Street Smart Communication Skills, One on One and to a Group

The Street Smart Communicator...and How to be a Good at Strategy

by steve patterson on 05/09/12

Did you know that it's not always the strongest person or team that wins? It's because some people and teams are much better at strategy than others. And the word strategy, by definition means "positioning yourself to win."

In an earlier blog post I wrote about the first rule of strategy - 'Look forward and reason back." Sounds easy but works hard. There's a tool that the best strategists use called a "decision tree." I asked you to google that term and learn from it. The truth is a decision tree racks your brain and wears you out as you build them, but when you're done, you will most likely make the best decision. This task is so difficult that in business school the saying was "draw a tree and get a B" because it was so hard to get an A in that area.

So as you become more street smart, learn how to build just basic decision trees. They will help you win more often. Guaranteed.

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How to be Street Smart When Buying a Car

by steve patterson on 05/08/12

So we're thinking about trading a 2006 black convertible GT Mustang for a newer model Mustang GT 5.0, maybe even a 2013 model. Sweet.

The street smart person knows the things he has to do to prepare for the event:

1. Price - compare to other dealers, etc

2. How to use a financial calculator to figure payment -

a. Set the HP 10b financial calculator to 12/payments/year

b. Enter the price where it says "present value", say $30,000k.

c. Enter the number of months 48, 60, 72 whatever you're willing to finance

d. hit the payment key to calculate payment

Of course you check bankrate.com first and "search local interest rates" on new or used cars in your area so you know if anyone is trying to charge you too high a rate

I will keep you posted!

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The Street Smart Speech in Kansas City

by steve patterson on 05/08/12

Things went well in Kansas City today...for all the reasons I'm always preaching about how to give a good speechs

1. I had prepared for the 20 hours necessary for the one hour presentation/discussion

2. I used "the power of the pause" at the right time, in the right way.

3. I know what the number one enemy is of a speaker...and I avoided it. Never be "the same" throughout a presentation. It's the number one killer. Always vary the tone and pitch throughout the presentation. If it sounds the same to the audience, it IS the same...and it's BORING

Here's to being street smart!

"The shrewd ability to survive in a sometimes hostile environment called life!"

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Preparing for a Speech Part II

by steve patterson on 05/07/12

Ok so last week I talked to you about a speech I was giving in Missouri and the "rule of 20" when it comes down to preparing for a speech. I did just that and last week went great.

Tomorrow, I will be giving another talk and I'm very prepared - I've definitely put the "20 hours of practice in" for each hour of speaking. Nothing like knowing the material cold.

GAME ON

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Take My Street Smart Quiz and See How You Do!

by steve patterson on 05/04/12

There's one on financial skills and one on Communication skills...several hundred have taken it and the average scores are surprisingly low

How will you do?

Here's to being street smart!

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Street Smart and the Ability to "See Around the Corner"

by steve patterson on 05/03/12

One of the real keys to being streetsmart is the ability to look forward and reason back, or as I like to say it "see around the corner."

To do this you must understand strategy and strategic thinking. And to get you started, I will tell you that there are FOUR RULES of strategy and strategic thinking. The first one is "Look forward and reason backwards." A tool for you to google and look up is the term "decision tree." There you will find out how decision making can improve. Examples will come later.

Here's to being street smart! The shrewd ability to survive in a sometimes hostile environment called life!

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Preparing for a Speech

by steve patterson on 05/01/12

Many of you have asked me the question "How much should I prepare for a speech?" The answer may surprise you - and it's not "until you feel ready."

The answer is, for every one hour speech you give, prepare for 20 hours. Thats' right, 20 hours.

You will know your material cold. Your confidence will go through the roof. Your ability to "own the room" will soar. And people will notice.

In fact, I'm delivering one tomorrow in Saint Louis, Missouri. And as usual I've asked myself, have I prepared 20 hours for this approximately 1 hour speech? Absolutely, and that's why I'm pumped about giving it tomorrow - GAME ON!

Here's to your next speech and being a great communicator!

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Street Smart Public Speaking

by steve patterson on 03/04/12

From my earlier posts you have seen my definition of "Streetsmarts." It's basically focused on one main thing:

1. The 80/20 rule. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's pretty amazing. The 80/20 rule was discovered by a scientist name Pareto who noticed that in many or most of his experiments, 80% of the results almost always came from 20% of the samples. This was curious to him so he expanded his newly found insight to other areas of life and guess what? He found the rule applied in almost all aspects of life! Just a few examples:

80% of most companies profits come from 20% of the customers

80% of their sales come from 20% of their customers

20% of the clothes in your closet is what you wear 80% of the time

20% of the carpet in your house is where you walk 80% of the time

20% of the people in a group project at work do 80% of the work

I could go on and on but the main point is this: What if we knew the key 20% of various subjects that give you 80% of the results? That would be amazing!! and THAT my friends is what Streetsmarts is all about !

