I’ve written many times encouraging you to put personal details into your speeches and presentations.
Why is that?
The people you are doing business with want to see how you interact with the world. That’s just what humans do.
Even in the most rational of B2B transactions, there’s a human on the other end of the line, and that human knows that he/she is going to be spending time with you, and so he/she wants to know what you are like. When you include information about yourself, you are helping him/her do his/her job better.
So today I have a challenge for you:
I challenge you to put a little more of yourself into your stories at work. You don’t have to expand your comfort zone at warp speed and try to do it all at once. If you’re at 0, just go to 1. If you’re at 1, just go to 2. If you’re at 2, just go to 3. Like that.
Expand by 1, see that no one dies, and then let that become your new normal.
For example, if you’re comfortable saying “I went to the store,” say “I went to the store to buy tomatoes.” If you’re already comfortable saying “I went to the store to buy tomatoes,” say “I went to the store to buy tomatoes for dinner.”
If you feel weird doing it, remember that you are doing a favor for the other person. The other person is thinking, “Who is this person I spend half my life with,” and you are helping them figure that out. After all, you are probably curious about your own boss, right? The people who work for you are the same way.
Here’s a video along those lines. If you’re wondering why this email is called “Put some Tuba in it,” it’s because I mention that name in this video.
BTW, I made this video 12 years ago, when I had more hair and, since I had just gotten back from walking across Turkey, I also had a much better tan:
