Episodes

It's always helpful to learn more about what successful people do in their daily lives. In this episode, Kurt and Steve highlight three key lessons we can learn form succeessful people. For this week's Persuasion IQ question, Kurt and Steve talk about how to effectively build emotion at the right time during your presentation. Measuring the rate of your speech during the credibilty phase and then changing to the right rate during your call to action can make or break you!

After discussing Kurt's recent trip to Las Vegas, Kurt and Steve discuss an article that may be helpful if you've been to Vegas recently: "Are White Lies Good For Relationships?" You'll be surprised at the conculsion! How can we tell if our prospect is "visually oriented?" Whe asking them a question that requires some thought, they often look upwards. In contrast if they are "auditory", they tend to look side to side. Finally, if they are "kinesthetic", they look downward. How does this impact ...

Have you ever witnessed an animal "sniff" another animal and thought "wow I'm so glad I'm human?" A recent study shows that you might rely on smelling other humans. Check out the study here. On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss what attribute customers appreciate most about top persuaders. They give some pointers on how to improve this characterisitc as well as minimize more harmful ones. Check out the episode for more details!

Do you rely on email marketing to generate leads? What about telephone prospecting? As it turns out, there are specific times of day and the week that are more effective...and it's not quite what you think. Check out this episode for the exact statistics. Colors shape our perception of products and services, period. They can also be used to set the tone on how we feel when we go into a persuasive encounter. Some colors instill a feeling of professionalism. Some colors make us hungry. Others gra...

They've talked about it a lot on Maximize Your Influence, but on this episode Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article entitled "10 Body Signs Somebody Is Lying To You." They discuss the merits of the article as well as some additional suggestions that will help you detect deception. Have you ever had a prospect stall on you? Your product is a perfect fit, it fits their budget, but they just aren't making a decision? On this episode Kurt and Steve discuss some of the techniques that will get you...

A recent study published by Psych Central discusses how to make new habits stick. The article goes over a variety of techniques that will dramatically increase your chances of implementing new habits. Check it out here. On episode 82, Kurt and Steve discuss another important Persuaison IQ Test question. What is the main reason people do things they don't want to do? Kurt and Steve discuss the answer and give some tips on how to use the pyschological phenomena of "Cognitive Dissonance" to your a...

Have you ever given a presentation and had a tough time connecting with the audience? Some audiences are just difficult. Other audiences can be connected with if you know some basic pointers. For this week's article, Kurt and Steve discuss an article released by Harvard Business Review that gives some great tips on connecting with any audience. Connect to the article here. Does the mood of your prospect matter? We're uncovering more and more research on the topic. No matter how appealing your p...

Have you ever encountered a prospect who had a skewed view of what they should pay for your product? Would you like to have more control about what your prospects think your product is worth? Tune into this episode for more information! On this episode, Kurt and Steve also discuss how to properly frame somebody's expectaitons without insulting them. Doing this is the key between getting kicked out and totally resetting your prospect's perceived value!

On this episode, Kurt and Steve continue in giving you the "cheat sheet" for the Persuasion IQ test. You can find the persuasion IQ test by visiting www.maximizeyourinfluence.com and clicking "Persuaison IQ" on the bottom of the page. What do all top persuaders have in common? They're optimistic. Chances are you've never met a top producer who also has a negative attitude. On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss what it takes to maintain an optimistic attitude, even in the face of intense rejec...

We've all heard of the sterotypical "fast talker." They come across as too slick and like they're up to something, right? On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss what the most persuasive rate of speaking is. They also discuss what kind of tone, pauses, and energy to use when you're speaking at the most persuasive rate. Tune into the episode to learn more!

With Valentines now over with, you likely know where you stand with your significant other. However, Kurt and Steve still find it fit to bring up a recent study that shows how you can tell if somebody loves you...or lusts after you. Check out the article here! It's been a few years since Kurt developed the "Persuasion IQ Test"... a way for you to get a straightforward assessment on how persuasive you really are. On this episode, Kurt and Steve break down one of the questions on the test: the mo...

Do you know people who are ALWAYS late, no matter what? Do you find yourself telling these people earlier times in an effort to get them to unintentionally show up? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal studied type A (aggressive) and type B (non aggressive) and found something shocking: some people perceive time to go by slower than it actually is. This explains a lot about people who just can't show up on time! Check out the article here. Last episode, Kurt and Steve focused on detectin...

