Enjoying a cup of coffee and a conversation just like you’ve done many times before. You love conversations with this person. She always tells the best stories. Come to think of it… she’s not like everyone else you know. Not everyone keeps you this engaged with a story. Why is that? What makes her stories …
Want to be More Creative? Try this…
I was holding the marker, standing at the whiteboard and waiting for someone to give me an idea to write down… but they didn’t. They were tapped out. My students had just come up with about 20 ideas and were fresh out of material at this point. Have you been there? When you’re at this …
Three Tools to Make Better Decisions
We make decisions all day long. Some are simple (froot loops or cheerios?) while others can be quite complex (quit my job or stay?) Some internet sources say it could be as many as 35,000 per day, which obviously includes all the simple decisions. How can we get better at making the tough decisions without …
The Fable Story Template and When to Use it
From Aesop’s fablesto Jesus’ parables, we’ve heard these types of stories our whole life. The fable is both powerful and easy to implement. Here’s why you should consider using them the next time you want to focus on a truth and reinforce the core values of your corporate culture. Fables and parables are fictional stories …
How to use the David-and-Goliath Story Template
Whether you’re Jewish, Christian or neither, you’ve probably heard the Biblical story of the shepherd boy destined to become a king. David was the shepherd boy who courageously accepted the fight-to-the-death challenge from the Philistine warrior Goliath, a man twice his size. It’s a classic tale of the underdog facing the champion. If you’ve heard …
How do you Influence Without Authority?
When I was young we used to find adventure on the new home sites at the end of our street. A big pile of dirt would quickly become a trophy centerpiece to do battle for the reigning title of “King of the Mountain.” If you’ve never played it before, every person tries their best to …
Positively stop saying… “I can’t!”
Before we start a new workshop, myself and my peers at iSpeak take the time to meet each individual in the room and learn their name. Throughout the workshop, we use our students’ names when we address them. Recently I was teaching a sales class and 5 minutes after class started, I mentioned a student …
Pie and Coffee
“I tell them anything just to get them out of my office!” was his comment. He was a leader taking my communication workshop in Oklahoma. He was speaking about his direct reports. “Come in and I’ll answer all your questions.” was the comment from a different leader who said he likes to have pie and …