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Improving the “stickiness” of your big ideas by guest author Stephanie Scotti

Monday, August 30th, 2010

The title of this book certainly “stuck” with me over the past few months – it seemed it was being mentioned wherever I went. When I finally picked up my own copy and brought it on a recent flight, I was glad I did. Like a fun, upbeat friend, Made to Stick kept me company during the trip, with content that was at once entertaining, educational and exhilarating. Accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath offer up practical, tangible strategies for making your ideas stick – a concept that should resonate with any presenter faced with a high-pressure, high-stakes situation.
♦
Made to Stick is a book that will likely transform the way you communicate ideas. Here’s just a sampling of some thoughts from the Heath brothers that captured my attention:

Curse of Knowledge
Like sliced bread or indoor plumbing, once we know something, it’s hard to remember life without it. Knowledge is often “cursed” by being taken for granted, and it becomes difficult to share what we know in moderation. In an effort to be complete, we can’t discern the most important information we’d like to leave with our audience, and run the risk of overwhelming them. We keep going…and going…and going, and what sticks? Absolutely nothing. Check out the six principles outlined in Made to Stick that will help you overcome the dreaded Curse of Knowledge.

Velcro® Theory of Memory
Velcro material has two sides: one covered in thousands of tiny hooks, the other in tiny loops. Press the two together, and presto! – they stick. Our memories work the same way, with an infinite number of loops just waiting to cling to an idea with lots of hooks. The more hooks an idea has, the better it sticks. Think about a favorite class where the information presented really “stuck” with you. What did that instructor do to help Velcro that information to your brain? When developing your next presentation, stop and ask: How can I add more hooks to my content via interactivity, stories, or stronger visuals?

Human Scale Principle
What’s something we can all do better? Make statistics more human and dynamic. Made to Stick references a 1992 press conference where the Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed that the typical medium-sized buttered popcorn at a neighborhood movie theatre contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-egg breakfast, lunch of a Big Mac and fries, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings — combined. Certainly something we could easily grasp. Remember: The power is not in the numbers themselves, but rather in their scale and context.

Here’s a nice bonus …
Sprinkled throughout this accessible, quick-reading text are eight “Idea Clinics” filled with practical tips for applying what you’ve read in a fun, realistic way. In completing all eight clinics, I gained some intriguing new insights, while also being reminded of important “sticky” factors that were already on my radar. For example, Made to Stick challenges readers to distill the essence of their message, get back to core principles, and communicate in a memorable way — advice that parallels Professionally Speaking’s own C.O.D.E. process.
♦
Whether you’re a non-profit, an entrepreneur, or a corporate executive, Made to Stick delivers some terrific tools for improving the way you communicate ideas. In fact, it got me so revved up that I overhauled an upcoming presentation to make it extra sticky! You know a book’s made a real impact when your copy ends up dog-eared, covered in highlighter, and dotted with margin notes. Hope your copy of Made to Stick ends up the same way!

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Tags: communication skills, effective speaking, persuasion, Stephanie Scotti
Posted in Business skills, Communication skills | No Comments »

How confident are you? By Guest author Natalie Gahrmann

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Many ambitious high achieving professionals fear that they are not really as bright and capable as others tend to think they are. As they climb the career ladder they have apprehension and self-doubt. Although they have accomplishments, they tend to attribute these achievements to luck. All this weighs heavily on an already full plate.

Seemingly very successful business leaders at every level of the organization, entrepreneurs, rising stars worry that they’re not as great as others think they are. Although they’ve faced every challenge, received recognition and promotions, their customers’ think they’re a super star they fear that they will be found out!

The imposter syndrome can hold you back from pursuing dreams and goals. It prohibits you from feeling pride and a sense of accomplishment. It can cause you to work harder than anyone else to convince yourself that if you were really as smart and capable as everyone else believes, you wouldn’t have to work so hard. The fear can be paralyzing and terrifying, if you allow it!

Don’t allow it! Contact The Priority Pro for help stepping into your greatness! Be as bright and capable as others already believe you are!

