Welcome to the first installment of The Speakers Group’s new interview series titled “In the Spotlight.” We’ll be featuring Q&A sessions with a variety of in-demand business speakers and gurus, along with some up-and-coming thought leaders with equally valuable expertise and content.

To kick things we off, we have Keith Ferrazzi, author of the bestseller, Never Eat Alone, in the spotlight. Keith is renowned authority on building relationships, and he shared some great insights with us in our interview. Following is part one of two.

TSG: For starters, let me ask about the title of your book, Never Eat Alone. Having read the book, I know exactly where the title comes from, but has anyone ever mistaken you for a nutritionist or a health guru because of it? It kind of sounds like it could hold the key to losing 20 pounds.

Ferrazzi: People more often mistake the book for a book on dating than anything else…

TSG: And I’m guessing that it’s also mistakenly labeled a book on networking, a word that you’ve said you hate. You’re quick to point out that you’re not a networking expert. Tell us about your aversion to the word networking, and about the true emphasis of your work.

Ferrazzi: Networking often has a negative connotation to it. People think it’s disingenuous and tactical, all about “what can you do for me?” What I talk about is approaching people in the spirit of “What can I do for you?” It’s relationship building, interacting with personal and professional contacts alike on a much deeper level than most people are accustomed to. That’s the kind of relationship that delivers the greatest success. That’s core of what I practice and teach in Never Eat Alone.

TSG: Talking about relationships might sound a little “soft” or touchy-feely for some in the business world, but you have a keynote presentation titled “Relationships for Revenue Growth.” Where do relationships and revenue growth intersect?

Ferrazzi: With increasing commoditization of products coupled with costs pressures, the depth of the relationship with the customer is one of the only differentiators that gets you through the door and keeps you there these days when you’re in a client-facing role.

It’s the power of relationships that can help you grow your company’s success – whether by connecting with new markets, developing new products, or increasing productivity. Having great products isn’t enough anymore on its own. You also need the ability to bring unique value to the relationships you have with your clients, beyond the business transaction.

TSG: We’ve talked about relationships… Let’s go one step further to intimacy – something you talk a lot about. What do you say to someone who has a more standoffish nature and may be afraid of crossing the line of inappropriateness in business relationships?

Ferrazzi: I fundamentally believe business relationships should also be personal ones. The most powerful relationships – the ones that create results – are ones where you are able to have a personal connection or bridge with the individual. Otherwise you’re just conducting transactions, like a machine. There’s no trust there. One of the core principles to a great relationship is intimacy. When someone’s standoffish it usually means they’ve had experiences in their past that’s made them distrustful. So be patient, set the example by opening up a little, draw them out slowly – and when you do win them over, you’ll have a friend for life.

TSG: You have something you call a Relationship Action Plan. What is that?

Ferrazzi: A Relationship Action Plan is a tactical and strategic guide to empower a person to take control of their careers through mutually beneficial relationships. It involves identifying and building relationships with people who can help achieve career and life goals, building and broadcasting unique personal brands to stand out in the crowded marketplace, lining up friends to help, approaching and engaging mentors, and finally, creating a dynamic personal board of advisors.

TSG: And if a professional adopts your relationship management strategies, what are the potential benefits he or she might expect?

Ferrazzi: Faster progress toward goals, a bar for success that is constantly raised higher and higher, increased employee loyalty, productivity and retention, growth in the client base, growth in revenue, faster course correction thanks to rich mutual support – I could go on and on. And on another level, the reward is overall greater life happiness. Being yourself and having in-depth relationships in your professional life means work is a lot more fun. And that happiness circles directly back to success – when work is fun, you and everyone you work with is going to be a lot more committed. It’s infectious.

TSG: What if an entire organization promotes your relationship management strategies throughout all of their teams or at least their leaders – what kind of results might they expect?

Ferrazzi: All the benefits above, multiplied exponentially.

TSG: Another system you teach is Executive Relationship Management. Can you explain that a bit?

Ferrazzi: ERM guides senior executives in developing an actionable plan to increase the stature and success of their firm by strengthening relationships with its most important constituencies – customers, prospects, partners, influencers, and employees. Clients find answers to questions such as: Where do I find the time for outreach? Who to start with? How can I make a meaningful connection?

TSG: The economy is a little slower right now, and a lot of attention is focused on the bottom line - cutting costs, increasing sales, etc. It may not seem like the ideal time to talk about relationships, but you say it’s the perfect time to talk about relationships… why is that?

To be continued…

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Cliffhanger! Check back one week from today, on Tuesday, August 5, for part two of our interview with Keith Ferrazzi. We’ll learn more about relationships, and we’ll also ask Keith about what keeps him pressing on, what he’s reading, what we can expect from him in the future, and more.

More information about Keith Ferrazzi is available from The Speakers Group.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News

Perhaps you’re already familiar with Vince Poscente’s New York Times Bestseller from 2007, The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World. If not, you may soon be… Random House just announced that they will be re-releasing the book as their lead paperback for the Fall of 2008 - hitting shelves on August 26.

While the book was originally focused on business readers, the new release has been tweaked to reach a broader audience of people struggling for more balance and less busyness in our ‘more, faster, now world.’ Here’s an excerpt:

“The new world of change assembled itself within a decade. And in the next ten years, the same thing will happen again-only this time the revolution is speed. Culture, business, and the individual experience are undergoing another major shift-one that is equally powerful and has the potential to be equally positive. If we can accept the positive potential that speed offers, we can do more, be more, live more. The change movement is a template that can guide us through the Age of Speed: rather than bucking speed, vowing to find solutions for moderating it, we should embrace it and find ways to create more of it.