Have you checked out www.universityofpersuasion.com yet? Did you know that you can enroll in our 52 week persuasion course for as little as $7 a month? Shameless plug over. On this week's episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that shows us how to exercise more effectively. Yep. Pushing through a difficult task (like exercise) is key to success in anything. Kurt and Steve break down the article and discuss how we can use it in exercise and in business. Due to listener demand, decepti...

Welcome to episode 74 of Maximize Your Influence! On this episode, Kurt and Steve roll out an interesting article published in the Economist. More and more, governments and intelligence agencies are analyzing body language to determine if somebody is a terrorist threat. Kurt and Steve discuss the article and what it means for the study of body language. You can check it out here. Well it's late January now. How are your goals coming? If you're like most people, they're quickly fading into the d...

Have you ever met the kind of person who is always stressed, has a negative attitude, and who nobody wants to be around? Oftentimes we later hear these people have major health problems down the road. In this weeks article, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent study that shows why Optimism is heart healthy. Not only is it good for your wallet...it's good for your health! Oftentimes, persuaders run into the issue of their prospects having a miscontrued "value" of the persuaders product. This usually ...

On this week's episode, Kurt and Steve lead off with the "Geeky Article Moment" as well as some banter about food, NFL playoffs, and seagulls eating hotdogs. Yep. It happened. A restaurant in Pittsburgh has recently decided that it will ban "tips" for its servers. Instead, servers will receive a salary and annual bonuses. Kurt and Steve discuss how this will impact staff performance and if it's a good idea or not from a leadership perspective. After this, Kurt and Steve discuss presentation pi...

Happy New Year! We're back with the first episode of 2015! If you we're asked "do you have a rewards card with us" last time you were shopping, you're not alone. Business are loading up on rewards programs like never before, in hopes of enticing you to return and buy more stuff from them. As it turns out however, a good old fashioned "thank you" is more effective. Kurt and Steve discuss this recent study on this episode. Well it's 2015. It's time to set goals. You're either excited about that...

If you have kids or employees (they're kind of the same, aren't they) you have probably used threats as a way to gain compliance before. When we are in a rational state, we can all agree that most of the time threats are only good for very short term compliance. But when we become emotional, it's easy for our brain to think that a threat is the best solution to the problem. In a recent study by McGill University, researchers discovered that threatening children doesn't stop them from lying. Here...

Are you tired of faking that you like your boss when you really don't? Michigan State University has good news. Apparently, you don't need to fake it anymore! Their study shows that your productivity and your bosses satsifaction with your work performance goes UP when you both can admit that you're just co-workers and not necessarily best buddies. After discussing the weekly article. Kurt and Steve launch into the important topic of persuasive writing. In order to persuade, you need people to t...

Every year it happens. Black Friday. That one day where retailers apparently lose their mind and start giving away massive discounts in order to lure bargain hungry shoppers. The urgency created on Black Friday is unparalleled! On this episode Kurt and Steve discuss what retailers do right on Black Friday as opposed to what they do wrong. Using some of their tactics could turn your prospects away...or it could create massive legitimate urgency that will spike your sales, big time. Tune into thi...

Do you work in an environment where you need to be motivated...but your boss just doesn't motivate you? This is increasingly the norm, unfortunately. A recent article by Harvard Business Review gives some helpful pointers if you find yourself in this type of environment. Check out the article here. Are you your competitor's best sales person? Let's rephrase. Have you ever worked really hard building your products value with a prospect, only to have them go with a cheaper option or a competitor?...

Are you one of those sports fans that feels like the officials are conspiring against your team? Everybody has been THAT sports fan at some point in their life. As it turns out you may not be that paranoid. A recent study shows that shorter NBA refs call more fouls than their taller counter parts. The question remains though: is this due to a bad case of vantage point or a bad case of "small man syndrome?" Check out the article here. It's a fact, though. We judge people based on height. The fact...

Persuasion is one of those skills that gives you a leg up on the competition. When it comes to sales, there is no award for second place. And advantage you can get goes a long way towards coming in first place! Make sure you regularly tune up your persuasion ane influence skills. These are skills that can atrophy over time if you don't use them. And when you need to use them...it's too late to learn! So why not use Maximize Your Influence to stay fresh! In Kurt's geeky article moment, we learn ...

After discussing Kurt's upcoming visit to the Middle East, Kurt and Steve launch right into this week's article. According to a recent article from Science Daily, toddlers who exhibit low empathy are in for a tough life. The study says that there will be long term problems with aggression. The good news is, it's not too late to fix it. After the article, Kurt and Steve get into the Third R of Resistance, which is "resources." We're all taught in sales that we need to qualify our prospect. Mostl...