Category: Persuasive Professional

At the heart of my work is helping people transform their life. That’s what I call “Life Alchemy Technology.” There’s a simple & effective art/science to changing what is into what could be. That’s the most powerful magic in the universe.

Then there’s being a persuasive professional. No matter what job you have, or what profession you’re in; you’ll have greater success if you learn how to be more persuasive (in writing, in real-life presentations, and on video).

In order to be the best communicator possible, it’s important to understand that we live in the best time to be alive in terms of being able to find our “tribe” and connect with them. We used to grow up with the people in our village & know those same people our whole life & then die. Now we can connect with people all over the world for free by using social media and the variety of internet-powered tools at our fingertips. When you decide to use that system to increase your personal & professional visibility, I call that having a “Personal Media Company.” You have to be in charge of managing your own messaging.

Then, finally, if you want to combine all of that to be the best of the best, then you’re on the track to being a “Recognized Genius.” I don’t care how smart you are; it’s not going to do much to help you if nobody knows that you’re a genius at [fill in the blank for how you help people in ways that get you paid].

Allllllll of this stuff rests on understanding how your mind works, making it work for you, and focusing it on helping as many people as possible.

That’s why success is first & foremost a mental game. Learn how to play it well!

If you’d like to have a conversation with me about what that might look like, and have the most incredible mind-expanding talk you can have (without drugs), then reply to this email & we’ll get something on the calendar. I am opening up bandwidth for personal coaching clients, and I’d love to offer you a 2 hour slot where we just focus completely on helping you make your dreams a reality.

But I won’t push you to schedule. You have to show some action. (That’s free lesson number 1!)

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “Alchemy is real” Pritchard

You can see all the photos in the world. You can talk to people who have been there & done that. You can read a thousand first-hand accounts that describe how the wind picks up and the temperature drops. How birds go quiet and everything goes still. How the light takes on a silvery vibrance that makes everything hyper real.

But you still won’t be ready.

You can know exactly where it’s going to happen. You can know down to the second what time it’ll happen.

And you still won’t be ready.

This is how I felt witnessing the total eclipse on Monday.

And it’s a great analogy for the difference that one experience makes in your life vs reading & thinking about it 1,000x.

The smallest action yields infinite more results than a world of contemplation.

If you want to accomplish more, do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right people.

If you’d like to be reminded of this, you can buy the tshirt.

Or, if you’d like to accomplish more than you’ve ever imagined possible, you’d do well to have a coach who can help you see beyond your imaginary limitations. Fill out my application to see if we’d be a good fit!

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “beyond your wildest imaginations” Pritchard

This week we’ve been talking about how to think about huge opportunities and the competing strategies of keeping the best for last vs starting with the best to ensure you stay in the [metaphorical & literal] competition.

Yesterday I strongly advised you to start with the best and give yourself the best shot at winning your place in another round of consideration.

But what do you do when you’ve done your best? How do you follow that up?

To put another way, “You have your whole life to make your first album, and a year to make your second.”

How do you make sure the next thing is better than your best?

Simple.

Get help.

Have someone or a whole team of the world’s best helping you out.

That’s what happens on these huge talent shows. The performer does their best to get onto the show, then they call my buddy Brent to come up with the next 5 rounds of fantastic ideas that get them a million dollar payday.

So, do you have your own Brent? Do you need a Brent in your life?

We should talk.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “what’s the big idea” Pritchard

PS: That’s a picture of me with Brent from a couple years ago. Tomorrow I’m heading up to see Brent and do a show at his theater. Can’t wait!

That’s the fear at the heart of leading with your best.

Because it’s bad both ways.

1. It goes great. Now you have to come up with something better than something that took you a decade to perfect.
2. It goes bad. Now you know for sure you’re a failure because you gave it your best shot and it still wasn’t good enough.

For most people, that’s enough justification to never try anything at all.

You might think of it as perfectionism or procrastination, but it’s just fear at the end of the day.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the antidote.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan ‘your best ain’t good enough’ Pritchard

Yesterday we talked a little bit about how to decide what to share when you are starting to put yourself out there.

Do I keep the good stuff until I have an audience? Or do I share it when nobody will ever see it?

In order to make it clear how/why it’s smart to always share your best, let’s look at America’s Got Talent.

