Some years ago I was Senior Copywriter at The Reader's Digest. And yes, we did spend a lot of time discussing the positioning of the apostrophe in Reader's.
One of my colleagues, Donald, was an Art Director in the Creative Department. Donald had an extraordinary way with words. Some of our colleagues would stuff a hankie into their mouths, with eyes streaming with tears of mirth, and rush into another office to write down some of the things he said.
Donald ranked with Spooner, Mrs Malaprop and Sam Goldwyn in his mangling of language.
He developed MS and, to raise some funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and with his permission, we published a small book of Donald's collected sayings, under the title, "My Pear Tree Has Gone Bananas". If you ever got your hands on a copy, you'd have found it was "right up your cup of tea", as Donald himself once said.
When he struggled with powerful emotions, Don would mix his metaphors. Here are a few:
* This job is a right swine of a cow
* It's always better talking to the horse's mouth
* There was a little rat on the door
* I'm caught between the devil and the frying pan
Donald liked his food, and was heard to say:
* Can I have the Halibut Provencale without the garlic?
* I'll have fillet of sole off the bone.
* I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday; it all goes in one ear and out the other
* He comes around here and picks up all the crumbs that make up the cream
Asked about his illness, Don said:
* It's all to do with the spine ... because the legs are connected to the body, and the arms are connected to the head
* My legs felt like solid jelly
* I feel like death rolled up
* My doctor said I'm not as young as I should be
Feeling the need for emphasis, he would say:
* I don't exaggerate, I do six million jobs at once
* Five tenths of an inch is an inch in my language
When I coach people in the best ways to get their point across, I still remember Don calling it a disastrous success and asking, How long is a carrot?
He spoke the way he thought. Right up his cup of tea.
PKP
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Monday 14 February 2011
How to handle rejection in sales
A lot of people consider selling to be a confrontational conversion, lightly smeared with honey to make it seem agreeable. There are two reasons for that: first, the sales person wants to win, and second, the prospect wants to retain both his money and his pride.
Now, of course this does not happen in every sale, but it can be considered a typical model. Elements of the confrontation could quite easily enter any sale.
The second reason is that the sales person is scared of rejection. As you know, fear of loss or pain is a much more powerful motivator than the prospect of gain. Rejection brings loss of face - a concept not restricted to Orientals.
To avoid rejection, the sales person needs a protective strategy.
Some adopt a tough attitude, placing themselves in the dominant role, and the prospect in the role of supplicant. This old-fashioned macho approach is doomed to failure in the long run. Even short term gains may quickly be reversed with cancellations at the first opportunity.
Even the prospect wants to save face!
If you are selling, you need to build into your preparation a fall-back position. What is the least you will settle for if you don't get the sale?
It could be something as simple as an introduction to another prospect, or even another appointment in three months' time. It could be a referral to someone else. Viewed in the context of a new relationship, an immediate sale is not the only objective.
Work out what you will accept as an alternative to your main objective and you will be able to walk out with your tail up. Selling is hard, and no one can endure repeated rejections without being affected.
So protect yourself. Plan your fall-back position and give yourself another chance to feel good about the encounter.
Phillip
Now, of course this does not happen in every sale, but it can be considered a typical model. Elements of the confrontation could quite easily enter any sale.
The second reason is that the sales person is scared of rejection. As you know, fear of loss or pain is a much more powerful motivator than the prospect of gain. Rejection brings loss of face - a concept not restricted to Orientals.
To avoid rejection, the sales person needs a protective strategy.
Some adopt a tough attitude, placing themselves in the dominant role, and the prospect in the role of supplicant. This old-fashioned macho approach is doomed to failure in the long run. Even short term gains may quickly be reversed with cancellations at the first opportunity.
Even the prospect wants to save face!
If you are selling, you need to build into your preparation a fall-back position. What is the least you will settle for if you don't get the sale?
It could be something as simple as an introduction to another prospect, or even another appointment in three months' time. It could be a referral to someone else. Viewed in the context of a new relationship, an immediate sale is not the only objective.
Work out what you will accept as an alternative to your main objective and you will be able to walk out with your tail up. Selling is hard, and no one can endure repeated rejections without being affected.
So protect yourself. Plan your fall-back position and give yourself another chance to feel good about the encounter.
Phillip
Sunday 13 February 2011
The eloquence of a celebrity handshake
Before the Scotland-Wales rugby match on Saturday, when Princess Anne was introduced to the teams, her handshake technique was very different from that adopted by Ireland's President, Mary MacAleese on Sunday. It spoke eloquently in body language.
Mary MacAleese went along the line quickly, keeping her right arm extended as she briefly shook each person's hand in turn. In effect, it was one handshake, shared by each person in the line. It signalled that she was moving on.
Princess Anne did it differently. After each handshake, she returned her arm to her side, making a fresh gesture for each person. It signalled that she was greeting each person afresh, giving that person his own share of her attention and time. It was superb!
When a dignitary keeps the arm extended, simply moving it along to the next person in the line, the contact is almost meaningless. In body language terms, it is superficial, a hello-goodbye, even if though I'm certain it was not her intention, because Mary MacAleese is a gracious lady.