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Tags: imposter syndrome, self confidence
Posted in Business skills | 1 Comment »

“How to Detect Lies From Impressions and Expressions When Negotiating” by Guest Author Greg Williams

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

When negotiating, can you detect lies based on someone’s expressions, or the impression that he makes on you? You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “He lied to me with a straight face.” The body never lies. So, when someone is lying, the body will compensate for his untruthfulness by displaying cover actions. Cover actions can be almost imperceptible nuances that occur when people lie, or they can also be exaggerated expressions. Nothing succeeds like success. When a person becomes confident about his ability to lie in a negotiation, and he continuously gets away with it, he will continue to lie. In most cases, he will become emboldened to increase the intensity of his lies. You’ll have the opportunity to catch him in a lie.

The way to detect and deter a liar is to observe the verbiage he uses during the negotiation, and observe his body language when you suspect him of lying. When lying …

Body language gives away lies

• People will tend to use phrases that make them feel comfortable. Take note of the comfort phrases that a person uses and note the change that occurs when he alters such phrases. When change occurs, he could be in the process of entering into a lie, or fully engaged in it.
• People will lie to make themselves appear to be more impressive or demur. The lie will usually be accompanied with body language that exemplifies the stature of the liar. Such gestures may be observed as when the individual raises his head higher, or thrusts his chin or chest forward when seeking to be perceived as being more impressive. A demur individual will tend to bow his head and present a less impressive image.
• People will also lie to get out of tough situations. Such maneuverings will usually be accompanied with gestures that reveal their discomfort. Thus, they’ll tend to keep their arms close to their body. They’ll also tend to be more reflective, as they try to keep their story on track.

To enhance your efforts of catching a liar in his lie, switch subjects in the middle of his suspected lie. Change the subject to anything that’s unrelated to what he was discussing. After a few minutes, ask him to continue speaking about what he was discussing when you suspected he was lying. When he resumes the discussion, take note from where he continues, versus where he left off. Also, take note of the degree his demeanor has altered. In addition, you can ask questions that highlight slight differences in what he said. For example, if he said the insurance carrier would not provide an offer of over $100,000, restate what you heard as the carrier would not offer more than $150,000. By slightly altering what you said he said, he’ll have to go into recall mode, if he was lying. If he’s telling the truth, more than likely, he’ll say without hesitation, “Oh no, it was $100,000.”

In any situation, before you can discern if someone is lying, you have to establish her baseline. That means, you have to be aware of how she gestures and use verbiage in normal environments. Then, as you seek to detect lies, note the differences between what is normal to what becomes different from normal. Therein will lay the signal to delve deeper into what she is saying. Once you discover how to hone your skills to detecting liars, it will be increasingly difficult for someone to lie to you successfully … and everything will be right with the world.

The Negotiation Tips Are …
• When you suspect a liar is lying, don’t be too quick to stop him. Observe the verbiage he uses and his body language. The more comfortable he becomes with his lies, the more lies he’ll tell. In so doing, he’ll give you greater insight into how he lies and why he lies. Then, you’ll know what to look for when you suspect he’s lying.
• If you’re astute at reading body language during a negotiation, you can pick up on nonverbal signals and detect a liar’s lie before he gets too deeply into it. In so doing, you will decrease the probability of being deceived.
• People lie because they’re seeking something they need at the time of the lie. In a negotiation, if you understand the need, you’ll understand the source of the lie. From that perspective, you can address it.

To inquire about having The Master Negotiator as a coach or consultant, or to conduct ‘live’ instructional sessions, and/or keynote presentations at your company, group, or organization, please send an e-mail to GregWilliams@TheMasterNegotiator.com and start getting more out of life, when you negotiate. Please include the verbiage, ‘Negotiation Inquiry’ in the subject line.
by Greg Williams – The Master Negotiator. If you’d like more information on how you can become a savvier negotiator, click here to checkout Greg’s new book, “Negotiate: Afraid, ‘Know’ More.” Please visit The Master Negotiator‘s website at http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com for additional information and negotiation resources for individuals and businesses.

