Episodes

Do you enjoy the Maximize Your Influence Podcast? Learn more at www.universityofpersuasion.com. You'll have access to all of our top persuasion and influence training! You'll get our 52 week persuasion mastery course, our persuasion university library, persuasion software (solves objections for you), and much much more! On this episode of Maximize Your Influence, Kurt and Steve discuss the second R of resources. One of the main reasons we encounter resistance from prospects, employees, family, ...

On this episode, Kurt and Steve interview the CEO of Entrepreneur on Fire, John Lee Dumas. John is one of the most successful "virtual" entrepreneurs out there. His podcast is by far one of the most popular business downloads on the internet. He is known for producing massive amounts of valuable content and giving it away for FREE. His audience is large and he has a very high level of trust with them. This allows him to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars of his products every month. And even ...

Did you know that money can buy happiness? A recent study published in "Psychology Today" shows just that. Kurt and Steve discuss the ins and outs of this study and how money certainly can buy happiness...up to a point. Continuing off of recent episodes, Kurt and Steve cover how we can overcome objections before they ever occur in the first place. This concept is called "inoculation." The term comes from the medical field, where patients are given a weak form of a virus so that their body can d...

Stay tuned as we will soon be rolling out Influence University...your way to access absolutely everything that Kurt has ever produced on Persuasion, Influence, Negotiation, and Leadership! One of the greatest features of Influence University is Kurt's "Persuasion Software." There are 77 potential objections out there and this software allows you to click on whatever one you've received and immediately see the course of action you should take! On this episode, Kurt and Steve follow their discuss...

After a rant about Philly Cheesesteaks and Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Kurt and Steve continue to break down the psychology of objections. Undestanding what's happening to your prospect mentally will help you overcome objections faster and many times, avoid them all together. A study done by Knox and Inkster shows us that people tend to justify and feel more confident in their decisions AFTER they have made them. So if your prospects are not at least subconsciously making a decision to do business ...

Have you ever had a conversation that just didn't get results? Or even worse, one that felt completely fake? On this episode, Kurt and Steve interview John R Stoker, author of "Overcoming Fake Talk - How To Hold Real Conversations that Create Respect, Build Relationships, and Get Results." This is a fantastic new book (available at "overcomingfaketalkbook.com", by the way) that will show you how to have more productive conversations. Whether this is with a co worker, a teenager, or a boss, you'l...

Closing a deal isn't about a slick line at the end of your presentation. It's about understanding what your prospect is REALLY saying when they say things like "I need to think about it" or "I don't have the money." First we need to figure out if we are dealing with a real objection or one that is just pure "venom." If somebody is just objecting to be a pain in the butt, there isn't much you can do there other than to cut your losses. But if they have a genuine question or concern, or even a "...

Have you ever met somebody that didn't seem all that sharp but could sell circles around you? Here at Maximize Your Influence we help you hone your persuasion skills to generate the income and results you want! As always, send your comments, questions, and ideas to maximizeyourinfluence@gmail.com. Also: Kurt is willing to give you a FREE audio download of his book Maximum Influence if you leave a review of this podcast on Itunes! Just log into Itunes and leave a review, then email us at maximiz...

In Episode 54 of Maximize Your Influence, Kurt and Steve start things off by discussing a recent study about the chemical oxytocin. According to the study, the more oxytocin present in somebody's system, the more accepting they are of others. This of course leads to better social skills and possibly, the more persuadeable they are. Many business and marketing firms are trying to trigger the release of this chemical through smell. Heaven help us all! The core of this episdoe deals with how to he...

A whole year of Maximize Your Influence Podcasts are now behind us! And listenrship in the Islamic Republic of Iran is still strong (that has to be a fluke, right)! After two podcasts delving into the female brain, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that reveals that women get cheated at the negotiation table more than men. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkely found that women were "warmer and more kind" in negotiations, and thus were more taken advantage of. Getti...

Don't worry, it's still us! We just have a new Itunes and podcast logo. Kurt and Steve discuss the recent news in the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. They discuss the generations of emotion that are involved in the conflict and why a resolution is unlikely. They probably offend both sides of the issue as well, which is par for the podcast! They also discuss an entertaining blunder by United Airlines. Here's a link to the letter. Judge for yourself what the blunder is or ...

The new www.maximizeyourinfluence.com is up! Not so much running...but definitely up. Pardon our dust as we continue to refine the new site. You can still, however, download the latest podcast episodes and read the blog. In the "geeky article moment" for the week, Kurt highlights a recent article from CNN.com. A company in Chicago recently started timing how long employees were spending in the bathroom. More than six minutes got you in trouble. Kurt and Steve discuss why this is a bad move from...

