Entries by Brian Ahearn, CMCT®

The Ethics of ChatGPT

By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the writing tool that uses artificial intelligence. A friend who’s been a techie his entire career alerted me to it. He asked ChatGPT to write a prospecting letter for his business and was amazed at how good it was. He humbly acknowledged he could not have done better […]

What is Persuasion?

Persuasion is more than changing hearts and minds, it’s about changing behavior. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, said as much when he told the world persuasion was, “the art of getting someone to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask.” Whether you want someone to buy from you, your boss to approve your […]

Skills Employers Need Most

LinkedIn recently came out with their annual list of the most in demand skills according to employers. In order, the top five soft skills were: Management Communication Customer Service Leadership  Sales As someone who helps leaders and salespeople, those two skills jumped out at me. What came to mind for both was this; you cannot […]

He Gets You, He Gets Me, He Gets Us

I’m getting old. My body reminds me of that every day when I run, stretch, and workout. I often feel like a car that needs to warm up in the garage for several minutes before taking it on a drive. I’m also reminded of my age as I scroll through LinkedIn. I write that because […]

Once Upon a Time … A Pre-suasive Love Story

The following is an excerpt from my book Persuasive Selling. Because it’s Valentine’s Day I thought it was appropriate to share it again. I hope it inspired you to set the stage romantically with someone you love. Once Upon a Time… In July 1986, I was a recent college graduate walking into the HR training […]

CEO Compensation is Taking a Hit

Recently I read a Forbes article about CEO pay, Amazon Has Tough Choices – Closing Charity Programs, Cutting Staff, And Facing CEO Pay Pressure. The article mentioned Apple CEO Tim Cook taking a 40% pay cut in 2021 because of shareholder demands. Amazon may follow suit. Unfortunately, a good bit of charitable giving will be […]

Facts Without Context Are Often Manipulation

I don’t watch the news as much as I used to and I’m happier and less stressed because of that decision. But every now and then I go against my better judgment and turn on the news before dinner, usually flipping between MSNBC, Fox, and CNN. The Debt Ceiling Fight Recently I saw Ari Melber, […]

The Love, Bonding, and Unity Hormone

Oxytocin is sometimes called the love or bonding hormone. That’s because it plays a prominent role in social bonding between individuals, in sexual reproduction, during childbirth, and the bonding period that occurs between mother and child soon after childbirth. Oxytocin also plays a role in unitizing otherwise unconnected people. The principle of unity, as popularized […]

Cruising with Influence

Quite a while ago, Jane and I went on a four-day, three-night, Royal Caribbean cruise. During the cruise we had a full day at sea which meant all the action was going to be poolside that day. Knowing that, we arrived at the pool extra early so we could grab a couple of lounge chairs […]

Will Machines Take Over? Maybe They Already Have!

In my best Rod Sterling voice…  “Imagine if you will, a future where humans have off loaded more than 95% of their daily tasks to machines. Using artificial intelligence they’ve taught machines to do most of the routine activities that are mundane and seem like time wasters. In many respects it’s a glorious era because […]