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Tags: Negotiation, Negotiation skills, negotiation tips
Posted in Business skills, Communication skills, Legal nurse consulting, Trial lawyer skills | No Comments »

On getting more business by guest author, Caryn Kopp

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Constant, Continuous Contact. Your prospect may not be ready to buy when you make the initial contact. Someone I know spent $5,000 to attend an industry retreat; $2,500 on the attendance fee and $2,500 on airfare/hotel/rental car/expenses. While there she met a decision maker for a company who was 3 months away from beginning a project needing the services she had to offer. They exchanged cards. The person I know returned to her office and called to follow up. The call was well received and they discussed timing for the project. At the appropriate time she called and was told by the decision maker that the project had been placed on hold. The following year, the same person I know spent another $5,000 to attend the same function. She ran into the same person. The decision maker said to her, “It’s great to see you! You know, I looked all over for your card a few months back. The project finally came off hold and we did it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find your contact information and we hired another firm to do the work. We spent $3MM on the project. Sorry.” A structured system of follow up will ensure that no opportunity will ever fall through the cracks. Stay in touch, stay top of mind. So when the prospect is ready to lay the money on the table, you will be there to collect.
Request = Next Step. Asking for a next step (at every step) will shorten the sales cycle and keep the process moving forward. When the prospect initially requests information, samples, a proposal, etc. ask for a date and time on his/her calendar to meet or have a conference call to discuss next steps. It is at that moment, the moment of the request, when connecting with you is MOST important to your prospect. At that moment, securing a next step is easy. Trying to get someone on the phone to discuss it later can be time-consuming.
Implementing these strategies can lead to a huge payoff. Can you really afford to forego this opportunity to develop new business? Blocking time for post-trade show follow up, structured continuous contact and requesting next steps every step of the way will help you maximize sales results and keep you from having a “lost sales story”.

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Tags: obtaining new business, trade show follow up
Posted in Business skills, Legal nurse consulting | No Comments »

Tips for Medical Legal Reports Part 3 by Pat Iyer

Monday, May 10th, 2010

In March, I taught a one hour session to legal nurse consultants at the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultant’s annual meeting. I challenged them to share their best writing tip. I’ve compiled the tips in this ezine, eliminated duplicate entries, and selected the first tip as the prize winner. The winner was Barbara Boschert, who won the Writing Handbook for LNCs. Read the prior blog post for the winning entry.

In reports, I always include links to websites. They can provide pictures of equipment or articles that are pertinent to the case. Tracy Barton, Millerstown, PA

In the first paragraph of your report, list all the records you reviewed. This prevents potential for misunderstanding if all records are not sent by the attorney. Molly Feliciano, Silver Spring, MD
Have somebody else proofread. Proof hard copy as well as on computer for a better overview of the finished product. Trish Councell, Aurora, CO

Write a letter or email and save as a draft. Set aside. Go back later, reread and then mail or send. Never write when emotionally involved. Wait until emotion subsides so the subject can be addressed objectively. Jennifer Henson, Virginia Beach, VA

Read the report word by word backwards from the end to the beginning to check your words for clarity and spelling. Read your report out loud a sentence at a time to check for sense, flow, paragraphing and grammar. Susan Smith, Warriors Mark, PA

Check punctuation. My husband sent me a card one time and he didn’t put a period between the thoughts: “I’m sorry I love you.” Anita Garrison, Bartlett, TN

If I need an action from someone, in an email I will put {action needed} or {action needed by __} in the subject line. Gaylene Malmberg, Seabrook, TX

Always re-read your report from the perspective of the client for clarification of important points, concise language, etc. Secondly always “hold” the report and re-read the next day before submitting to your client. Check for grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc. Look at it with a fresh mind. Mary Kay DeGeorge, Crownsville, MD

Want more tips? Read our ezine by filling in your information in the optin box on the website.

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Tags: Legal nurse consulting, LNC reports, medical legal reports, medical malpractice reports
Posted in Business skills, Legal nurse consulting | No Comments »

Tips for Writing Medical Legal Reports Part 2 by Pat Iyer

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

In March, I taught a one hour session to legal nurse consultants at the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultant’s annual meeting. I challenged them to share their best writing tip. I’ve compiled the tips in this ezine, eliminated duplicate entries, and selected the first tip as the prize winner, who won the Writing Handbook for LNCs. Read the prior blog post for the winning entry.

