A summary of things you should know about Top Dog according to Andy Bounds: Introduction In this episode Andy Bounds reveals all his insights on his and Richard Ruttle’s book,Read More
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]]>In this episode Andy Bounds reveals all his insights on his and Richard Ruttle’s book, Top Dog, where they share techniques to impress and influence everyone you meet.
In their book Bounds and Ruttle provide expert advice and examples on becoming a more effective and sought-after communicator when it comes to any conversation from dating to sales. The goal of the book is to teach you proven communication strategies that will heighten your ability to spark conversations, make you the center of attention, and help you take charge of a conversation.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who frequently attend networking events, make sales calls, or live the dating life and need simple ways to enhance their charisma when talking to others.
There are three things and firstly it works pretty much instantly. Secondly, my co-author and I have two very different perspectives, he works inside a very large organization and I have my own consultancy and work outside large organizations and having the both inside and outside helps to see things from both points of view. Lastly, Richard has bred dogs all his life and researched a lot about pack behavior you see in dogs and we reference some ways you can learn from animals about becoming the top dog.
All of our chapters are self-contained and so you can skip around where needed.
It would be to be an equal of the person you are talking to. In other words you’re a top dog too.
The first chapter is titled Lead the Pack which is about being the top dog yourself. Chapter two is about unlearning the bad habits that hold you back. Without sometimes realizing it we are all creators of habit even if that habit didn’t work last time you did it. So we start off with simple ways that you can unpick what you do. From that we then start looking at ways to make a great first impression and we all know how important first impressions are. We show you how to create a great very first impression and if you start off well that impression will last a long time. Just things like practicing how you introduce yourself can set the tone for everything. So the book talks about how to do an ice breaker so the person loves you very quickly but it also talks about what not to do so we come across as top dog from sentence one. The next chapter covers how to get meetings, how to prepare for meetings, and how to deliver a great first meeting. Assuming that’s gone really well there is then going to be a second meeting and so we have a chapter called Keep Walking which is how you build momentum in subsequent meetings. And eventually, if that goes well, we need to get a proposal in place and so the next two chapters talk about proposals and presentations. The finally chapter is called Stay Top Dog and the reason we put this in is because it’s very easy to hear good ideas, get it and fix it, but it’s also just as easy to go back to your old habits after the excitement wears off.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 04:53
“Nobody cares what you do, they care what you cause.” – Andy Bounds
I am one of the two authors of Top dog, the other one is Richard Ruttle. I have my own consultancy practice and what I do is I help large organizations sell more. I’ve worked in 30 countries and Top Dog is my third book. I hope that readers will be able to read Top Dog and understand exactly what they need to do to progress their business.
The inspiration was to help people in conversations when they think the other person is more important than them. The inspiration is to get rid of all that frustration out there that so many entrepreneurs feel when having a conversation with important people and it not going as well as they want and this book will make sure that it does.
If Disney Ran Your Hospital by Fred Lee
Buy Top Dog by Andy Bounds and Richard Ruttle on Amazon today
Visit AndyBounds.com to learn more about Andy
Visit AndyBoundsOnline.com to learn more about Andy’s online video club
Follow Andy Bounds on LinkedIn and Twitter
Connect with Andy via email here
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
Charisma on Command by Charlie Houpert
What More Can I Say by Dianna Booher
The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael Maher
Relevant advice and tips:
How To Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>Public speaking ranks as one of the biggest fears when the general public is polled on the matter. There are those out there who actually fear public speaking more thanRead More
The post 4 Effective Public Speaking Tips For Entrepreneurs appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>Public speaking ranks as one of the biggest fears when the general public is polled on the matter. There are those out there who actually fear public speaking more than death, which is quite silly when you stop to think about it. When it comes to public speaking, there is no reason to be afraid.
Entrepreneurs often experience fear before public speaking engagements. Their opportunity to convince clientele and investors of their products’ worthiness hangs in the balance and this can cause a speaker to become tongue tied and sweaty. But when you follow these effective public speaking tips for entrepreneurs, you can overcome the crippling fear that keeps so many from reaching their goals and dreams.
