Full Disclosure:  I don’t want to disappoint too many of you, but Rob Jolles is no chef.  I do enjoy watching, however, some of the competitions involving cooking. It was in one of these shows where I got a wonderful lesson in cooking, along with a timely reminder about presenting.

My wife Ronni and I were watching the finals of Master Chef, Season 7, when I heard something that made me stop and smile.  One of the contestants had done terrific job of cooking a chicken dish, when guest chef Daniel Boulud said something that was rather amazing.  He complimented the chef on a near flawless preparation of the protein and other vegetables he was serving him, and then focused on the sauce.  Unfortunately, chef Boulud was not (as) so fond of the sauce. He reminded the contestant about the importance of the sauce by making this statement:

“75% of any dish is the sauce.”

Take a moment, and let that sentence settle in, because once you do, you’ll see it makes complete sense.  No matter how well you cook any dish, the sauce is what ultimately will provide the flavor and enhance the experience.  In fact, it’s the sauce that elevates the dish from a meal to a memory.

Now, let’s put away the cooking aprons, and look at the way you deliver a presentation.  The protein is the message, and words we use to communicate that message.  We tend to obsesses on the nuts and bolts of what we deliver, when in fact, it’s the sauce we put on those words that truly brings out the flavors of the meal. It seems so obvious, and yet, if it were this obvious, why do we spend such a small amount of time preparing the sauce?  A good sauce has a lot more than one ingredient in it, so I thought I’d list out a handful of components you might want to put into your presentation sauce:

• Telling an audience what you are about to tell them is the meal; telling the audience what’s in it for them to learn what you are about to tell them contributes to the sauce.
• Content is the meal; allowing an audience to explore that content within small group activities, role-plays or simulations contributes to the sauce. 
• Providing key points is the meal; supporting those key points with analogies, short stories, and powerful quotes contributes to the sauce.
• Speaking your words is the meal; providing energy, and enthusiasm, and varying your pitch, and pace to enhance the words you are speaking contributes to the sauce.
• Asking your audience a question that requires a factual response is the meal; asking your audience a question that involves a case-study, or a comparison, contributes to the sauce.
• Answering a question from your audience is the meal; using a question from your audience to involve the rest of the room by relaying that question to others, or reversing the question back to the person who asked it, contributes to the sauce.
• Providing a nice, clean room to present in is the meal; providing well thought out music when your audience walks into that room, and during breaks that contributes helps create a wonderful atmosphere contributes to the sauce. 

Quite frankly, I could keep going, but I’ll stop here because, much like a good meal, you’ll run the risk of ruining the dish if you put too many ingredients in.  The right balance of ingredients in your sauce is what makes a dish tasty, and that goes for your presentation sauce as well.  In the end, it’s all about balance.  If you remember not to crowd your plate with too many words, or cover that plate with too much sauce, you’ll have a presentation fit for a king!

What do you get when combine energy, enthusiasm… and great content?  You get a “Pocket Sized Pep Talk!”  Tune in and you’ll hear a collection of BLArticles®, conversations, and interviews that are sure to teach, motivate, inspire, and oh yes; entertain!   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pocket-sized-pep-talks/id1497772972

I took another spin on, “The Abundant Accountant” podcast, and talked about a number of issues including  why sales training so often fails found here:  https://theabundantaccountant.com/episode-101-why-sales-training-for-accountants-and-tax-firm-owners-fails-and-how-to-avoid-it-with-rob-jolles

I was also on, “It’s Not Rocket Science! Five Questions Over Coffee,” a fun podcast with Stuart Webb.   You can listen to the podcast here: https://thecompleteapproach.substack.com/p/five-questions-over-coffee-with-rob#details

If you are looking for something to listen to on your next coffee break you might enjoy this brief chat between me and Tom Bailey, Founder of Succeed Through Speaking and the Succeed Through Speaking podcast. Listen closely if you would like some high value ideas to boost your business results.

You can read the transcript here – https://bit.ly/3BOfU7o

You can watch the podcast here – https://youtu.be/w-QgGvweE2M

You can listen to the podcast here – https://apple.co/2YVGWuN

I Zoomed my way to India to speak with Motivational Diaries, and Ashish Janiani.  We spoke for about 30 minutes about sales processes and training for success. 

   Sales Process To Sales Success || Interview With Robert Jolles – YouTube

If you want to read some “Life Lessons” I was able to share in a recent interview, you’ll find them here:  https://worldclassperformer.com/short-life-lessons-from-robert-jolles/

I had the pleasure of appearing on Robert Miller’s, Follow Your Dream Podcast and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion.  We go way back in this conversation to my first memories of performance… at age four!  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!  https://follow-your-dream.simplecast.com/episodes/rob-jolles-superstar-salesman

I also mixed it up with a wonderful podcaster, Terry McDougall on her Marketing Mambo show.  As she puts it, we “Cha-cha-chatted!”  If you want to hear sales and marketing go toe-to-toe, you’ll enjoy this show. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1569061/8172686-the-art-of-influence-in-sales-and-marketing-with-rob-jolles

I recently did a podcast with a wonderful, new, and up-and-coming star named Jahmaal Marshall.  His podcast is called, “Listen Then Speak.”  I’ve done a lot of podcasts, but we got into topics I rarely talk about, and I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy the show!  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/listen-then-speak/id1550684472

I’ve appeared on the “Small Business Advocate Show” with Jim Blasingame for almost 20 years now, and you’ll find dozens of our conversations on his website.  We just sat down a few weeks ago for a great conversation about selling fundamentals and the strategic use of stories.  Here’s a link to over 100 interviews done over the years, including my most recent interview that explores our many behaviors we display that are based more on a default mechanism than actual logic. https://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-experts/rob-jolles-134

We posted a video series on delivering amazing online presentations with my friend, Jeremy Webb.  We go over some great stuff including:

• How to Select the Best Equipment for Online Presentations
• Pro Tips for Sustaining Interest in Online Presentations
• How to Look Like a Pro!
• Public Speaking Anxiety Tip
• Virtual Office Setup for Online Presentations

You’ll find the whole playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRO7BsBDl6oL-6ZPW3O01x-g5PiR38ljL

I was recently interviewed on the “Salesman Podcast,” which was a lot of fun. If you’re looking to Change Minds, check out this podcast: https://www.salesman.org/the-simple-step-by-step-process-to-influence-anyone-with-rob-jolles/

I loved talking about the book, Why People Don’t Believe You on a podcast that I’m sure you’ll like called Onward Nation: https://predictiveroi.com/podcasts/rob-jolles/

After 30+ years as a professional speaker and trainer, one of the most common questions I get is this: “How do we make sure the training sticks?”  Take a moment and listen to this podcast; “SalesChats” with John Golden.  If you want to know why most training fails, listen up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR3dDOlTK7U&list=FLxBXKhqz0xBwbUPMqNthAJA&index=2&t=1293s