What Princess Anne did, the way she returned her arm to her side each time, was a mark of politeness and respect, and very good manners. It was a fine example of the right body language, and I'm sure each person felt a significant contact with her, however briefly.
Gestures, even small ones, are the unspoken language that can sometimes add so much meaning to the spoken word.
Phillip
Mary MacAleese went along the line quickly, keeping her right arm extended as she briefly shook each person's hand in turn. In effect, it was one handshake, shared by each person in the line. It signalled that she was moving on.
Princess Anne did it differently. After each handshake, she returned her arm to her side, making a fresh gesture for each person. It signalled that she was greeting each person afresh, giving that person his own share of her attention and time. It was superb!
When a dignitary keeps the arm extended, simply moving it along to the next person in the line, the contact is almost meaningless. In body language terms, it is superficial, a hello-goodbye, even if though I'm certain it was not her intention, because Mary MacAleese is a gracious lady.
What Princess Anne did, the way she returned her arm to her side each time, was a mark of politeness and respect, and very good manners. It was a fine example of the right body language, and I'm sure each person felt a significant contact with her, however briefly.
Gestures, even small ones, are the unspoken language that can sometimes add so much meaning to the spoken word.
Phillip
Anorchidism: another *recent* affliction?
Last evening, my Barbershop group, The Kentones, gave a fund-raising concert at Petts Wood, in support of a charity called the Anorchidism Support Group. What, I hear you ask, is Anorchidism?
It's a rare condition that people find hard to talk about. It's the absence of testes in boys.
It's embarrassiing for the parents and, in later life, for the boys themselves. Treatment involves injections of testerone in early life, and gels or creams in adulthood. The Support Group was set up in the UK in 1995, because parents of the affected children did not know where to get help or reassurance (other than medical). They felt isolated and even guilty.
All this suggests that the condition is relatively new. It is still not known what causes it.
I am therefore inclined to ask, is this a recent affliction caused by the environmental changes that Man has brought about? We already know about plastic migrating into our food, and oestrogen in the water supply. And remember Thalidomide?
Is Anorchidism another consequence of our misuse of chemicals or some other abuse of our environment?
Phillip
It's a rare condition that people find hard to talk about. It's the absence of testes in boys.
It's embarrassiing for the parents and, in later life, for the boys themselves. Treatment involves injections of testerone in early life, and gels or creams in adulthood. The Support Group was set up in the UK in 1995, because parents of the affected children did not know where to get help or reassurance (other than medical). They felt isolated and even guilty.
All this suggests that the condition is relatively new. It is still not known what causes it.
I am therefore inclined to ask, is this a recent affliction caused by the environmental changes that Man has brought about? We already know about plastic migrating into our food, and oestrogen in the water supply. And remember Thalidomide?
Is Anorchidism another consequence of our misuse of chemicals or some other abuse of our environment?
Phillip
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Books I no longer finish
I am an avid reader and often have several books on the go at the same time. In the past I used to struggle on, to finish them all, no matter how long it took, as though I were the Mastermind quiz master (I've started so I'll finish). But a few years ago I decided not to finish reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, because I found it hard going, and it was far too long. I felt a little guilty, because he's from Calcutta, and so am I.
Soon after that decision, I met up with a schoolmate, who had also lived in Calcutta, and inevitably he asked me if I had read the book. When I told him of my decision, he gave a deep sigh of relief and confessed that he had also been unable to finish reading the book.
Since then I have given up on a number of books. I no longer feel an obligation to struggle to the end. Although I am still reluctant to throw out any book, I place a post-it note inside stating my decision, and replace it on the shelf upside down so that I know to avoid reading it again.
Like most people, I have some books that I bought because I thought I should read them but never got around to doing so, and probably never will. Books such as the one about motorcycle maintenance and the one about the history of time. I like biographies, and bought books about or by such luminaries as Sven Goran Eriksson and David Frost, but lost the inclination to read beyond the Introductions. And then there' s a book that gives equal weight on the spine to Arnold Bennett and Margaret Drabble, so I am uncertain who wrote about whom, and can't be bothered to find out.
I read quite fast and, when absorbed, will make the time to read the current book at every opportunity, but these days I'm prepared to be ruthless and set aside the tome that fails to grip.
What's more, I no longer feel guilty.
Soon after that decision, I met up with a schoolmate, who had also lived in Calcutta, and inevitably he asked me if I had read the book. When I told him of my decision, he gave a deep sigh of relief and confessed that he had also been unable to finish reading the book.
Since then I have given up on a number of books. I no longer feel an obligation to struggle to the end. Although I am still reluctant to throw out any book, I place a post-it note inside stating my decision, and replace it on the shelf upside down so that I know to avoid reading it again.
Like most people, I have some books that I bought because I thought I should read them but never got around to doing so, and probably never will. Books such as the one about motorcycle maintenance and the one about the history of time. I like biographies, and bought books about or by such luminaries as Sven Goran Eriksson and David Frost, but lost the inclination to read beyond the Introductions. And then there' s a book that gives equal weight on the spine to Arnold Bennett and Margaret Drabble, so I am uncertain who wrote about whom, and can't be bothered to find out.
I read quite fast and, when absorbed, will make the time to read the current book at every opportunity, but these days I'm prepared to be ruthless and set aside the tome that fails to grip.
What's more, I no longer feel guilty.
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