Our resistance to speed was motivated by forces that have undergone dramatic change in recent years. Not all the values we once had to apply to the concept of speed are relevant. Though we have been taught that if we embrace speed, we will be forced to compromise quality, cost, our values, and our peace of mind, those rules don’t necessarily apply in the Age of Speed. And when they do apply, we don’t have to reject speed outright; we simply have to be more mindful of the value of our experiences. We no longer have to assume that we will always have to make compromises when we make speed a priority. We don’t have to assume that if we embrace speed, our lives will just get busier and busier. We’re in a new environment, a new game, and we need to play by different rules. We need to adapt, evolve, and shed our outdated or misguided perceptions of speed. We need to reshape the way we define, manage, and categorize our time.”

Be on the lookout for the new book, and if you’re looking for a great speaker to help your team members, association members or other constituents thrive in this “Age of Speed,” look no further than Vince Poscente. Read more about him here: www.thespeakersgroup.com/Vince_Poscente.

Posted under Book Review, Motivational Speakers, Speaker News

From CNBC.com:

Have you ever felt like your chances for success were stacked against you? Ever been told you were a loser and will never make it big? Tonight, we show you how to turn it all around and show you how no matter the odds, you can truly make it big!

That’s a preview of the July 21 episode of CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. Among the experts on turning things around: Steve Rizzo, former stand-up comedian turned in-demand inspirational speaker.

Steve was told by a guidance counselor in high school that he didn’t have the intelligence for college, AND had the dubious high school honor of being named “Least Likely to Succeed.”

“Looking back,” says Steve, “I can see how and why I sabotaged so many opportunities. My perceived limitations had me very confused. I had a fear of failure and a fear of success. I knew I had talent, but I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t being given a chance. I finally realized that opportunity had been knocking all along… I was just afraid to open the door.”

Now Steve is one of the most in-demand motivational speakers on the circuit, sharing what he calls “Rizzo’s Secrets” to achieving success with an unstoppable attitude for life. With his straightforward New York attitude, Steve wakes up audiences and inspires them with his life-changing personal growth strategies and, of course, lots of laughter!

For more information about Steve as a speaker, check out his profile on The Speakers Group’s site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Steve_Rizzo. And don’t miss some other TSG speakers who have recently been featured on CNBC, including Michael Port, Janine Driver and Scott Berkun.

Posted under Motivational Speakers, Speaker News

Did you catch the recent CNBC series, The Business of Innovation? If so, you might remember former Microsoft manager and author of The Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun, as one of the resident thought leaders - a.k.a. “The Provocateur.” (FYI: You can view executive summaries of each of the five episodes on CNBC’s site here.)

You can currently find Scott serving as a discussion leader for Harvard Business Online, joining the ranks of thought leaders such as Marshall Goldsmith, Gary Hamel, David Silverman, Bill Taylor and others. His inaugural post this week (July 14) is an intriguing one: “Why Innovation Is Overrated.”

When he’s not writing, Scott is bringing his signature fresh insights on innovation and creativity (surprisingly, there are some STALE insights on innovation and creativity) to business meetings and conferences nationwide as a keynote speaker - a “kick-ass speaker,” he would add. Want to bring “The Provocateur” to your next event? Learn more about him by viewing his profile on The Speakers Group’s site here: http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Scott_Berkun.

Posted under Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News

How does working as a stand-up comic (and sharing the stage with the likes of Chris Rock, Robin Williams, and Ray Romano) and government lie detection expert make you an in-demand sales and marketing expert? Just ask Janine Driver, also known as “The Lyin’ Tamer.”

Today Janine is among the funniest and most powerful sales & marketing speakers on the circuit, sharing her “top secret” rapport-building, interviewing, and people-reading skills with the business community. She was recently seen as an expert guest on CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, when he dedicated a show to “The New Art of Selling.”

According to Janine, every thought and every emotion a person tries to lock away inside is revealed in a hidden language of gesture, posture and facial expressions. If you know that hidden code, then you’ll be able to spot everything from dishonesty to disinterest. Here are some of the tips Janine shared on the program:

• Look for deviations in normal behavior - changes in eye contact
• The “Belly Button Rule” - We face our belly button towards the person who we are most attracted to
• Three Zones must be open: The Neck Dimple (Represents deception), The Belly Button, and the “Naughty Bits”
• Nose wrinkles are micro-expressions of disgust… look for them as indicators for disapproval or contempt
• A “Broad Side Display” can help you create a bigger space and become more persuasive.
• If someone is not open, do something to uncross their arms, widen their stance, etc. (Hand them a glass of water or change their attention so that they must go into an open stance)
• Nervous people normally look down and can miss much of what is being communicated to you

Might some of these tips help you and your sales force achieve greater success? Typically when considering speakers for a sales meeting, sales managers and directors think about motivational speakers, strategy gurus, and consumer behavior authorities. If 93% of communication is non-verbal, though, perhaps an expert on body language is just what the doctor ordered to help you boost performance.

Check out some video footage of Janine with Donny Deutsch here, and for more information about her keynote speaking programs, view Janine’s profile on The Speakers Group’s site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Janine_Driver.

Posted under Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Sales Management, Speaker News, Uncategorized