My friend Brent (who I’m going to see on Friday & perform at his theater on Saturday!) is a big time consultant for magicians. The most recent magician to win AGT? Brent was working with that guy to come up with that routine hours before showtime. He was off stage during taping.

He knows what he’s talking about.

And years ago when we were talking about AGT & P&T and all the other talent shows and I asked him the same question.

Do I do something good, so I can do the great thing in the final rounds?

He said, “If you don’t do the great thing, you probably won’t make it to the final rounds.”

Think about that.

If you try to hold something back for later, you’ll never get the chance to shine.

I’ll tell you about the feeling I had when I realized that was true (hint: its terror), and why you don’t need to worry.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “go for greatness” Pritchard

PS: Yes, that’s me with Alyson Hannigan. She was the host when I went out for P&T and we had a great time.

You think, “I’ll save this for a special occasion!” so you wait to drink the champaign, use the fine china, or whatever it is that you’re saving for later.

Then a special occasion comes along and you think, “I’ve been waiting so long, this doesn’t feel special enough.”

And suddenly you’re in a “specialty spiral” where nothing is special enough to justify using / drinking / celebrating the thing you’re saving.

I bring this up because this morning my wife and I were talking about her podcasting newsletter, and what topic she was thinking about for this week’s update. She was wondering aloud whether she should write about the exciting topic now, or wait for more people.

There’s a tension when it comes to choosing material, and it looks like this: “I want to wait to use the awesome topics until I have a big enough audience” vs “I don’t have an audience because I never use anything awesome.”

The lesson being, start with your best material, and work your way from there.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about another world where this applies so we can drive the point home.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “best foot forward” Pritchard

Person 1: “Would you look at these numbers?!”
Person 2: “I am. Are those good numbers, or are they bad?”

Data tells what’s happening. Emotions tell why it matters. Combine both for impact.

In the example we can see that data, by itself, does nothing to help someone understand the point you’re trying to make. You can show them numbers all day long and they can still be just as clueless as when you began.

Why?

Because they don’t know what it means.

And if they don’t know what it means, they won’t know how they’re supposed to feel.

So, if you want to sell more easily, then help your prospect understand what your solutions mean, and they’ll feel the right way about it.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “I mean it” Pritchard

Storytelling isn’t dead. It’s your most powerful tool to captivate.

I’d bet you $5 that we were telling stories for 10’s of thousand’s of years before we harnessed fire.

Today, movies & narrative-based video games are HUGE industries.

The takeaway; if you focus on features try sharing a story or two instead.

Watch what happens.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “What’s Your Story” Pritchard

Five points if you get the reference with the image… Anyway, let’s get into it.

In the sales world there’s a common topic of conversation: objection handling.

But, I find the term… well… objectionable!

Why? It programs you to believe that you’re doing something wrong!

You’re not doing anything objectionable by selling solutions to important problems.

Reject that framing in your mind & heart.

I do, however, think there’s still important work to be done on two fronts.

1) Confusion around what it looks like to work together, which you should clear up before you get to price. Deliverables, responsibilities, execution, timelines, etc.

Then the heavy hitter that destroys most deals…

2) Deception. I don’t mean lies you’re telling them. I mean lies they’re telling themselves! The lies they’ve BEEN telling themselves for months or even years. “I’ll get back to you” or “I’ll think about it” or anything other than “I don’t trust myself to make the right choice which is the worst way to make sure I only choose the wrong path.” THAT’S the truth, but they can’t face it.

So you have to politely (but FIRMLY) present them with the reality of their lies and ask them how they’re going to deal with it.

This is the real heart of “objection handling” that 99% of your dear sales gurus can’t touch.

It would need a bona fide mind reader, and where would we find one of those?

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan

Being visible is great. Being unforgettable is better. Create material that sticks in the minds of your audience.

I see a majority of people desperate for eyeballs and attention, but they have zero understanding of what makes something memorable.

Hint: it’s emotional impact, novelty, or fear.

Do with that information as you will…

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan

PS: Did you know I’m continuing my work on my sales book? I’m sharing the unique mentalism-powered strategies that have helped me land clients like BP, Discovery, United Airlines, and more as a solopreneur / freelancer without the benefit of a massive organization behind me? If you are interested in increasing your bottom line, you might want to start at sharpening your sales skills. You can become a founding reader and get real-time access to the book as I write it.