Who invented the techno-thriller?  If your taste is military and hardware, then Tom Clancy. If other techno-areas, Michael Crichton gets the nod.

When we think techno-thriller, we tend to be looking forward—the newest ships and planes (in Clancy-land). Or medical or science technologies that are  just over the horizon—as in cloning dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK, the perils of nanotechnology in PREY, biotech in THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, quantum physics as a route to time–travel in TIMELINE. Continue reading → Decision influencers: who they are, and how to work with them

Cold call prospecting: your basic strategy on this first introductory phone call, when you are phoning to get an appointment with the prospect or decision maker, is simple: Avoid getting Continue reading → Cold call prospecting: What if the prospect pushes you for more detail, too soon?

Tags: People skills, soft skills, communication skills, active listening skills, persuasion skills, negotiation skills, Forbes Magazine, Jacquelyn Smith, Lynn Taylor Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant

Here's a link to a more complete backgrounder on this topic, covered in more detail iu my other blog www.CareerSuccessHow-to.  com

via careersuccesshow-to.com

MICHAEL McGAULLEY, J.D.

Way
back, once upon a time,  I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew
up, so  went to law school. (Like a lot of people who didn’t know what
they wanted to be.) I made it through some bar exams, and found myself
admitted in NY, VA, and DC

I
did learn a lot of Important Stuff in law school, the most important of
which was learning that what I did not want (now that I was grown up)
was to spend my life practicing law and fighting other peoples’ Zero-sum
Games.

I  segued into management consulting, and found my niche. As a
consultant, I got paid to explore (vicariously) varieties of careers and
organizations, some in the business world, others in government.

My
specialty was open-ended: discovering why organizations and the
individuals within were under-performing, and crafting methods to help
them function better. Which meant that I got paid to do a lot of fun
stuff (fun to me, at least). Meeting with people on all rungs across
organizational  charts, from Top Dog to New Kid (and comparing different
perspectives and skills). Riding with the best (and worst) performers
and figuring out why the difference. Developing and presenting
workshops: some for sales managers and reps in organizations including
Xerox, Kodak; other workshops for overseas officers for the U.S. State
Department’s Foreign Service Institute.

From this work has flowed books like SUCCESS QUESTIONS FOR WINNING THE GAMES OF BUSINESS & LIFE,
as well as two others coming out in late 2012. I also took what I had
learned from my own marketing efforts, as well as from some of the
workshops I developed for clients, and produced a series of practical
sales-training guides: SELLING 101: Essential Selling Skills; SALES TRAINING TUTORIALS; and SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS Handbook.

But it was not all management work. Early on, I’d been fascinated by the work of Captain Cousteau (THE SILENT WORLD)
and others exploring in the world beneath the ocean surface. (At one
point–still figuring out what to be when I grew up–I even gave serious
consideration to becoming an oceanographer.)

In
a way, that early fascination with what’s hidden in the depths beneath
the ocean surface transformed into a new fascination: to explore the
as-yet-unrecognized deeper potentials latent within human beings.  Are
we just melanges of chemicals and synapses, or are we “transformers” (if
you will) of other energies still mostly dormant within us?

My
sense is that we are on the verge of breakthrough discoveries in the
world of what I term, not “the para-normal,” but rather “the
dormant-normal”. I’m exploring those possibilities in a series of
technothrillers:  A REMEDY FOR DEATH; A CERTAIN POWER; JOINING MIRACLES (not really a thriller, more a parable); and another in progress.

I expect you've arrived at this page following the link in the e-book SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS.  Here is the download, as promised:

Download Worksheets and templates for Sales Presentations and Demonstrations

If you don't already have SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS, you can order it here as either an e-book or paper book.  (If you don't have an e-reader, Amazon will provide a free app to enable you to read it on your smart-phone, tablet, or PC.

(Links will be added shortly.)

Remember the old saying," Out of adversity comes prosperity?"  Maybe losing the job, or getting serious about what to do IF the job disappears, may be the best thing yet.

I've seen it often enough with friends and co-workers, and here's an article with a case study of just that happening.

Of course, there is one other step, apart from inventing, developing, manufacturing, and so forth.   That step? Marketing and selling it . . .  which is where this blog fits in.

I've included the link to the USA Today archives below, but since I find anything of USA Today online to be extremely difficult and persnickety to use, the article was "Tough economic times provide fertile soil for inventors' creations," by Dan D'Ambrosio and Adam Silverman, in the issue of July 20, 2011, page 3B.

Link to that USA Today article