'There's a difference between knowledge and wisdom. And I believe from all my years of retail wisdom happens and that's where you learn a behavior because you had the experience.' -- @Stoopac #publicspeaking #sales Click To Tweet

 

 

2-Minute Tip: Don’t Squander Water Cooler Talk

 

After winning or losing a big sale in a store there’s tendency to brag or vent to colleagues around a literal or metaphorical water cooler. It happens after a big talk, too. We celebrate the brilliance or decry the stupidity of an audience.

 

Don’t.

 

It’s not effective. It won’t help you win or save more sales in the future. And it has the tendency to hurt morale and reinforce negative — and counterproductive — attitudes.

 

Instead, take that time to dissect the talk or sale. What went well? How can you do more of that in the future?

 

What didn’t go well? How can you avoid doing that again?

 

And learn how can you share those lessons with others.

 

That speech you just did is in the past. It’s gone. It now time to learn lessons from it and get ready for the next talk.

 

'People buy benefits, they don't buy features. They don't buy specs.' -- @Stoopac #publicspeaking #sales Click To Tweet

 

Post Tip Discussion

 

Stuart Rice and I have similar paths, separated by a few years. We both started out selling consumer electronics before transitioning over to the vendor side of retail, and then joining or creating other educational initiatives to help others.

 

Key skill that are helpful in retail are also helpful in public speaking. You have to learn about your audience. You have to connect with your audience. You have to bring your audience on a metaphorical journey with you.

 

You have to focus on what’s in it for them and why they should care.

 

And storytelling is a key part of it all.

 

'I mean, how do you how do you romance a refrigerator? There's a story with some refrigerators. You can always find that way.' -- @Stoopac #publicspeaking #sales Click To Tweet

 

Bio

 

Stuart Rice has 24 years of experience in sales, purchasing and management focusing on strategic growth. In his career, Stuart has helped companies multiply sales by revamping their current strategies and introducing new concepts that increased customer traffic and created new experiences for customers and salespeople alike.

 

Training is his passion and Stuart looks to use his experience and ability to communicate to share his knowledge, ability to critically think through problems, and use real-world scenarios to develop processes and strategies that can promote growth with individuals and institutions alike.

 

In addition to professional training, Stuart’s other pursuit is comedy, specifically sketch comedy, on the very accurately named “Sketch Comedy Podcast Show” a one-of-a-kind show where interesting people have intriguing conversations and then improvise a comedy sketch based on what was talked about.

 

'Qualifying questions are designed to pare down what you're going to be showing the customer. So you're not inundating them with a bunch of options.' -- @Stoopac #publicspeaking #sales Click To Tweet

 

Links

 

'It's really just about opportunities and seizing every opportunity you get.' -- @Stoopac #publicspeaking #sales Click To Tweet

 

Call To Action

 

• Check out The Sketch Comedy Podcast Show and Impactful Sales Solutions to learn more about Stuart and the topics we talked about today.
• Share this episode with a friend colleague or relative by giving them the link 2minutetalktims.com/stuart
• Don’t get best…get better.

 

Episode 104 — Speaking, Sales, and Improv with Stuart Rice Click To Tweet

 

2-Minute Talk Tips is the public speaking podcast that help you become a more effective speaker in as little as 2 minutes a week.