To Sell Is Human

terms is more likely to lead to satisfied customers and repeat business. So if you’re selling a car, go easy on emphasizing

Say “Yes and.” One classic improv exercise is “The Ad Game.” Here’s how it works.

The types of tweets with the lowest ratings fell into three categories: Complaints (“My plane is late. Again.”); Me Now (“I’m about to order a tuna sandwich”); and Presence Maintenance (“Good morning, everyone!”).21

they’ll tell you depends on the emotional elephant and the rational rider working in concert. (Trust me—it makes sense.)

someone says as an offer you can do something with.” The invisible steering wheel and the directive “Be sure to lock the door” constitute an offer. The second actor must accept it and build on it.

ability to move people now depends on power’s inverse: understanding another person’s perspective, getting inside his head, and seeing the world through his eyes.

whereas gravity is the opposing force that pulls you earthward. Unchecked levity leaves you flighty, ungrounded, and unreal. Unchecked gravity leaves you collapsed in a heap of misery,” she writes. “Yet when properly combined, these two opposing forces leave you buoyant.”15

Today, both sales and non-sales selling depend more on the creative, heuristic, problem-finding skills of artists than on the reductive, algorithmic, problem-solving skills of technicians.

them to invent a new product and devise an advertising campaign for it. As players contribute testimonials or demonstrations or slogans, they must begin each sentence with “Yes and,” which forces them to build on the previous idea. You can’t refute what your colleagues say. You can’t ignore it. And you shouldn’t plan ahead. Just say “Yes and,” acce