Recently, I came across an old Forbes article that linked advertising and training, “Staff training budgets are like advertising budgets; you can waste a sizeable chunk telling the wrong people the wrong things, but as with advertising, developments in technology are giving companies less and less excuse for doing so.” This is potential good news for those wanting more engaging training programs Training budgets are tight. Personalization, particularly with video, seems expensive. But how much money (and employee engagement) is wasted by delivering the same content to everyone, even if they don’t need it? Customization is the answer. The innovation…read more >

In recent blogs, we’ve discussed two topics—agendas and summaries—both covered in great detail as interactive courses in Viddler Sales Gym. To coincide with this week’s launch of Sales Gym, I’d like to conclude with the third topic in the series: responding effectively to questions and other interruptions during sales conversations. First of all, if you’re not expecting tough questions during a sales call, then you’ve chosen the wrong profession. By definition, you’re asking someone to give up their hard-earned money. Any prospect who’s still in business will want to know why. They’ll be skeptical of just about everything you say,…read more >

There’s a huge difference between the knowledge of something and the skills needed to actually DO that something. At a concert, you as an audience member may know all about opera (or rock and roll) but would be helpless on stage. At a sporting event, you might know all the stats, but against an actual 99 MPH pitcher, you would strike out every time. That’s the real challenge of training. Knowledge is universally obtainable. Skill only comes with relentless practice, fitness, and dedication. To explore the difference between skills training and knowledge transfer, let’s dive into what they really are.…read more >

Last week, I wrote about the beginning of a good sales interaction, namely the importance of having a good agenda. This week, I’ll take it from the other end. What makes the conclusion of a meeting a good experience or a poor one? The answer is of course the summary. This topic is another one covered in the new online offering, the Viddler Sales Gym, but it applies to any meeting—sales-related or not. (I heartily recommend the free trial, by the way.) Here’s why: We’re in the midst of an attention economy, a phrase popularized by the likes of IT…read more >

Today’s political environment has taken a perfectly good word—agenda—and made it a bad thing. I’d like to reclaim the word, and make it a positive part of our interactions with others. Ideally, a good agenda is something that clearly communicates needs and goals beforehand. It’s all about transparency. For the record, I think the negative associations we have about the word come from the phrase “hidden agenda.” No one likes to find out that the real purpose of an interaction has been deliberately kept secret. We prefer openness and honesty. We also want to save time, and not go through…read more >

There are many popular misconceptions about wolf packs, especially when we over-simplify phrases like “alpha male” or “alpha female” and use them to explain human interaction and teamwork. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from the way hunting animals rely on each other to survive and even thrive. Case in point: The photo in the Snopes piece is from a BBC documentary that points to the alpha female clearing a path through the snow, to save energy, making it easier for the rest of the pack to get through. She’s clearing the path. That example of literally “leading…read more >

The other day, I moved some boxes and found a cache of CDs from my college days. (Remember CDs? They’re the 8-tracks of my generation, just like MPs and thumb drives will be some day.) So I dusted off my boombox (yes, yes, I know) and played Gorillaz’s Clint Eastwood. Instantly, I was taken back to all-nighters, disgusting fraternity floors, and red solo cups. I could remember every single word, even though it’s been years since I last heard it. I’m sure you can relate. A song comes on that used to be your jam. You remember the whole thing,…read more >

Believe me, people tend to make snap judgements about incoming emails based in part on the subject line. Even if you’re not super busy, you’re likely to ignore and/or delete any email whose subject line doesn’t pass the “is-this-legit?” test. I’ve been on both sides of the email subject line: the person crafting it and the person receiving it. For years, on the outreach side of things, I’ve been crafting email subject lines that got opens, responses, and content placement from places like Mashable, Entrepreneur, CNET, and Business Insider. While there is no scientific method or exact theorem, there is…read more >

As a writer and former trainer, I’ve always looked for ways to add other media to my words. Text is all well and good. After all, that’s how we’re communicating at this very instant! But, as any good trainer will tell you, engaging your audience requires more than one medium. My favorite one is video. Here’s the problem. Video is a great engagement medium, but it’s not easy to produce well. A bad video can ruin your message. It can bore your audience into oblivion. It can create giant “blobs” of content that beg to be ignored. Here’s another problem:…read more >

Here’s a question that plagues trainers and eLearning professionals: “When teaching or learning something new, do you prefer video or text?” Frankly, it is the wrong question. According to “everyone,” video is supposed to be the most powerful way to learn. Many assume that online video inherently makes eLearning better or more effective. So, they resist the idea that some people—actually a lot of people—still prefer text over video! The reason is simple: control. With text, the end user has complete control over the experience, based on his or her reading level. The quality of the writing and its presentation…read more >