Relevant Leadership Blog

The Case For Storytelling

When I was twenty-one years old, my brother Scott and I started a business together. I quickly discovered that I didn’t have a lot of credibility when it came to influencing others. We had marginal success but not the kind we were after. So I started to study communication and influence. I read books, attended seminars, listened to audio programs, and practiced what I learned. Through my study I found some keys to how to tell my story and communicate my message that caused people to listen and to eventually follow me. We ended up building that business to over

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Stories Make Everything Better

On Monday, I sat in an Irrigation Company Board meeting in Idaho for shareholders who own water rights. We bought a cabin/ranch property last year and with it bought water rights on the canal that runs through our property. The shareholders in the room were primarily farmers and ranch owners – this is a gruff bunch. The President of the Board started the meeting with a funny little story that poked fun at farmers and made everyone laugh and my thought automatically was – Stories make everything better Storytelling a skill that can enhance virtually every situation.   Last week

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Here’s An Answer You Probably Don’t Want To Hear

  A couple of days ago I had a conversation with a speaker who said “I’m really good on stage, but I’m not getting booked for speeches as much as I would like to, do you have any suggestions?”   My answer is one that he probably didn’t want to hear, but it’s the truth. I said “Your problem is one of two things. Either 1 – you’re not as good as you think you are on the stage or 2 – you’re not marketing yourself the way you need to or as effectively as you need to.”   That

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5 Powerfully Simple Presentation Tips

I get asked for presentation advice all the time, so here are five tips that will help make your presentations more engaging & effective.   Get Rid of Pleasantries – There is no need to talk about the weather, how grateful you are to be there, to apologize, or reintroduce yourself. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention so start with a question or jump into your content. Make it Conversational – Act like you are speaking to one person. Make it conversational. Ask questions. If it is a small group you might create dialogue, with a

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5 Powerfully Simple Presentation Tips

1. Get Rid of Pleasantries – There is no need to talk about the weather, how grateful you are to be there, to apologize, or reintroduce yourself. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention so start with a question or jump into your content. 2. Make it Conversational – Act like you are speaking to one person. Make it conversational. Ask questions. If it is a small group you might create dialogue, with a large audience ask questions and give a pause for people to think about the question. Keep them engaged in the conversation. 3. Tell

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If You Use PowerPoint – Read This

Last week at one of the events I keynoted the speaker before me used 65 blank white slides with bullet point paragraphs in black font that he read word for word from screen! – Seriously painful. So to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore – here are 18 tips for anyone who uses PowerPoint to present: (I have to give credit to Ruby Newell-Legner for many of the tips below)   Finish your presentation before starting to work on your Power Point slides Remember – PowerPoint is NOT your Presentation. It is a visual support to your message Use a

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Three Things The Right Story Can Do For You

Gary Vaynerchuck, the Wine Library TV star and bestselling author of Crush It! said, “Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill in business.” The reason that statement is true is because stories make you, your products and your brand relatable, engaging, and multidimensional. If we are in the interview process we want to be liked and remembered. If we are in sales we want our product to be chosen over all of the competition.  And every company in the world wants their brand to be valuable in the minds of consumers. Well-told stories in the business world create three

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Samples Sell (Shark Tank Tip #4)

As you present a product, concept or idea – keep in mind that Samples Sell. This is the fourth presentation tip from Shark Tank. In the first post we learned to personalize your presentation. In post two we discovered that people buy you. And in post three we recognized the importance of knowing your numbers. As entrepreneurs enter the Shark Tank, they present a multitude of ideas. Their products range from food to clothing to movies. And one of the ways that the entrepreneurs seem to win over the sharks is by putting the product in their hands. When you

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Know Your Numbers (Shark Tank Tips)

This is post number three in the series – Presentation Tips from Shark Tank. In post one – we discussed Personalizing Your Message. In post two – we discovered that People Buy You. Today’s post will remind us all that we need to Know Our Numbers. As hopeful entrepreneurs present to the sharks they present a valuation on their business. They say, “I’m asking for $100,000 for 10% equity in my business.” – which would be a $1,000,000 valuation. It is only logical that the sharks would want to know why the business is worth $1,000,000. So they ask about

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People Buy You (Shark Tank Tips)

In my first post on Presentation Tips from Shark Tank, we discussed how to personalize your message. The second tip from Shark Tank is that People Buy You. There is a familiar adage in sales and marketing that says, “You are not the message, you are the messenger.” I couldn’t disagree more. Have you ever been to a used car lot and been hounded by a slimy, annoying used car salesman? You can’t tell me that the salesman doesn’t affect the sale. This principle is true across the board. -The students buy the teacher first. -The audience buys the presenter

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