BLArticle®
The personal touch of a blog; the informative touch of an article.
United Breaks More Than Guitars
For close to forty years, I’ve been a loyal United Airlines customer. In doing so, I’ve earned various premier status - logging in a minimum of 25,000 miles in the air a year, and crossing the lifetime million mile mark some years ago. Those million miles gets you a...
Why People Don’t Believe You
A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 2 “Something For Everyone?” Do you know the kind of book that publishers tend to run away from? Books that are for everyone. It’s instinctive to want to create something for everyone, but it isn’t logical. To begin with, how would you...
Why People Don’t Believe You
A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 1 “Sometimes a book just finds you…” I’ve been conducting seminars for over 30 years, and I thought I understood what almost every audience needed. Back in the summer of 2012, nothing could have prepared me for the audience I met in a...
The Rise And Fall Of Business Models
Frequently, I’ll ask participants in the seminars I conduct about their expectations. Someone usually raises his or her hand and offers the following classic statement: “If I could learn one or two good ideas that I can use from time-to-time, I will be happy.” One...
Humor That Isn’t That Funny
One of the challenges of grabbing a microphone, walking to the front of a room, and speaking, is the strange paradox of confidence that is clearly on display. If you come on with too much attitude, you can be perceived as pompous. If you come on looking too unsure...
The Fisherman’s Bucket
Fishing fascinates me. My Dad, Lee Jolles, loved to fish. My nephew Matt loves to fish. Quite frankly, I’ve never really understood what’s so interesting about sitting or standing around, for hours at a time, with a pole in your hand… but I learned a valuable...
A Parking Lot For Presenters
Here is the situation: You are up in front of an audience, and you are on a roll! The participants are just beginning to warm up so you want to be extra careful to respond to questions appropriately. A hand goes up, and a rush of excitement courses through your body....
An Oldie… But Not So Goodie
I remember the excitement of learning my first, real presentation model. Although I enjoyed public speaking, I had never received any formal training. I learned an approach that I’m guessing many of you have heard before: Tell’em what you’re gonna tell’em, Tell’em,...
The Danger Of Mystery Marketing
I went to dinner with my wife recently, and I felt like having a nice, cold beer. When our waitress came to the table, I asked if they had one of my favorite beers; a Sam Adams. I happen to really like the taste of that particular beer. Turns out the restaurant...
Emotional Momentum
We all want to move forward and achieve our goals, but frequently we are blocked by our inability to begin. Try as we might, we just can’t gain any momentum. I’m not referring to physical momentum - something we see in a science experiment. Strike a cue ball, watch...
The Effort Behind Effortless
One of the kindest comments that can come from those we work for is this: “You make what you do look effortless.” It doesn’t matter if you are a professional speaker, a salesman, a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker; when anyone hears that phrase, it can’t help...
You Schmooze, You Can Lose
When I work with sales people and consultants, I can always count on one question being asked when we begin to talk about opening tactics: “How long do you schmooze for?” It’s a great question… and a complicated answer. For those who don’t know what the word...
Ask Me About…
Isn’t it interesting how guarded we tend to be when it comes to letting others know about personal challenges that require courage? Fear of failure is a mighty foe, but letting others in on our tryst with failure requires even more courage. Well, I’m here to convince...
The Art Of The Spiel
Typically, we talk too much, we listen too little, and we tend to overwhelm others with our vast array of knowledge. That’s neither persuasive nor pleasant. It’s not a secret that I’m not a fan of product pitches. We’re led to believe that, by mastering our ability to...
Getting Good At Doing Things Badly
Think about the last time you learned a new, and difficult, process. You may not have known it then, but learning that process was the easy part. Implementing it, however, was almost always the hard part. It really comes down to one simple question: Do you want to...
Just Tell The Truth
One of the biggest challenges any of us can face is simply to be believed. We need to be believable for our significant others, our friends, our bosses, our coworkers, and our clients. As a matter of fact, the scenarios that would require the need to be believed are...
Second Prize Is A Set Of Steak Knives
The Truth About Sales Contests Companies and sales managers are constantly looking for ways to motivate salespeople and increase sales. One of the most traditional approaches is to create a sales contest. After all, who wouldn’t be motivated by a few extra dollars in...
It Helps To Remember
I’ll never forget my first few weeks on the campus of the University of Maryland. Like most freshman, I was both excited and overwhelmed. The very size of the university was intimidating, and with a wide variety of required freshman classes, it was extremely...
Watch Your Words
“To be honest with you, I’m going to put my cards on the table, tell you the truth, and this time, I mean it!” That certainly was a very passionate statement! For some of you, I’ll bet you can’t wait to hear what comes next. Okay, it’s filled with clichés, but it sure...
“The Can’t Miss Holiday”
I’m a New Year’s Eve man. No doubt about it, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. What can you say about New Years Eve that isn’t positive? Christmas is a wonderful holiday, but not everyone celebrates Christmas. The same could be said for Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, Hanukah,...
“Rob is an expert not only in the art of influence,
but also in human nature.”
~Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Trust Works!