Of course, this is a cliché, but the reason why clichés endure is because there is a great deal of truth to them. There is no skill in life that cannot be improved by practicing it over and over again and public speaking is no different. Write your speech down and read it to yourself several times. This will help you make sure that you did not use any language that does not make sense and ensure that the speech flows naturally.
Enlist friends and family who are not afraid to tell it like it is. Getting friends and family that are known for sugarcoating the truth will not help your speech either. You need as much honest feedback as you can possibly get. Those who know you are bound to be much more forgiving than those who are considering investing their resources in your product.
The more you practice, the better your delivery will become, which allows you to develop a greater connection with your audience. It also decreases the chance of your audience becoming bored and restless during your speech. As you practice, larger portions of the speech become committed to memory and you are able to increase the level of eye contact you have with audience members.
Developing more comfort with your speech is crucial. You can begin to add jokes or humorous anecdotes to spice things up and take the time to include every one of your most important points, while also trimming the fat to ensure that you do not run over the time you’ve been allotted.
Before giving your speech, it helps to take a trip to the space that you will be using, so that you can learn more about the acoustics of the area. It will also help you to walk around a bit on the stage or to stand at the podium. The entrepreneur can mentally picture a room full of people and make sure that their voice will be easy to hear.
Taking these sorts of steps ensures that you will not be caught off guard by any minor issues related to the room being used. Checking out the room you’re going to be speaking in is a great use of your time and should be done by any entrepreneur who is looking for ways to calm their nerves prior to the day of the speech.
A greater understanding of your surroundings is pivotal to giving a great speech. Removing the element of surprise from your speech is a boon to both you and your audience.
When you are preparing your speech, it is best to know what kind of audience you will be speaking to. Is your audience younger, with a shorter attention span? If so, you may want to add some visual ads and incorporate slang terms that can help to get your point across when necessary. Use any method that can help the speech resonate in the mind of your audience.
Or you could be speaking to an older, more seasoned audience. They may not be as apt to respond to visual ads and will want cold, hard facts to help them in their decision making process. No matter who you are speaking to, knowing the audience and being able to decipher their needs and wants is important.
Another component to be aware of is your virtual audience. More and more speeches are being live tweeted and streamed for interested parties all around the world. If this is true for your speech, make sure you include content that has a much greater chance of being able to go viral.
This sounds deceptively simple enough, but there is a difference between speaking about yourself and speaking about the goods and services you provide. It is good to tie in some personal facts about yourself during your speech, but not at the expense of any knowledge that could be dispensed about the product you’re speaking about.
The best speeches are those that do not come across as sales pitches, while still giving the audience all of the pertinent information that they came to hear. Walking the line between being informative and entertaining is an incredibly difficult balancing act. The person who is able to do so will have a captive audience for the duration of their spiel.
When you are formatting your speech, know which points you want to take and what knowledge you would like to impart. This will help you to tie in important information, while still being able to remain entertaining. No one wants a speech filled with personal anecdotes or one that is larded with dry facts that do not hold their interest.
What More Can I Say by Dianna Booher
Charisma On Command by Charlie Houpert
EDGY Conversations by Dan Waldschmidt
Powerhouse by Mike Clayton
Credibility by James Kouzes
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]]>A summary of things you should know about What More Can I Say according to Dianna Booher: Introduction In this episode Dianna Booher takes a deep dive into her book,Read More
The post A Preview of What More Can I Say with Dianna Booher appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>In this episode Dianna Booher takes a deep dive into her book, What More Can I Say, where she discusses why communication fails and what you can do about it.
In her book Booher gives you examples of messages that succeed along with a practical nine-point checklist that addresses the common reasons that your communication is causing you to fail your goals. The goal of her book is to help you build solid relationships, increase your credibility, get your point across clearly, and become a more influential communicator.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are trying to become credible public figures and need practical advice that helps them overcome the typical failures of communication.
I tried to base this book on sound research and not just on survey data.
You can read it all the way through or jump in and out where needed.
I would give you two; the first one is that words matter. Words control how you think. The second one I would say to never depend on logic alone to build a persuasive argument, you have to address the emotional side of an issue as well.
What More Can I Say has nine counter-intuitive principles for success in getting your point across, expanding your influence, and persuading others to change their mind and behavior.
