Greg's Right FIT #449

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Interruptions
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Interruptions

• When the person you're calling picks up the phone, assume you are interrupting them. There's a good chance they were thinking about something or someone that wasn't you, right before picking up the phone. Start at the beginning.  
• Do you need to focus while writing? In Word, under View, check out the Focus mode. They even include a variety of background choices. Blueprint is a very nice one.
• Sometimes you need to interrupt a prospect. Be polite. Like Denzel Washington's character in the movie Philadelphia. "Let me stop you there. I want you to start with your question. It’s best if you just state it as simply as you can. Explain it to me like I were 10 years old."
• When you are interrupted with a new idea from a well-meaning colleague or supervisor, say "That's a great idea." Don't offer to do it, or to help with implementation, just recognize it for what it is. Great idea. 

Being Human - Interrupters

"Interrupting all programmes: This is Radio Clash from pirate satellite. Orbiting your living room. Cashing in the Bill of Rights"
– The Clash

The fastest way to get through a meeting is to make assumptions and jump to conclusions. Then check assumptions sending a "what I heard" note. Structure the key points in bulleted lists and try not to move on to next steps until you get acknowledgment your assumptions are correct. The problem with this approach is it assumes the recipient is a close reader, which isn't always the case. It works well for executive level communication. 

When I work with business development people, on the other hand, I advise them to do whatever they can to avoid assumptions or jumping to conclusions. It's impossible to catch every assumption, but if we're alert we'll catch the important ones. The reason to be diligent with assumptions from the start is it will save us time and heartache down the road. Here are a few verbal interrupters we can use to check understanding while sounding natural. 

• "[Name], hold on to the next thought. Let's go back to something you said, I think is really important . . ."
• "[Name], I'm happy to talk about [industry term]. We're experts in this. As experts one thing we've learned is [industry term] means different things to different people. When you say [industry term], what does it mean to you?
• What if you're interrupted by a 3rd party? A call, a knock, a passer-by interrupts the conversational flow? When it happens, write down the last word or two you remember before the break. When they return and say "where were we?" read your notes back, get on track. (easy when you're taking notes on paper)
• "[Name], let's pause and summarize where we're at. We've been covering a lot of topics and I want to make sure I'm hearing you accurately."

You get the point. Interruptions happen. Preparing for what's ahead allows us to avoid time-wasting traps. We'll never get rid of all of them, but using tools like these will help. 

Random Stuff

"My thought was, if I could do something no one else in the world had ever done, I could make some money honestly and quickly."
– Annie Edson Taylor

How many species of seagull can you name? 

As we traveled back from NYC to the Midwest, we made a pitstop in Niagara Falls. Hiking up to the Falls, we passed a tour guide telling his group about the number of seagulls that stop by Niagara Falls as they migrate. Tens of thousands of them, all making baby birds, apparently. There are pictures of various gulls, and other birds of Niagara, on our new Niagara Falls mug. The one with the bright red handle. It teaches me I was wrong to think there is a "seagull". There are many kinds of seagulls.

We stopped at the Falls once before. My lovely bride and I were still courting and making a roadtrip from Massachusetts to Denver. We paused for a stop at the Falls. We were transporting Chelsea the cat, and couldn't leave her in the car. She came with us wearing a harness on a leash. It was a hit with Japanese tourists. A lot of pictures were taken that day. I didn't know it at the time, but cat content is gold. Someone right now, in Japan, digging through their parent's shoebox of pictures, is holding up a 35mm slide to the light and thinking, is that a cat on a leash at Niagara Falls? 

This time, catless but with our youngest child, we could get down to the water and take a ride on the Maid of the Mist. Our son didn't need a harness or a leash, and, unlike Chelsea the cat, he knows how to take pictures.

(That's me in the back.)

It's a lot of water. There are a lot of birds. And a lot of people, especially on the carnivalesque Canada side where we had lunch. 

Looking over the Falls it's hard to imagine thinking, "I should go over the falls in a barrel." Then again, we put a cat on a leash, so who are we to judge?