Communication
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Cocktail Judo
At a chatty mixer with people you don’t know well, ask open-ended questions about their fun, passions, or family. The more curious you are about them, the more interesting you’ll be. — Sakfucius
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Concise Magic
Covering a lot of ground in a concise hard hitting fashion is quite the rare art. What’s interesting is Gen AI can help. — Sakfucius
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Entertainment Business
Everyone in the idea business is also in the entertainment business. If you can’t gain and maintain attention, you will never inspire action with your ideas. — Sakfucius
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Awareness
How well do you understand and empathize with the other person’s perspective? The aware and adaptable sell their ideas often, while the bull-headed struggle. — Sakfucius
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Interact
Interacting with individuals, even when presenting to a large group, is essential to keeping attention and connection. If unable to have direct dialog, rhetorical questions are still light years better than forceful statements alone. — Sakfucius
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Blame Never
Blame never works because blame only leads to fight or flight, not rational, logical, constructive improvement. — Sakfucius
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Happy Spouse 101
Everyone wants attention, affection, and respect. Do you really listen to your spouse and respect their thoughts, opinions, and dreams? Everything starts with listening. — Sakfucius
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Communication
Since the most successful people are usually great at effective communication, what are you doing to improve? Hint: Listening is top of the list. — Sakfucius
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Friendship
Friendship requires really listening and empathizing with each other. Two people just taking turns talking about their own stuff rarely lasts. — Sakfucius
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Seek Perspective
How thoroughly do you seek to understand another’s perspective before you tell him that he is wrong? — Sakfucius
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Better Meetings
What if you always asked the quiet participants for their thoughts during a meeting? — Sakfucius
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Meetings Improved
What if included a simple agenda to your meeting invites? What if you always sent a recap too? — Sakfucius
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Unsolicited
Do you give unsolicited advice? How often have you met a person who wanted to be critiqued, unless they asked? — Sakfucius
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Impactful
For your email to make an impact, invest time to make it more concise. — Sakfucius
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Three Times
Pay attention: If someone brags three times in the first minutes of meeting you, he is invariably all talk, little action — or in Texan ‘big hat, no cattle.’ — Sakfucius
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Attention
Earning someone’s undivided attention is crucial. Start with a personal story, a startling fact, a well tested joke, or a thoughtful question, followed by a crystal clear ‘why this matters to them,’ every time. — Sakfucius
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Concise
Being concise is more important than being comprehensive. — Sakfucius
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Meeting 101
Every presentation needs an impactful story that emphasizes your main point. Without it, it’s a good bet that you will be forgotten. — Sakfucius
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Expand
Expand your possibilities, expand your circle of friends, expand your life, by smiling and saying hello. — Sakfucius
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Firm but Nice
Firm but nice is a great way to get stuff done. Too many people jump to anger which might work once in a while but burns bridges longer term. — Sakfucius
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Humor
Humor is WD-40 when selling your ideas. It doesn’t take much to lighten the mood and improve the reception. — Sakfucius
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Offer Coaching
Even the best, if they are self-aware and confident, appreciate thoughtful coaching. Be ready to help if you can get asked. — Sakfucius
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Gossip
Gossip is a destructive habit that tears communities apart. What if you made and kept a resolution to never gossip this year? — Sakfucius
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Changing Opinions
Is it easier to change someone’s opinion by forceful argument or by asking questions that help him come to your logical destination? — Sakfucius
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ESP
Can you read what another person really wants? Ask questions and listen attentively to develop your Empathetic Sensory Perspective. — Sakfucius
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A Rarity
In today’s beeping, buzzing, distracted, multitasking, media whirlwind world, only a few people 100% focus and listen to what you say. What if you decided to become one of those people? — Sakfucius
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The Art of Sales
Deft questions, with patience and perfect pace, are the paintbrush of a true sales professional. — Sakfucius
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Win Someone Over
The best way to win people over is to start with a point of view or belief that they already agree with. — Sakfucius
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Relationships
The easiest way to start a new relationship on the right foot is to tell a fun, personal, modest story. — Sakfucius
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What is Wanted
Deciphering what an other person really wants unlocks true understanding. Most people like to talk but are you asking the right questions? — Sakfucius
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Connecting
Those who write down details they learn about people met, run circles around those do not. Genuine connection is in the little details. — Sakfucius
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Don’t Blend
What do you want a person to remember about you when you meet them? Decide in advance, then tell a passionate story emphasizing your facet with high definition visuals. — Sakfucius
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Parenting
The day your child accepts your unsolicited and unwanted advice — graciously and thoughtfully — is the day you learn that he or she has become an adult. — Sakfucius
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Subtle at Work
Have you asked for what you want, or are you one of the few who works for a mindreader? Don’t be too subtle. — Sakfucius
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Ready to Fire
If you ran into your CEO in an elevator today, what killer idea do you have ready in your torpedo tube? — Sakfucius
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Who Do People Love
When you meet someone, who is the hero in the exchange? If you make the other person the hero, you will be remembered for your charisma. — Sakfucius
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Simplify
Take any idea and distill it to its meaningful core essence. Simplicity makes an impact in a cluttered world. — Sakfucius
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Stories and Memory
Facts are quickly forgotten but great stories are remembered for years. — Sakfucius
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Meeting 201
You can earn people’s attention with relevant startling facts. — Sakfucius
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Both Viewpoints
Both sides usually have some valid points but few people try to sincerely understand the other’s viewpoint. Wise people seek understanding.