If I had to say what the most important law was it would be the trust law. If you don’t trust someone you are never going to believe them. Most people don’t realize how they can communicate distrust and there are many ways that you can communicate distrust that you are unaware of.
The second law that I talk about is the difference between monolog and collaboration. Often when leaders make a decision they think of the pros, the cons and go through all the reasoning and then they announce a decision and expect people to go along. The way other people often look at this approach is that they were given no chance for input. People believe their own data and like to have a part in that decision making.
Another law I talk about in the book is why communication fails to persuade sometimes and it’s because complex. Complex language obscures ideas and priorities; people don’t know which fire to fight. If things look hard or feel hard than people are slow to do them. But communication that is really successful in persuading is clear and simple. Clear language sharpens the focus and drives action.
These are just a few of the principles that are in the book about persuasion that I think were fascinating. If you can actually base what you are doing to be persuasive on concrete research then you know where you are going.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 06:52
“You can change your world by changing your words; remember death and life are in the power of the tongue.” – Joel Osteen
I have been working with executives and people that want to improve their communication for about three decades. I have been coaching people, teaching business writing, technical writing, presentation skills, and just working with organizations who want to improve their productivity by increasing their effectiveness.
For months we have been in to the situation where both sides politically are engaged in what I call an uncivil discourse. In business everything that happens, happens as a result of communication so when I sat down to unravel miscommunication in a business or organization I wanted to know why it was that people can’t change others minds. I started researching why some people can’t persuade effectively and that’s the reason why I wrote the book.
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
Buy What More Can I Say by Dianna Booher on Amazon today
Visit WhatMoreCanISayTheBook.com to learn more about Dianna’s book and additional resources
Follow Dianna Booher on Facebook and Twitter
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
Charisma on Command by Charlie Houpert
Powerhouse by Mike Clayton
EDGY Conversations by Dan Waldschmidt
Relevant advice and tips:
How To Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
The post A Preview of What More Can I Say with Dianna Booher appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>10 Bad Habits That Successful People Avoid We all know those successful people in our lives. Our bosses, our friends, or even clients who come in, they are all successfulRead More
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]]>We all know those successful people in our lives. Our bosses, our friends, or even clients who come in, they are all successful and you may wonder how they do it. You know they must be hard working, determined and goal oriented to have made it to where they are today. These are all traits that we can admire and look up, and hopefully take a lesson from. There are a lot of bad habits that get us off on the wrong track and away from success, but successful people know what bad habits to avoid and deter from so they stay on the path to success!
In order to be very successful here is a look at some bad habits that successful people avoid:
One of the worst habits that people have is waiting for success to land in your lap or looking for quick and easy schemes that never really work. Successful people know that you have to work hard for what you get, and you have to work even harder when you have a goal in mind. Waiting for opportunity to arise causes you to often lose sight of the end goal, and can often leave you questioning your choices when other opportunities have passed you by while you waited for one to land in your lap. Don’t sit around and wait, get up and go get it!
Not setting priorities or setting yours below someone else’s is one of the worst habits that successful people will avoid. They don’t let someone else’s set priorities interfere with their own. Successful people know what matters to them (promotions, projects, financial plans, goals) and they know that by letting other people’s priorities (be it values, promotions, etc.) get in their way, they are setting themselves up to fail. Of course, they know that giving a help hand isn’t a bad thing, but they don’t let anyone else’s pace slow them down!
One of the biggest downfalls of success that prosperous people avoid is resistance to change. The way the world grows and the technology in it and the process by which people get things done, it is always changing. Those who resist that change are often doomed to failure or to falling behind. Successful people know that change is a good thing and the growth potential that comes with it is huge! By allowing change to happen, grasping it and moving forward with it, you are advancing yourself and your goals.
Successful people are those who are not powerless. They are strong-willed, willing to stand for what is right, and aren’t afraid to speak up with their opinions. By letting others dictate the way things go, you are not being successful. However, by giving good input, dictating the way you want things to go, and giving and articulate strong point of view, you are showing others a new way of seeing or doing something, and that is huge potential for your success.