You could call it focusing on the MAIN THINGS that get the MOST results. For example:

1.In public speaking and communication, I KNOW the main things that will make you really good on your feet, really fast - how valuable is that? This comes from my 25 years in the business world and giving over 2000 - and I KNOW they work

2. In sales, (and everybody is in sales) I know the MAIN THINGS that will get you the MOST RESULTS. How valuable is that? HUGE

3. In strategic thinking and strategy decisions, I know the MAIN THINGS to help you get the BEST RESULTS.

4. In the subject of leadership, again there are some MAIN THINGS that will get you the most results.

5. In the subject of money, economics, and finance, there are MAIN THINGS you must know to make the best choices

6. In one on one communication, there are MAIN THINGS that will help give you the MOST RESULTS.

You get my point. I wrap all of these up into my book called "Steve Patterson's Street Smarts for Success: A Step by Step Path" which I sell as a book and various other elements (DVD, etc) See below

I also want to hear from you! please post here and we can discuss a number of these things

Here's to being streetsmart!

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Street Smarts and the Ability to Lead

by steve patterson on 02/22/12

My definition of Street Smarts is "the shrewd ability to survive in a harsh environment."

We all live in that type of environment and the more street smart you are to your surroundings, the more you understand the context of the situation you are in, the better of a strategist you are, the higher your chances for success.

I go into a number of things with my street smart teachings but it really comes down to this: What are the MAIN THINGS you need to know about a subject to be successful? We know we as humans can't know "everything" but we CAN know the MAIN THINGS. And it's mastering the MAIN THINGS that get the results.

That's what I teach. The main things about leadership. Strategic thinking. Marketing. Sales. Communication skills. Public Speaking. Economics and Finance (money skills)

I look forward to hearing from you, I personally field every question I get, feel free to hit the "email me" button and drop me a note. I want to help YOU succeed!

Here's to being street smart !

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Why is Communication so hard!!??

by steve patterson on 02/16/12

Welcome bloggers to my "Street Smart" blog.

As a Vice President of Marketing, I am involved in a lot of things - and I see ONE THING that causes more problems than anything else: POOR COMMUNICATION. Just today at least 4 major campaigns "blew up" because of poor communication between departments, among individuals, and even between friends. To understand why I list the top three reasons:

1. Communication is HARD, not easy. It takes work, and it takes putting yourself at risk.

2. Lack of confidence in what you're presenting. We all need to remember this quote: Confidence doesn't come from always being right - it comes from NOT FEARING to be wrong. Don't be afraid to be wrong! Get feedback from peers and try to make the project your working on even better.

3. Lack of time and the underlying belief that "I've already explained it once - why should I have to do it again? Here's why: Research shows that usually you have to say something SEVEN TIMES before people here it the first time!!

Remember, communications is hard, not easy. It is often viewed as a "soft" subject but it remains the hardest skill there is.

Here's to good communicating!

Steve

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Welcome to my blog!

by steve patterson on 02/15/12

Thank you for visitng my site...

My name is Steve Patterson and I am an author, professional public speaker, and VP of Marketing at Southern States Cooperative in Richmond, Va.

I have over 25 years experience in the business world, most of that in Marketing and Sales.

I speak on Marketing, Sales, and most importantly, leadership. I've published a book, Steve Patterson's Street Smarts for Success, and the goal of my speaking is to inspire and motivate audiences to perform at higher levels of success.

Speaking of inspiration, I spent yesterday on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. What an awesome place. The greatest city in the world, in the greatest country in the world, with the greatest political system in the world. Freedom. Power of the people. The Democratic process at work. And, regardless of which side you're on, these people work hard to make our country a great place.

"It all comes down to leadership" is a quote by John Maxwell. And boy does it ever. Leadership in your life, at your work, with your friends, with your family, and it's all about influence and inspiring others.

I've got a great inspirational speech about leadership in Marketing and Sales, contact me today for informaton. My e-mail address is street4success@yahoo.com

Until later

Steve

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Welcome to my blog! Let's Talk About Communications SKills! Both One on One and to a Group

by steve patterson on 04/11/10

Welcome to my blog!

My objective is to help you with perhaps the most important skill in life...good communication skills. This includes both one on one communication and also to a group - how to be a great public speaker.

After 2 degrees, 25 years experience, and giving over 2000 presentations, I know the MAIN THINGS that get the MOST RESULTS.

Let me help you become a great communicator!

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Street Smart Communication Skills, One on One and to a Group - How to be a Great Public Speaker