Short and simple. Write the sentence, then go back and cross out unnecessary words but retain the meaning of the sentence in the shortest format. Veronica Bennett, Clifton, VA

Provide backup for determinations based on facts in documents, gold standards, the provider’s own statements, etc. Use bullets. Norma Janke, Larkspur, CO

I always acknowledge that it was a pleasure to work with him or her on this case, or I thank them for the opportunity to have worked on this case. Kathleen Rau, Rosebud, MT

Spend 10-15 minutes to outline my thoughts related to my case. Identify the outline’s answers, the complaint, or issue at hand. Keep the number of pages limited. Kim Beladi, Franklin, TN

When you use Dragon Naturally Speaking, you may enter specific terms, diagnoses, doctors’ names, and so on so that the report is consistent. You can use this tool simply to be consistent in writing. Cheryl O’Connell, West Chester, PA

Once you review a record, immediately do a report even though the attorney may not want one. This way when you need the report, you do not have to review the records again (at your own expense of time.) Lori Klingman, Pittsburgh, PA

Plan for multiple drafts and prune each draft. Diane Krasner, York, PA.

Keep it simple enough that a judge can understand it. Beth Zorn, Victor, NY

Complete review by identifying each issue, regulations pertaining to the issue, deviations by staff, physician, etc and the consequences. Attorneys tend to like regulation/rule + consequence. It simplifies the case. Fran Britt, Pinellas Park, FL

Summarize briefly the specific breaches of the standards of care in one paragraph. Then express opinion with strong adjectives (i.e. willful disregard, reckless, outrageous, and negligent) as appropriate to the case. Terri Antoinette, West Alexander, PA

Want more tips? Read our ezine by filling in your information in the optin box on the website.

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Tags: Legal nurse consulting, legal nurse consulting reports, LNC reports, medical legal reports, medical malpractice reports
Posted in Business skills, Legal nurse consulting | No Comments »

Tips for Writing Medical Legal Reports Part 1 by Pat Iyer

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

In March, I taught a one hour session to legal nurse consultants at the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultant’s annual meeting. I challenged them to share their best writing tip. I’ve compiled the tips in this ezine, eliminated duplicate entries, and selected the first tip as the prize winner. This was the winning entry by Barbara Boschert, St. Louis, MO. Barbara won a copy of The Writing Handbook for LNCs.

Barbara said: When possible, I keep specific turning points in a box because it is a way to pull them out, set them apart, and make them a quick point of reference. ‘Turning points’ first of all depends on the type of case, i.e., in a personal injury or workers compensation case, the mechanism of injury may not fit the clinical picture, so I might put a citation/reference in a box that demonstrates that point. Or I might find a pre-existing condition that had been missed, but has great bearing on mitigating medical specials.

In a medical malpractice case, I have found one single entry – that proverbial needle in the haystack – that turns the case in a favorable direction for my client (plaintiff or defense), so I want to be sure to highlight it, i.e., a stand-alone entry that a doc discontinued a test because the patient was greatly improved, or the staging of a newly diagnosed cancer that indicated a good prognosis in the face of other negligent care that ultimately ended in the patient’s demise.

This format really only works when you’re doing a narrative summary, obviously. If you’re doing a chronology in table format, where everything is already in ‘boxes’ essentially, I have a column for comments, and I would highlight these turning points in bold italicized text and/or with a color highlight as well.

I’m sure you have many little techniques as well that work for bringing facts to the forefront, both in the context of the report, and perhaps even a separate appendix that is even a faster reference tool for the attorney. We’re all just full of these sorts of ideas. Whatever I do, I give a key with my report that helps the client understand the import of emphasized content.

Want more tips? Join our ezine subscriber list by filling in your information in the optin box on our website

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Tags: legal nurse consultant reports, Legal nurse consulting, LNC reports, medical legal reports, medical malpractice reports
Posted in Business skills, Legal nurse consulting | No Comments »

Fill that pipeline now by Caryn Kopp, Guest Author

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Knowing how to find the decision makers to fill your pipeline can be challenging. Here are a few strategies for connecting with prospects that will help everyone jumpstart this effort.

Tip 1. The first is an email introduction. This strategy is often overlooked. Someone you know may have a connection to a decision maker. The email introduction can be as simple as Joe Smith, meet Sarah Jones. Enjoy. You know what this gives you? Permission! Permission to communicate directly with the decision maker.

sm atty on phone Tip 2. Change up your networking activities. Find out where your prospects network… and go there. A person I know was targeting large businesses yet networking with small business owners. How many sales has he closed from that? None. As the saying goes, Fish where the fish are.

