How to be a great storyteller – 5 parts of a business story

There’s always an implicit contract between the storyteller and his audience. It includes a promise that the listeners’ expectations, once aroused, will be fulfilled. Listeners give the storyteller their time, with the understanding that he will spend it wisely. For most businesspeople, time is the scarcest resource; the storyteller who doesn’t respect that will pay dearly. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #007: Unpack the Box

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This week, we organized a couple of slides to illustrate the often used term “unpacking the idea.” Read more

How to get a headhunter to call you

Hunting for a job is itself a full time job, and right now the competition remains high. Wouldn’t be nice to get a call from a headhunter and be told about a dream opportunity in the ideal city for twice what you thought you were worth? It happens every day. Professional recruiting firms such as Heidrick & Struggles make up an $8 billion industry. Here are a few tips to get your phone to ring. Read more

Four stories to get your audience excited about your manual, guideline or procedures – Part 4

This is the last in a series of several stories providing metaphors to help you get your audience invested in a new manual, guideline or procedure. Regular readers know that I believe telling stories and creating metaphors to help drive points home and convince an audience to act after a presentation is over is one way to persuade listeners. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #006: Venn Diagram Intersections

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This week we bring you the Venn diagram also known as the three overlapping circles. Read more

Four stories to get your audience excited about your manual, guideline or procedures – Part 3

This is the third in a series of several stories providing metaphors to help you get your audience invested in a new manual, guideline or procedure. Regular readers know that I believe telling stories and creating metaphors to help drive points home and convince an audience to act after a presentation is over is one way to persuade listeners. Read more

Four stories to get your audience excited about your manual, guideline or procedures – Part 2

Telling stories and creating metaphors to help drive points home and convince an audience to act after a presentation is over is one way to persuade listeners. This is the second in a series of several stories providing metaphors to help you get your audience invested in a new manual, guideline or procedure. Read more

Four stories to get your audience excited about your manual, guideline or procedures – Part 1

Regular readers know that I am a strong proponent of sharing stories and extending the metaphor to help drive points home and to convince an audience to act after a presentation is over. This is the first in a series of several stories providing metaphors to help you get your audience invested in a new manual, guideline or procedure. Read more

Free PowerPoint-Tastic Templates – #005: Range of Response

Each week, the Fast Track Tools training company and the Cubicle Ninjas design firm work together to publish a template that makes it easier for you to communicate your ideas. This week, we created a chart for publishing the results from a study or research project. Read more

Ready to leave your day job and make your hobby your career?

Do you dream of leaving your day job and making a career of a hobby? Rick Field made it happen. As a VH-1 producer, he had created a very successful career at the center of breaking pop culture. But, on the weekends he used his grandmother’s recipes and methods to pickle anything that came to mind – from cucumbers to cauliflower. Read more