Where Solutions Are Created

We were practicing stories defining what we had done for others, when a marketeer pointed out that we were talking about previous engagements, not the people we supposedly would be talking to.

The marketeer wanted to fashion a way to talk about the goodness of what was going to happen to the next guy.

That’s not going to work for a couple of reasons.

First, when you are talking about the future, you can’t talk about truth, you have to talk about vision. If you want to be believed, start by telling the truth.

Second, no matter what I say, the listener is going to apply what they hear to satisfying their own need. Get a listener to tell you what they heard you say, and you will learn what they really want.

That means you don’t need to start with a specific solution for everyone. That specific solution develops out of what they value from what you have already done successfully.