- Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Entertainment, Tony Clifton!
- Cool, today I'm...
- Got wings on my thumb.
I got the wing...
I got the chicken wing from Kentucky Fried.
- Role playing, it's such a funny thing
when you think of the context of business.
You know, I was driving into work today
talking to a friend about an important meeting he has
and I just kinda threw it out there,
I said, "hey, why don't you role play,"
"kind of with a coworker what kind of things"
"you're gonna say and what you hope the outcomes are"
"and kinda the path of the conversation."
And he thought it was a very interesting and powerful idea,
but also different because he never had anybody,
in the context of business, suggest that to him.
And, you know, I gave him some tips.
And I wanna share those with you today
because, you know, for as long as I can remember
role playing has played a big part
of how I approach meetings or important sequences
in my business, or conversations
that really, really mattered, because I just thought,
"why would I ever go into a conversation"
"that's super important and have that be the first time"
"that I discuss or really understand the different"
"aspects of that conversation?"
And so step one I'm gonna suggest
to you guys is write it down.
I can't tell you how important it is
to think through all the things that you want to say, right?
Then all the things you think they're gonna say--
- Hey, hey careful man, there's a beverage here!
- Start talking and talk fast you lousy bum.
- We've been frantically trying to reach you dude.
- Where's my God damn money, you bum?
- Well we, I don't--
- They did not receive the money you nit-wit!
- If you're working on fundraising,
a key hire of an employee, a major partnership,
sketch out the kind of conversations flow,
the questions you wanna ask, and the answers
that you might respond if they go
down a certain path in that conversation.
Writing it down is important.
Second is role play, do it live with somebody.
If you don't have somebody in your office,
you work from home or you just don't have any other
coworkers that you feel comfortable doing this with,
get on Skype, find somebody on Facebook.
Just start up that video chat and say,
"hey, I've got this really important meeting
and I'd love for you to kind of just talk me through
and listen to me so I can even hear it out loud."
I can't tell you like how important it is
to hear yourself say the words.
Think about it for your business,
how impactful would it be if before you went into
these important meetings, that you had a chance
to hear yourself say it out loud.
- You talkin' to me?
You talkin' to me?
- You're gonna go ask for a raise if you work at a company,
or you're trying to go into the banks
and negotiate better interest on your loans,
what about just saying it out loud
and the power of kind of going through the motions
to be able to ensure that it really lands
when you have that conversation in person.
So, in person, real time role playing is critical
and you can do it over Skype or some other video chat
but I'm gonna suggest that as the second thing.
The third is to focus on the outcome.
- You don't understand.
I coulda had class, I could've been a contender.
I could've been somebody instead of a bum
which is what I am, let's face it.
- No matter what conversation, what negotiation,
and what kind of outcome you're looking for,
you want to define that upfront.
Before you go into the meeting decide,
what would make this win-win?
What would make this amazing?
Write it down, be specific.
If it's a financial number, if it's an action or an outcome,
if it's certain next steps that you wanna see
come outta that, write it down,
because not only does it help you focus
and visualize on the purpose of the meeting,
but it also allows you to guide the conversation to that.
I remember one time I was talking with a friend
and he essentially called a potential partner,
and right off the bat the partner said,
"hey man, I love what you guys are doing,
I wanna do this."
And he talked himself, he say it happening,
but he couldn't kind of stop himself in the conversation
where through out the next 30 minutes,
even though at the beginning of the conversation
it was essentially I like you guys, I wanna do this,
he kept talking and talking and talking
and by the end there was just something that he said
that the other person didn't like.
And the emails went silent and there was no response
and essentially, he talked himself out of a deal.
- And your name is your wanting
and you can't play in the man's game,
you can't close them, then go home
and tell your wife your troubles.
Because only one thing counts in this life,
get them to sign on the line which is dotted.
- Trust me, if you get a yes at the beginning,
move to the outcome,
what's the next steps and hang up the phone.
Get back to your day, be grateful
that you get a few minutes back
because the meeting was short,
and that is how you role play in your business.
It's a critical skill and I think that one
that a lot of the great leaders do
that nobody really talks about
and I wanna share with you guys,
those three areas that I think will really move
your role playing skills and allow you to have
those amazing conversations with partners,
close financial deals, or hire key people
to grow your business.
You know I wanna challenge you guys to live
a bigger life and business
and I will see you guys next Monday.
- A-B-C, A, always, B, be, C, closing.
Always be closing, always be closing.