Talk to the Human™

What is the difference between someone who cares about their customers and someone who doesn’t? Is it “being the boss”, or “having a heart”?  

The difference is in your personal standard for how long it takes to get back with someone who has called for you. Is there a right answer to how long a customer should wait? Maybe not. But I bet there isn’t a customer on Earth you thinks it’s okay to be ignored for more than a day.

A few days ago, I wrote a post called The Cost of Losing Business. In that post, I mentioned it had been about a month since I was told the folks I wanted to buy an $87 product from would get back to me. Since then, three things have happened:

Sometimes, you need to look at that goal, plan, or new years resolution and renew your commitment. In the spirit of not missing any opportunity, here is a look at some posts that can help you focus on your future in the month where most folks lose that momentum.

Are you finding ways to succeed, or are you stuck looking for no? After reading Alan Weiss’ website, I had an immediate “ah-ha” moment when I read about how some people saw good news as simply a prelude to coming bad news. They see every turn representing potential trouble, every new person as a threat, and each new request as a burden. Read the post to get some ideas on how to work with the nay-sayers.

Remember the 37-second rule: Based on the way the human brain is wired, you only have 37 seconds to capture an idea before it’s lost…possibly forever. Don’t lose those opportunities! Read the post for some tips to capture those ideas.

Every now and then, a good book may be a reference book you can turn to again and again. If you are a person who writes or speaks, you need to have a reference of great quotes handy all the time. Seriously.

The Harper Book of Quotations, Third Edition was published too early to include any George W. Bush gems, but contains over 6,500 quotes from both the famous and obscure.

You may find yourself held back by these common myths. Each of these applies to any type of speaking, as well as speaking in Toastmasters. Read on, and learn how to identify and conquer these speaking flaws:

Error #1: Every speech has to be different.
- In professional or business settings, you wouldn’t want to give the same speech to the same audience over and over, but when the audience changes, you can use material that was developed for another audience. All you need to do is know your audience and make the small tweaks where you need to.
- In Toastmasters, this misconception comes from an erroneous assumption that you can’t take credit for the same speech more than once. Change that thinking! Don’t “take credit” for your speech…earn credit for it. Are you wondering what the difference is? Say you are wanting to practice a speech for a big presentation you have to do at work on the Johnson Account (or whatever). You can work on the Competent Communication (CC) manual speech project on Vocal Variety, give your speech and receive some useful tips to improve. Next, take those improvements and tighten it up. Go to the project on Using Visual Aides and practice it again. Now you are better prepared for that work assignment! Note: you don’t have to stop at two times, practice again if you need to.

Error #2: All of your material must be original.
- Clearly it’s a bad idea to plagerize the work of others. However, if you credit them and include what you’ve learned from experts in your presentation you can add to your credibility and improve the audience’s condition at the same time. Telling the audience how using that other expert’s advice made a difference for you can help them follow a similar path to success.
- In Toastmasters, there are some scripted programs designed to help members succeed with common speaking and leadership topics such as Goal Setting and Planning, Evaluate to Motivate, and Creating an Opening. I once asked a fellow member about giving a speech on Goal Setting. His reply, “I don’t need to do one of those modules right now Rob, I need to give a speech.” I replied “Joe, just give a speech on Goal Setting, you can reference your own experience as well as the module and other sources in your own speech.” This took a bit of back and forth to get through, because of the misunderstanding that he though to talk about one of those topics, you had to use the module. It’s not true, and like any source you just need to cite what you use when you speak. If, however, you want to read the script as designed, then of course that is not a manual speech, but how you present it as a module.

I wrote a book review last week on Seth Godin’s New Book, Linchpin – Are you Indispensable? This book is out today, and is now available at Amazon or your local bookseller.

I like this book so much that I finally went to Amazon.com and created an affiliate link to help you get to it faster. Read it!