Al Gore's Comeback!
A Powerful Communications Lesson For All Of Us Who Sell For A Living.

Article Date: June 5, 2006

Guess who was the talk of the recent Cannes Film Festival? Tom Cruise? Jennifer Aniston? Nope . . . it was none other than Al Gore.

Al Gore? You mean that long-winded stuffed shirt who never smiled and was thoroughly mishandled as a presidential candidate? That's right . . . he's getting rave reviews for his documentary and his personality, and could be back in the presidental hunt in 2008. What happened? Two things which, as salespeople, we can all learn from.

1). He has lightened up, a lot. Check out Dr. Croner's article (this week) on why taking ourselves less seriously, being less self-conscious and more relaxed is much more appealing to our customers than intense, know-it-all pitching.

2). He has attached himself to an interesting cause, the environment, and is now coming off as "an advocate" ("I'm helping") rather than "a politician" ("I'm taking/lying").

If you have a cause in your life (coaching, volunteer work, etc.), don't be shy about letting your customers know about it in a tasteful way. It humanizes you and distinguishes you as the kind of person your customers like to be around!

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