Those who are successful are not pessimists who see the worst in the world. They take the world (and the people, places, and situations in it), see it for what it is, and set out on a path to make it better. They find the good in situations and if there is none, they create it. They push forward in tough times, showing that there is strength in leadership. A good outlook and a strong sense of willpower and well-being will set you on the right path to success and often will make others follow.
Being jealous of others successes will only hold you back in the long run. Being jealous often leads to endless self-doubt, questioning many decisions, and often making you stray from the successful path. Successful people are happy that others are succeeding and will praise them. They will listen to others successes in hopes that they can learn something new that will further their own achievements and get them closer to their goals. Being glad for someone else’s achievements eases the mind and heart, giving you an overall feeling of well-being, which will boost your internal go getter side!
Those who are on the path to success do not talk down about others or gossip. Not only does gossiping lead to lies, mistruths, and twisted versions of things that have happened, but it makes you look less successful. To stand on the rumors of someone else makes you appear to be climbing the backs of those around you just so you get to the top. Successful people don’t gossip, they praise the works of others and give good impressions of others characters.
Those who are successful have goals in mind. They know what they want and have made a plan to get there (and maybe have even made a few back up plans in case something doesn’t work out with their initial plan). They realize that there are no wrong turns, just more opportunities to learn something new, to see things in a different light, and to push yourself to get to that goal when things do get tough. Those who want it, will get it!
One of the best qualities about a successful person is their humility. They don’t tout their successes from the rooftops or make others feel beneath them because they haven’t reached the same success. Those with humility will appreciate the gratitude, but will also share in the success. Those who have succeeded will rejoice with others and thank them for their help in assisting the successful person of making their goals happen. It always takes more than one person to reach your goals, no matter how independent you are.
When success has been reached, successful people don’t just stop trying. They don’t say, I have made it and have nothing more to do! No, they take the day for what it is, and then wake up anew with a fresh goal in mind. They don’t stop, they don’t pass by new opportunities. They know the keys to success and how to reach those steps and goals. With a path and goal in mind, and a determination in your heart and mind, you can be as successful as you want to be!
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill | Check out Don Green’s book preview here
Charisma on Command by Charlie Houpert | Check out Charlie’s book preview here
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod | Check out Hal’s book preview here
The Greatness Zone by Jay Forte | Check out Jay’s book preview here
The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau | Check out Chris’s book preview here
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]]>How to Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World Why is communication so important in the business world? Be it a face-to-face meeting with a supplier or an onlineRead More
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]]>How to Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
Why is communication so important in the business world? Be it a face-to-face meeting with a supplier or an online conversation on a social media platform, if you aren’t adept at the art of communication, you are at a risk of failure.
But if you think that effective communication just implies smooth talk, you are in big trouble. Effective communication involves talking, listening and understanding. And it is no different in the business world.
How do you become an effective communicator? Here are the steps to achieve success.
Be prepared. Whether you are trying to have a talk with your boss about a raise or with a client about a possible contract, it is important to prepare for it. If you don’t, you may not be able to put your points through when you get the opportunity.
It’s important to make sure that the time they invest in listening to you is not wasted on your ramblings. No need to memorize a pitch, just make a note of the points you want to focus on during the conversation. And things become easier.
Begin on the right note. When you broach a conversation, the things that interest your audience are – what do you have to say, how much of their time would you take, and what outcome you expect from the interview.
Therefore, it’s just easier to state the objective of your conversation and the time it will take for you to discuss it when you open a conversation. It puts the individual at the other end at ease as they become immediately aware of the significant points.
Pay attention to body language and tone. Communication doesn’t involve the words alone; body language and tone of voice matter too. Try conversing about a serious matter in a frivolous tone, and nobody will take it the way you want them to.
When someone asks a question, crossing arms signifies defense while putting them in the pocket implies concealment. Learn the basics of how the mind interprets body language and facial expressions. Also, practice smiling while talking to instill a nicety to your tone.
Choose your words carefully. Next is the question of word selection. You need to learn how to put your point across in a clear and precise manner. Brevity is an admired quality in a businessman. But it isn’t helpful if it stands in the way of clarity.
Also, keep in mind to tailor your speech to suit the individual you converse with. Suppose you sell software. While you may have to tell the basics of it to a non-technical individual, you don’t need to do so when you talk to the IT department.