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Smart Gift
What if you sent an article on a topic that you know a person has an interest in? It shows that you paid attention to — and liked — the person you met. — Sakfucius
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Same Wavelength
The easiest way to get on the same wavelength with your audience or a new person you just met is to start with an interesting light-hearted story. — Sakfucius
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Audience
If you don’t understand your audience’s perspective, your presentation will probably miss the mark. Each person wants to know why should I pay attention and what’s in this for me. — Sakfucius
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Managing
Managing people well starts with setting a mission and collaborating on how to get it done. Do it my way only works for a short while. — Sakfucius
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Offer Feedback
Not everyone appreciates feedback but it offers a unique opportunity to build a relationship and help someone shine. — Sakfucius
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Feedback
Ask for feedback often and appreciate the few times you receive helpful opinions. It is rare to land a truthful coach, especially later in your career. — Sakfucius
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Consider Wording
There is a remarkable difference between “you might consider” versus “you should” — consider avoiding the word “should” when you can. — Sakfucius
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Figure Impressions Out
What impression do people get from the first three minutes of meeting you, or from the first three minutes of your presentation? — Sakfucius
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Knowledge Divide
The expert who knows a topic best, down to the atomic details, is usually not the right person to communicate the topic to those who barely understand it. — Sakfucius
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Reconnect
Who have you not called and caught up with in years? Why not catch up? — Sakfucius
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Mentor Rich
Do you have many mentors on various dimensions of life? Why not ask more people for their advice? If cultivated, some may become your mentors. — Sakfucius
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Question Timing
Socrates lived thousands of years ago yet remains well known because he asked the right question at the right time. — Sakfucius
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Presentations
When selling an idea, drive home only three points. When you try to do too much, nothing sticks. — Sakfucius
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Expectations vs. Reality
Setting and managing expectations wisely matters more than most people realize, because expectations influence results, perceptions, and experiences. — Sakfucius
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Perspective
When you are struggling in a relationship, take an hour and write down the scenario from the other person’s perspective. Ink and paper offer clarity. — Sakfucius
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Parental Cross to Bear
No one tells young adults what they are signing up for, but children will dump all their emotional baggage on the person who shows them true unconditional love. — Sakfucius
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Charisma
Charisma requires finding what’s special in others and listening better than everyone else in the room. — Sakfucius
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Win Debates
Deft, timely questions open more opportunities and win more debates than pontification. — Sakfucius
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Greatest Tech
The greatest technology is writing. We often read or watch, then forget, but when we write, we remember, we assimilate, we brainstorm, we create. — Sakfucius
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Ask to Learn
No one learns when they talk, only when the ask good questions and listen with an open mind. — Sakfucius
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Details
The key to friendship is genuinely caring about the other person while remembering the details. Write down key details so that you can find them years later. — Sakfucius
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So Few Publish
Publishing is now effectively free. Why not publish your best thoughts, your best work, for all to see? — Sakfucius
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The Wise
The wise ask the right question. — Sakfucius
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Marketing 201
Effective marketing is not about what you make or do but rather the vivid stories you tell. — Sakfucius
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Next Episode
Design your business meetings so that everyone in the room wants and looks forward to the next meeting. — Sakfucius
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Interactive Impact
What if you asked your audience an easy to answer question every five minutes? Would your presentation be more memorable? — Sakfucius
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Purpose of Stories
More than just being memorable, a great story gives the listener questions to think about for themselves. — Sakfucius
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Story Driven
Direct advice can sound judgmental while telling a truthful story about a third party is just a story with influence. — Sakfucius
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Challenger
To be memorable, you need to challenge and modify another’s thinking or at least teach them something new. — Sakfucius
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Arguments Rarely Win
Think ahead. Only argue when you foresee how the argument leads to desired outcomes. — Sakfucius
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Post-Ink
Create the summary and you will influence the outcome of every meeting. — Sakfucius
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Perfect Meeting
Did you use more words than the other person in your meeting? He who speaks most usually fares worst. — Sakfucius
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Listening Intently
Exceedingly few listen well and ask the right follow-up questions. Develop this skill and your influence will grow. — Sakfucius
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Socratic Influencer
What question can you ask, with thoughtful timing, that leads to the other person taking the next step that you hope for? — Sakfucius
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Attention Span
Rare the prospect who listens intently for 60 minutes. Make sure your first 10 minutes are great. — Sakfucius