Tips 3. Make a list of decision makers. And, call them with a POWERFUL message. Use words which are so compelling your prospect would be foolish not to invite you for a meeting. I know a company that used to give a one line description of their product and didn’t get many meetings. So we tweaked their message and now they say they are the company that saves their clients $100k in costs. They’re getting a lot more meetings and in a lot less time.

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Tags: new business development
Posted in Business skills, Legal nurse consulting, Trial lawyer skills | No Comments »

No Time to Read This? Read This by Sue Shellenbarger

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Are things you need to get done falling between the cracks? Does taking an entire day off seem impossible?

Maybe you need a time-management system.

Many readers seem to think they do, based on the email response to my recent column on the importance of taking time off. Dozens asked me to recommend a time-management method that would help them get on top of their work and home duties. In response, I asked a half-dozen executive coaches to help me pick the most widely used time-management systems-not just software tools or high-tech to-do lists, but behavioral-change techniques that help people get organized, clarify thinking and increase output. Then, I tried out for a week each of the three methods they mentioned most often-including one that involved a ticking plastic tomato.

Of course, a week isn’t long enough to reap the full benefits of these methods. Still, I learned a lot from this experiment. Like many people, I am often my own worst enemy in managing my time, distracting myself from the task at hand, or setting myself up for failure by starting each day with an unrealistically long to-do list. Second, the key to getting more important stuff done is often doing less of everything else. And finally, getting control of your time requires a significant up-front investment of mental effort-and, well, time.

Here, in no particular order, are the methods I tried:

• Getting Things Done: The reigning gorilla of time management, “GTD,” as its followers call it, was created in the 1980s by David Allen, an Ojai, Calif., consultant whose coaching, training materials and seminars can be found at davidco.com. Mr. Allen has since sold more than one million books about GTD and attracted 1.2 million followers on Twitter. GTD’s aim is to corral all the projects and tasks floating around in your head into an organizing system you update weekly. No matter what chaos erupts, the system in theory enables you to quickly identify the next step to take on every front to keep all your projects moving forward, while keeping your mind clear to relax, think and be creative.

http://www.mypath.com/docs/en_US/wsjonline/full/tcm_66-42162.html

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Tags: time management
Posted in Business skills | No Comments »

Are You a Workaholic? 7 Signs that Point to Yes, and 7 steps Toward your Recovery

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Written By: Christina Galoozis

Every mom is busy.

But how do you know if you’re too busy? (Hint: The number of things on your to-do list isn’t an indicator.)

Perhaps this will resonate: I’ll be able to sleep better if I can get just one more hour of work done. Or, I was busy all day, but there’s still more to do. There’s always more to do.

If the little voice inside your head sounds like this, you may be a workaholic. Whether you’re a stay-at-home, work-at-home or work-outside-the-home mom, we’re all candidates for what stress-management expert Debbie Mandel labels an addiction to stress.

“Like any addiction, people who suffer from workaholism need an adrenaline high, so they keep staying busy to avoid crashing,” says Mandel, author of Addicted to Stress: A Woman’s 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life (Jossey-Bass, 2008).

Wendy Pike, a small-business owner and mother of two, knows this feeling. After losing her job while on maternity leave—it was the late 1980s, before the Family Medical Leave Act—she was hired at her husband’s office supplies company part-time. But that quickly escalated to getting a master’s degree, taking over the human resources and finance departments, eventually becoming part-owner and acquiring 12 companies. During those years her kids spent their sick days on the company couch, their free days washing shelves in the warehouse and developing life-long friendships with some of the employees.

Medical-Legal Topics

Archive for the ‘Business skills’ Category

Improving the “stickiness” of your big ideas by guest author Stephanie Scotti

How confident are you? By Guest author Natalie Gahrmann

“How to Detect Lies From Impressions and Expressions When Negotiating” by Guest Author Greg Williams

On getting more business by guest author, Caryn Kopp

Tips for Medical Legal Reports Part 3 by Pat Iyer

Tips for Writing Medical Legal Reports Part 2 by Pat Iyer

Tips for Writing Medical Legal Reports Part 1 by Pat Iyer

Fill that pipeline now by Caryn Kopp, Guest Author

No Time to Read This? Read This by Sue Shellenbarger

Are You a Workaholic? 7 Signs that Point to Yes, and 7 steps Toward your Recovery

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