The Big Venue
“You’ve got to know the territory!”
The Music Man, Meredith Willson (1902–1984)
In a Big Venue, the sheer volume of space becomes a challenge. Stepping up on the riser, out of the dark, into the spotlight, then looking back out into the […]
Results
Most people speaking in corporate roles are:
“Practice Creates the Master”
“Practice Creates the Master.” — Don Miguel Ruiz
At first, you can’t do it at all.
Then […]
Presenting for Results!®
Most People speaking in corporate roles are “Presenting to get through it.” “Presenting to get it over with!” “Presenting to Not Fail!” “Presenting to Check a Box in a Matrix!” Few people are Presenting for Results!®
— J. R. St. John (1952 – 2018), Chairman and Founder, The Fusion Group
Winners and Losers
“Once I passed the tricky sections, I think I let off the gas pedal a little bit. I just didn’t continue with that aggression all the way to the finish,” the two-time World Cup overall champion said. “That’s […]
Going Stupid!
“How many times will you repeat your morning routine? Your drive to Work? Your walk into a conference room? Your meetings, reports, e-mails… Is it any wonder that sometimes you “Go a Little Stupid” … and simply float away?”
—J. R. StJohn
It can’t have escaped your attention […]
Getting Great Results!
Two quotes to think about from Jennifer StJohn, Founder of The Fusion Group…
The Stammer
“Whatever you are, try to be a good one!” — William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863), English Poet & Novelist
Bob Newhart (comedy and television legend) once had a challenge from a television network official about the extended length of his comedy show.
“Bob, […]
3 Days! Or A Lifetime?
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True Nobility is being superior to your former self.” — Ernest Hemingway
“These three days changed my life!” — Participant’s evaluation of Fusion’s “Presenting for Results!®” session
Where’s […]
Limits on Creativity
“If I had more time, I’d have written you a shorter letter.” – Winston Churchill British Prime Minister, Author (1874 – 1965)
“Talk doesn’t cook rice.” – Proverb
Here’s a thought: Without limits, creativity is merely uncontrolled daydreaming – imagine a car without brakes…
Life – we’re in it together, which imposes all kinds of structure: jobs, families, and the demand for outcomes. All these responsibilities […]
Genius & Taking Pains
“Genius is the infinite capacity for taking pains.”
— Thomas Carlyle, Essayist, satirist, historian 1795-1881
“I’ve been […]
The Uses of Not
“Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub. It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a pot. Where the pot’s not, is where it’s useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; the space inside makes “room” for you. Therefore, the profit in what is, lies in the use of what is not.”
From the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Translation by Gia-Fu Feng, Taoist Priest (1919 – 1985) and Ursula K. LeGuinn, Novelist […]
Incremental Improvement
“You can always be a little bit better.” — Drew Brees Former Quarterback, New Orleans Saints
Everyone’s nervous about public speaking, at first.
It’s not your stock-in-trade. So, it’s not unusual that you find it odd to stand up to speak.
There’s that moment when you are introduced — making you feel a little bit like an item of trade, being examined.
Then you discover that with so many listeners, you have to be a little louder and more […]
Getting a Win!
“So whatcha gonna do?” —Jim Brown addressing Richard Pryor
You’ve got this presentation coming up…
Lost in Confusion
“Never invest in an idea that can’t be explained with a crayon.”
—Peter Lynch
Legendary American Investment Professional
(1944 — )
Plan Wrap-up, Bridge to Managing Your Sales Practice and Building Relationships
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“You’ve got to keep stretching your skills and abilities to meet tomorrow’s requirements!”
—Jennifer R. StJohn
In the Sales & Counselor Selling series […]
Then What?
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it.
I must soon lay it down and commence living on its hint.
What I began by reading, I must finish by acting!”
— Henry David Thoreau
American Philosopher, […]
Presenting Wrap-up, Bridge to Planning
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“It’s all about the audience. What they know — or don’t. What they need. What they think they want. What they are willing to hear. That’s where it starts and ends. You are only in the room as a means to an end — for them!”
Red or Black?
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
A British Officer manned an individual post in Africa. A fellow officer came to join him from London. They meet for dinner, the guest in his road khakis and the officer in dinner jacket and starched white shirt.
Think & Do!
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“I can see that there’s a lot going on here, General, but does it make any sense?”
– Dr. Stephen Falken
“War Games”
What happened? Is this the ultimate […]
Small Thing? Big Thing!
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“Sometimes a small thing can become a big thing…”
— Jennifer R. StJohn
Deep in the throes of a series of finals presentations, we — on the receiving side — […]
Too Much Starch?
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“To be free, you must have power. And to gain power, you must have structure.”
— James Brown (1933 – 2006)
The Godfather of Soul and
The Hardest Workin’ Man in Show Business
Self – Important
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“The ‘I’ does not see itself.
Among the Great Teachings, there is a surprising consensus
that ‘self,’ is that which looks… the witness.
So, not the ‘Self-Image,’ not the false construct of Ego, not
the […]
One Discipline
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“Once you start thinking this way, it’s really hard to switch it off.”
— Fusion Participant
What if there was a discipline, simple really, that would direct our communication […]
Engaged Receptivity
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“So, I’m sitting in this little room in the old 493 Union Hall, and I’m just playing away, and there’s this old guy standing there. He’s listening to me, probably as long as he could take it, and he said, ‘Hey kid, do you know what’s […]
The Whole of It!
The Sales & Counselor SellingSM Series
“So, when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.”
—Jiddu Krishnamurti
Shedding Light on Laughter
“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.”
— Khalil Gibran
“There are two kinds of light — the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”
— James […]
