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Make It Happen Tipsheet

  • Closing Statements

    Closing Statements

    Have you ever been in a sales pitch, job interview, or other important meeting, and the person you are meeting asks you if there is anything else you would like to say, or ask? How should you approach this situation? Essentially, you have three choices: say nothing, say something new, or [More]

  • PowerPointless

    PowerPointless

    Formal presentations are critical to your professional success: they are used when you are pitching your ideas to colleagues or clients, when delivering a speech, and even during the job interview process. When we were taught how to make a speech back in grade school, we were given the rudiments: [More]

  • TILIS – Tell It Like It Is

    TILIS – Tell It Like It Is

    hru? lol, the uv tmi; gtg. Does reading this text feel like reading another language? You may recognize this gobbledegook as text or instant messaging shorthand, used almost as an artform by those "younger" than you. If you've figured it out, great, but don't count on your parent's (or grandparent's) [More]

  • Who’s the Client?

    Who’s the Client?

    Were you ever at a restaurant when the service was really terrible? You probably promised yourself that you would not go back. And when the service was absolutely top-notch? You probably rewarded the waiter or waitress with a big tip. Either way, if you were asked about the restaurant, you [More]

  • Zero Sum Thinking

    Zero Sum Thinking

    Lester Thurow, one of last century's great economists, coined the phrase (and wrote a book) called "Zero Sum Society". In it, he described an economic system that had a finite limit, where one person's gain would precisely be another person's loss. Unfortunately, many of us seem to use this mindset [More]

  • The Opportunity of Unscheduled Time

    The Opportunity of Unscheduled Time

    I am writing this as I'm sitting in an airport terminal, enjoying yet another flight delay. In particular, I am sitting in a seat where I can survey all of my fellow passengers. It is very rare that I find an entire three hours (and counting) where I can spend [More]

  • Networking Three-Step

    Networking Three-Step

    Networking is probably the most important skill you can learn. It is a prerequisite for professional success, meet new friends - and even meet your spouse. Yet strangely, this key skill is rarely taught in school.  We all seem to learn by happenstance. At its core, networking is actually very [More]

  • Freakonomics

    Freakonomics

    I just finished reading another fascinating book: Freakonomics by Steven Levtitt and Stephen Dubner. This pair of authors (one an economics professor while the other an accomplished journalist) have probably done more to explain economics than any of the two-dozen-odd economics textbooks that I have in my library. Levitt's area [More]

  • Winning the Interview Beauty Contest

    Winning the Interview Beauty Contest

    How can you do better at job interviews? It's not about being "lucky", nor is it about winning a beauty contest, it's about preparation, presentation, and perseverance: Fish where the fish are: Only apply for those positions where you have a strong chance of success. Energy wasted with pointless applications [More]

  • Closing the Expectations Gap

    Closing the Expectations Gap

    Expectations matter.  I recently had the pleasure of spending time in Houston, Texas. The people were friendly, the weather was great, and the event was a success. I stayed in one of the nicer hotels, The Westin, which was convenient, but also because of a great prior experience there. They [More]

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