![]()
1
The best way for you to read this book
I’m lazy. That’s why I read lots of business books.
I once heard Drayton Bird make a surprising confession.
‘I’m lazy,’ he said. ‘That’s why I read lots of business books.’
This sounded very strange to me. ‘Why would someone lazy bother reading books?’ I asked him.
His reply made perfect sense, though.
‘Most people waste half their lives guessing what will work. They try, fail, and squander time and money for years making it up as they go along. Why guess when you can know from someone who’s done it all before?
‘I can spend a day reading a book, do exactly what it tells me, and get it right first time. That’s why I’m lazy. I’d rather do one day’s good work than twenty years of bad.’
BRILLIANT BUSINESS BOOKS
This made a lot of sense to me, though I’m not too sure I’d like to call myself lazy. I like time-efficient better.
But it’s not only
time-efficiency I look for when I read business books. I want them to have the following attributes:
1. Most important: give me tips that are
all:
• new (that I haven’t heard before);
• simple (so they are painless for me to implement);
• relevant (so I can apply them to my business);
• accessible (so I can understand them and put them to work easily); and
• effective (i.e. they work).
2. The book must help me to be time-efficient when reading it. This could mean teaching me lots of things in a short space of time, or being clearly signposted so I can easily find the things that matter most to me.
Are you like me? Do you want this book to do those things for you? I hope so. Because I have written the book assuming you do. And here’s how …
Attribute 1 - New, simple, relevant, accessible and effective tips
Every tip, hint or technique in this book has been carefully selected to be:
• New - either my unique way of looking at things, or presenting in a new way the results of years of study into what persuades and stays in the memory.
• Simple - one of my clients once said I give ‘annoyingly simple advice’. In his words: ‘I could have thought of every single thing you said, but never have. Nor has anybody else I’ve ever met.’ Everything in this book is easy for you to incorporate into your standard way of working, and is fast-acting.
• Relevant - unless yours is a strange kind of business I’ve never come across, everything in this book should apply to what you need to sell or persuade others about.
• Accessible - throughout the book, you’ll find lots of simple exercises so you can apply what I have said to your own business, to make sure this book becomes a practical guide, rather than a theoretical manual.
• Effective - everything you read in this book works. It has been tested by the thousands of businesses I have worked with, so I know what happens when people implement the advice you’re about to get.
Attribute 2 - Time-efficient
This book is easy to read time-efficiently.
If you like to read cover to cover, this book takes you on a journey. I start by showing you how to have far greater impact and get better results when you speak to strangers (at networking events) … building up to how to present to groups, again with greater impact, and better results.
However, if you have a more targeted, selective approach to reading - would rather zero in on what matters to you - I’ve ensured each section is totally self-contained, making complete sense on its own. That way, for example, if you only want to know how to be better at networking, simply read Section 4.
But, however you read this book, to make sure you get the best out of it, there are two sections you must read …
Getting going …
If you’re planning to dip in and out of relevant sections, turn to the Contents on page ix and see where you want to go first. To remind you, all the sections are self-contained, so you can read them in any order.
However, the two sections you simply must read for this book to get you the best results are:
• Section 2: Why ‘the Jelly Effect?’ - This section explains the single biggest problem in business communications (as well as shedding light on the title of this book).
• Section 3: The AFTERs - Of everything that I have ever taught any business person anywhere, the thing that has had the biggest impact on their success is the ‘AFTERs’, which is a process I’ve developed to make communication more powerful. Because AFTERs are so fundamental to business communication and all the subsequent sections keep referring to them, the book won’t make sense unless you read this section.
These sections won’t take long to read, but give you an instant appreciation of what you need to do to get better results every time you speak to others.
![]()
2
Why ‘the Jelly Effect’?
How many times have you been excruciatingly bored when listening to a presentation?
How many times have you been itching to get away from someone at a networking event, as they drone on and on?
How many times have you been aggressively sold-to and thought, ‘I’d rather be somewhere else … anywhere else. Just not here.’
I’ll bet it’s hundreds of times. It certainly is with me. And with every person I’ve ever asked these questions to.
But, what about the other way around… when it’s you who’s presenting, who’s networking, who’s selling?
Do you ever bore people to death? Do you drone on when you should shut up? Do you sell in a way that comes over as too aggressive?
Have you ever felt that sickening feeling when presenting: ‘Oh no, I’m losing the audience … they look so bored … they’re looking round the room … they’re fidgeting … and I’ve still got 10 minutes to go … I’ll speed up and get it over’?
When networking, have you ever seen the person you’re speaking to constantly glance over your shoulder to find someone else to talk to?
Or, when selling, have you ever known that your potential customer is just not interested? In fact, they have totally switched off …
Again, I bet you have. Everybody has.
But why is this? Why doesn’t business communication work? Why can’t people keep their audiences listening to them?
Because of one simple reason:
Business people say too much irrelevant stuff
• all the time
• every day
• to every type of person.
Think about it. It’s true. Do any of these (totally irrelevant to you) things sound familiar?
• presentations that begin with the presenting company’s year of formation, number of offices and staffing levels;
• networking conversations that include a lengthy description of the other person’s company, their product range, infrastructure and history; or
• sales pitches that give a full, excruciatingly detailed description of how the product works (much of which you just don’t need or even want to know).
Totally, utterly irrelevant to you. But you hear them all the time.
And, hand on heart, you probably do it too.
When you speak like this, it’s very much like filling a bucket with jelly, and flinging it at the other person, hoping some of it will stick.
Some will, sure. But most won’t. And it’s doubly inefficient. It wastes y...
