinks she’s a failure because she doesn’t look perfect? Or the marketing manager agonizing over a presentation that has to be perfect before he meets with the client. Or the woman who...

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Future-shifting

Reading time: 45 seconds. Whether you're motivating a team, convincing a client, or arguing with your family: if you want to win them over, shift to the future tense. Praise and blame are delivered in the past tense - “You didn’t do this or that!” Values take place in...

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Matched Opposites

Who will complete you? No matter what  you might  have  read or heard elsewhere, the truth is that exciting, loving,  lasting relationships are an artful  blend of  “like attracts like,” so  you  actually like,  respect, and  can  put up  with  each other; and  just...

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Real romance

Where would real love be without stories? Just look over your shoulder at the past. What do you see? Not a world of atoms and molecules but a world of stories. From ten thousand years ago to today. Just stories! Stories of adventures, conquests and love. Stories are...

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The girl next door?

Reading time: 70 seconds Peter Backus, a teaching fellow of economics at the University of Warwick, published his Why I Don't Have A Girlfriend theses after spending three years without a partner. The math wiz used the Drake Equation, a formula used by scientists to...

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The Phone Zone

Reading time: 90seconds + 30 When you’re on the phone, you may have a great connection, but you have to be sure that you’re making a great connection. There’s no body language for you to read. Your only clues to what your conversational partner is thinking or feeling...

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Take them with you.

Reading time: 90 seconds. It’s staggering how many people attend business parties at this time of year and forget to take their business cards. I attended a launch for a book on leadership last week. Eighteen people asked me for my card. When I asked for their card in...

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