Learn to listen (this is the most important). It is important to focus on what you say, how you say it, and how much time you take. But even more important is to ascertain that you pause and listen to the other person.
Consider whether they understand what you say. Ask the right questions. And listen to their answers, analyze and understand them. This is important, whether you are trying to convince your boss to give you that raise or encourage your client to sign that contract.
Effective communication, like many prominent skills, takes practice. And it is best to apply your knowledge of how to do it right in your personal and professional space. Once you have mastered this art, it will pave your way to success in both.
If so here are some books that I recommend you take a look at:
Edgy Conversations by Dan Waldschmidt | Listen to my interview with Dan here
The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael J Maher | Listen to my interview with Michael here
Charisma On Command by Charlie Houpert | Listen to my interview with Charlie here
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Charisma On Command according to Charlie Houpert: Introduction In this episode Charlie Houpert takes a dive into his book, Charisma On Command,Read More
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]]>In this episode Charlie Houpert takes a dive into his book, Charisma On Command, where he shares his personal story on how he went from extreme introvert to an extrovert all on his own.
In his book, Houpert gives you an in depth action guide to improving your social skills through conversing, presenting, and conveying positive feelings.
This book is perfect for all types of entrepreneurs who are introverts trapped in a comfort bubble when it comes to socializing with others or extroverts who need to polish their social listening skills and charm.
I think a lot of books that are about charisma or leadership tend to be written by researchers. Mine comes from the perspective of having lived this transformation myself. Also, roughly 1/3 of this book is dedicated to an action guide and this is something I thought was missing in everything else that I read before.
It’s a book that needs to be read from beginning to end.
Engage and interact with the people around you that you might not normally such as your cab driver and the guy behind the register. This will make them laugh, improve your energy and do the things that you want. This will keep you in a positive mood so that when you do see the investor or the CEO you are not star-struck because you are used to interacting with people on a human level and not treating people as functions of their position.
The first part of the book I quickly talk about and make the argument that charisma and social skills is something that can be learned.
The second part of the book I dive into what have been the three charismatic principles that are most important. This is not just for my own life but also a lot of analysis and research of the most charismatic people in the world. The first principle that I have found that is most foundational to charisma is having conviction. Conviction in everything you say and do is absolutely critical and I talk in this part about 12 charismatic convictions that will make everything you say more affective. It’s doing what you want while acting with integrity between what you’re thinking, saying and doing.
The next charismatic principle is energy and the importance behind it. We have all come across people in our lives that are absolutely energy sucks. A lot of people do this without realizing it. It is important to convey a positive feeling not only in your words but the way you speak. If you see someone feeling an emotion you are likely to feel it too.
The third charismatic principle is the presentation. This is about the body language, eye contact and how to do all of it in a way that is engaging and attractive to other people. One of the biggest things to consider from eye contact is to maintain it while you’re speaking.
The last section is putting it all together and here I give you a 30 day action guide to follow. The point of this action guide is to give you small habits that you can do to actually make this a new normal in your own life.
“Charisma is learned and a skill.” – Charlie Houpert
I grew up on the east coast, lived in a bunch of different places but right now I am living in Vegas. I run a company called Charisma on Command with my best friends and co-founder. The whole point of this company is to teach people to be more charismatic and to do it on command.
I grew up incredibly shy, voted the shyest kid in my high school class of over 500 people and lived that way through college. At some point I got fed up with it, went abroad and dedicated myself to reinventing who I was. I dove into books, put myself in uncomfortable situations, took a bunch of improv classes and now people come up to me surprised how outgoing and comfortable I am. This has transformed my life more profoundly than anything else I’ve done and something I really enjoy sharing with other people.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
Buy Charisma On Command by Charlie Houpert on Amazon today
Visit CharismaOnCommand.com to learn more about Charlie and his book
Follow Charlie Houpert on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Habit Stacking by Steve J Scott | Third Circle Theory by Pejman Ghadimi | The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
Relevant advice and tips: How to Become an Effective Communicator in the Business World
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
The post A Preview of Charisma On Command with Charlie Houpert appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
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