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Issue 370, Dec, 16, 2009 David Meerman Scott opened his keynote speech at the Business Marketing Association 2009 national “Unlearn” conference by asking the audience to answer a few questions.
Later in the presentation, someone asked how to overcome resistance from company executives. Scott replied that the same questions he asks his own audiences can be effective with management. Why? Because there is nothing like our own experience to convince us something is true. And there is nothing that can connect someone to their own experience like questions. Scott posted a response to this post that includes a link to a video that shows how universal the responses he gets really are. You'll find that here. Code white, change, and the willingness to see things as they are My book SpeakStrong divides the Speak Strong process into five steps. The first step is to be willing to see things as they are. I call it: Commit to code white. That comes from a process that some groups of nurses apply, where if a nurse notices someone being verbally abusive to another nurse, she calls out a Code White. The nurses congregate around the offender and silently watch. I demonstrated the power of Code White in a SpeakStrong seminar for inner city youth. Read the rest of the post and comment here. Inner city youth: listen with heart and quit when you’re aheadI spoke to a group of inner city youth last week. Actually, I listened a lot too. And I related from my own experience when a couple of people’s well-intended words didn’t quite come out as they had hoped. “Misty,” a teacher, mentioned she was glad the group was being exposed to the information, because her brother had died in high school, and she never had the kind of communication with him she would have wanted. She explained how prone they were to fight. “Roper” replied that fighting was probably how they showed each other they loved each other. Misty said, yes, but it wasn’t the kind of relationship she wanted to have. Misty’s words carried an emotional impact that caught the attention of this lively group. I was grateful for them. Roper’s comment sounded like it might have been a negation of Misty’s sentiments. And Misty’s response sounded like it might have been a negation of Roper’s comment. But to anyone who listened with their heart... read the rest of the post and comment here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PowerPhrase: This is an exciting projectSome of the people I work with are all business. But others are more fun. I can tell my new editor at McGraw Hill hasn’t lost his juice by things he says here and there. Like his comment on a new proposal. He noted,
Do you think it's unprofessional to be emotionally engaged? Do you believe real pros would only make a comment like “this will be lucrative?” Many people act as if they believe that. But for me and others like me, just a few words – five in this case – add another dimension to work. I’m not a writing machine cranking away an impersonal product. It is way more fun to work with people who see you as an individual and are willing to share some humanity. Power Phrase: That is not the response I was going for The Detective Mom received disappointing responses from her kids when she dressed up for a holiday party. Her daughter exclaimed, - You remind me of nachos. and one of her sons simply remarked, - What the heck? She would have preferred comments along the lines of,
While I laughed at the comments, it occurred to me that her title was the biggest gem in the post. What do you say when you put out an effort, only to find that no one applauds? I like the phrase,
It’s true and honest, but does not contain judgment. Sounds like a PowerPhrase to me! PowerPhrase: Dangerous pedestalsIt’s human nature to want to support people who are gracious and undermine people who aren’t. When someone is on a pedestal, they have a long way to fall. As Speaker Coach Jane Atkinson observes, Tiger Woods illustrated this point in technicolor. Jane’s advice is to back away from the pedestal. It’s too easy to believe your own press. If you talk a good game but don’t walk it, you’ll go through life with a target on your back. This comes under step 3 in Speaking Strong, which is to Mean What You Say. I detail it in the section of my SpeakStrong book called “Protect the Power” because that’s what it does. The specific chapter is titled “Match your talk and your walk.” Don’t play small. However, avoid a superhuman image you can’t live up to. And if someone tries to pin one on you, let them know,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reader question: How do I tell CUSTOMERS they smell bad?Meryl, My question is regarding customers that smell bad and no one wants to wait on them. They clear out our seating area for our deli when they come to our store and our manager will not say anything, but I believe it is hurting our business, because people leave and don’t want to come back when these people are in the restaurant area. The smell is awful, but the couple (a mother and son) seem like they might be nice, but no one can get close enough to talk to them, so who knows. What can we do???? Meryl responds: Judy, I’m going to pass this question on to readers. Has anyone handled this one effectively? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blog comments David Meerman Scott recommends questions to overcome resistance to change Your “walking wounded” dictionary Call me at (x) instead of the number I am calling fromGot a comment or question? Comment on my blog and Ask Meryl.
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