Remember: please subscribe to Maxmize Your Influence on Itunes, Stitcher Radio, the Windows Market Place, or whatever service you use to download podcasts! We appreciate you listening to the show! After giving some nots so great (and un-licesned) legal advice, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent study about "moral code." Individuals are more likely to compromise their morals when they are in a group setting. We do this because we feel more anonymous and less responsible. This is all intuitive. But ...

We hope you had a great Fourth of July holiday! Even if you didn't celebrate American indepencence day and the 4th of July was just a regular day for you...we hope you had a great one anyway! Remember to subscribe to the Maximize Your Influence Podcast via Itunes, the Windows Market Place, or Sticher Radio. And as always, you can listen to the show at www.maximizeyourinfluence.com. The show begins by Steve hijacking the Geeky Article Moment form Kurt. This week's article discusses the new scie...

After some useless banter about who should be allowed to wear bathing suits, the Fourth of July, and barbeques, Kurt and Steve launch into Episode 48. First, they tackle an article about how word choice reflects somebody's mood. It doesn't happen the way you think. As it turns out, when somebody is feeling good they use more words with a long "i" vowell. When they aren't feeling good they use more words with a long "o" vowell. The human brain is amazing! You can learn more about the study here. ...

After diving into "Negotiation's Dirty Deeds" last week, Kurt and Steve continue the discussion by uncovering even more of the underhanded tactics other's will use on you while negotiating. Steve takes over today's "geeky article moment." In a recent article by Harvard Business Review, we learn that managing conflict requires that we first ascertain whether we're dealing with a "hot" conflict or a "cold" conflict. The strategy is entirely different depending on which type of conflict you are us...

Due to listener demand, Kurt and Steve finally unleash "negotiation's dirty deeds." These are underhanded tactics and strategies that others will use against you while negotiating. Before this happens, however, Kurt discusses a recent article about "meeting productivity." According to the Social Psycholigical and Personality Science Journal (that's a mouthful), standing during meetings creats more excitement and productivity. Apparently this has the obvious effect of making the meetings shorter...

To start this episode, we lead off with another one of Kurt's geeky articles. And this study, while strange, is compelling. As it turns out, there is a vast personality difference between dog and cat owners. In addition, cat owners actually score slightly higher on intelligence tests. Dog lovers tend to be more extroverted and sociable, while cat lovers are more independent yet more cautious. Kurt and Steve discuss the implications of reading these personality types. They also take a few shots a...

Kurt and Steve begin the show by discussing Steve's recent trip to Dallas and how may pounds he put on from eating too much barbeque. They also discuss Kurt recently celebrating a birthday (happy 70th birthday, Kurt)! This turns into a rant about chicken wings until Kurt and Steve realize that you tune into the show for persuasion tips...not food commentary. There is a common saying in business that you should "under promise and under deliver." In a recent article entitled "nobody cares how goo...

Is power different than influence? Absolutely. One can be influential without having a lot of power. But as power increases, it gives you more ability to influence. On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss some examples of when power is used and what the long term implications are. Many times as persuaders, parents, co-workers, we fall into the influence/power cycle. We want somebody to do something and we first try with "carrot." But once somebody refuses or doesn't comply, we go to the stick. T...

You've met these people before. The kind of person who has it all together. They're dressed right. They know how to talk and they seem very knowledgable. But something just isn't right. On this episode, Kurt and Steve talk about "gut instinct" and to what extent our prospecs can tell if we're "full of it" or not. In this week's "geeky article moment brought to you by Kurt", we learn that "gut instinct" is actually real and a lot more literal than we ever thought. According to a study by the Univ...

After a brief rant about their listeners in Iran and the intimidation tactics of police in the United States (get off topic much, guys?), Kurt and Steve discuss a recent study about confidence. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, well all have some internal wiring that makes us want to trust strangers. Despite being told not to trust them our whole life, strangers are able to gain our trust. Whether it's online or at a retail storefront, we are more likely to trust str...

Charismatic people have a presence whenever they walk into a room. You can actually be in introverted person and not have a very outgoing personality and still be charismatic. Once you have charisma people what to be around you. They WANT to be persuaded by you. Sales reps, business owners, politicians all know that they can get a lot more lattitude when they have charisma. Next in the podcast, Steve discusses an article by Harvard Business Review entitled "Getting Your Point Across." The artic...