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| Vol.3.54 | |
Think Fastby Vince PoscenteAuthor of The Ant and the Elephant, Invinceable Principles and The Age of Speed Remember the concept from Aikido called Irimi that I mentioned a few weeks ago? Irimi is a move where you enter in the middle as opposed to stepping aside. I was reminded of a story that happened in 1993. It is the power of entering the middle of a verbal attack.
One particular time I flew up to Grande Prairie in northern Alberta. I was somewhat new to the job. Therefore, I spent a huge amount of time preparing my presentation. Walking into the community hall, I looked good. I had a three-piece suit, vest and all. My socks even matched. This was it. I was going to wow these people with this incredible investment vehicle. Minutes before I was to speak I marveled at how enthusiastic my bladder had become. I ducked out of the room, leaving only seconds before I walked on stage and gathered everyone's attention. In the audience were farmers, construction workers, shop owners and local town's people. Flannel was the common denominator. Clearly I didn't get the memo. Ten minutes into my talk, in an audience of 30 people, an elderly gentleman jumped up and pointed his sausage like finger in my direction. As he wagged his index digit he blurted out, "We know what people like you from the city want to do. You just want to rip us off and take our money." Twenty-nine heads swiveled around to look at him. Then, a chorus of faces rotated slowly towards the front to look at the frozen city boy in his pin striped suit. I paused, blinked and then said, "You - sound skeptical." The place burst out laughing. I immediately followed by saying, "This is a good thing. Skepticism is good. That means you have questions and I hope everyone here has questions. Because if I don't answer your questions you'll just walk out of here and I will have failed in my job. So, thank you for being skeptical." Mr. Sausage Finger sat down and the evening ended up going well. A number of people in the room were interested in talking to a sales associate in a follow up call. The first point of the story: if you find yourself verbally attacked by someone, enter in the middle of it. Validate the cause for the attack. Use humor if you can and be respectful of the intent behind the assault. A second point: if something doesn't seem right, speak up. This man did me, and the rest of the audience, a favor. He had the courage to stand up and tell his truth. By doing so, everyone got to benefit from his concern. The third point: beware of flannel. Until next week it’s full speed ahead,
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© 2010 Vince Poscente. All Rights Reserved. |
As VP of Marketing for International Investment Properties, my job was to give presentations to groups about wonderful investment opportunities.