The Art of Perspective

Any time you attend a meeting, make a sales call, give a presentation, write a blog or interview with a prospective employer, you have a choice:

You can vomit information.
You can deliver insight.
You can ask questions.
You can create silence.

OR: If you want to be invited back, you can deliver perspective.

Something that disturbs.
Something that moves eyebrows.
Something that flips the mental switch.
Something that creates a smile in the mind.
Something that takes people’s hiding places away from them.

As a writer, speaker, consultant and mentor, perspective is my job. It’s what people pay me to deliver. And today I’d like to share an assortment of perspective to help you, your brand and your organization become better.

CAUTION: Each of the items on this list is worthy of its own discussion. Next time you have a meeting, conference or company retreat, I encourage you to use them as conversation starters, icebreakers and thought experiments for your team:1. The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. Are you smoking what you’re selling?

2. Charles Goodyear invented the rubber tire when he accidentally spilled a pot of boiling rubber in his kitchen. What are you turning your mistakes into?

3. The creator of the Nike Swoosh was paid thirty-five dollars for the design. Are you charging for time invested or value created?

4. Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession. Are you waiting for perfect conditions to begin pursuing your dream?

5. When Scott Paper Company first manufactured toilet tissue; they didn’t put their name on the product because of embarrassment. How do you sign your work?

6. American Airlines once saved forty thousand dollars by eliminating one olive from each salad in first class. What could you delete that nobody would miss?

7. Jerusalem is the only destination people travel halfway around the world for, just to see something that isn’t even there. What is the mythology surrounding your product?

8. When Leo Tolstoy wrote War & Peace, he had thirteen kids. What distractions are you allowing to beat you?

9. Miles Davis never made any hit records. How are you selling the experience of seeing you in person?

10. Van Gough was so lonely that he had to use his mailman as a model. Who can you have lunch with this week?

11. The founder of Google turned down a job at the White House. What are you willing to give up in order to stay geeky?

12. Getting a job at an Apple Store is more selective than getting into Harvard. How badly do people want to work for you?

13. Half of Japan’s bestselling books are written via text message. Now that you have this technology, what else does this make possible?

14. The Amazon jungle has nine hundred species of wasps. Are you still assuming the world doesn’t have room for your uniqueness?

REMEMBER: When you walk in with perspective, you walk out with heartshare.

People don’t need more information.

They need permission to see the world differently.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What perspective do you deliver?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “8 Ways to Move Quickly on New Opportunities,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

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