The 3 best things I listened to this week

I'm well on the way to recovering from last months surgery. If you're reading this on Sunday, then I'm on my way back to my new home in Ireland. It will be great to be back into the wild mountains and fresh air.

With no strenuous exercise on the cards there's been plenty of short walks.

That's rekindled a liking for listening to podcasts again. They're just about the right length and with some judicious timings (cut the episode time in half) it's possible to make an 'out and back' stroll, finishing just as the podcast does.

So this memo is about 3 things I listened to and actionable insights from them. I confess that one isn't a podcast, it's a short course I found on LinkedIn and recorded.

1/ UI Breakfast Podcast: User Interviewing Techniques with Steve Portigal​

Three insights for consultants for better discovery.

• Start with easy factual questions to build rapport then move into more open-ended questions.

• Balance letting the interviewee speak freely with staying focused on your objectives.

• Adaptable to the interviewee’s style and energy levels throughout the interview.

Steve’s book - Interviewing users​

2/ Nate Nasralla: Crash couse on how to sell with champions​

Three insights for getting decisions on bigger enterprise projects.

• Help your client champion frame a problem statement for an expensive, high priority issue.

• Craft an approach and get feedback from multiple stakeholders at the buyer. This builds commitment.

• Develop a one page business case document with them and use this to get executive sponsorship.

Nate's book - Selling With​

3/ High Performance Podcast: Unlocking your potential with new ways of thinking with Paul McKenna​

• Visualise your optimal performance to develop confidence. Aligning actions to what you want.

• Imagine your ideal future year in detail. Reverse engineer your goals into that framework.

• Apply the 80/20 principle to focus effort on your most productive relationships and activities.

Watch the video version and see if you can spot the use of gestures for 'anchoring' emotional states.

Paul's book: Success for life​

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