The White Rabbit

Robert Smith, an international tax consultant specializing in smoothing one's entry into the US market, goes into what a non-American needs to know when selling into America. We discuss things like slide design, accents, and more.

There’s so much talk about “authenticity” these days that we decided it was time to hear from an expert. So we called in Dr Nil Madi, someone who studied authenticity in the workplace for her PhD dissertation. Nil, a repeat guest on the podcast, goes into authenticity, what it is, where it comes from, and how we can achieve it.

Guest Sevda Özsönmez talks about the way she prepares for a conference appearance and the value of appearing at conferences. Alper, Sevda, and Matt also chip away at the old chestnut that goes, "I am an introvert, I can't speak in public."

Repeat guest Wes Wheless describes his own experience with writing and publishing that most ultimate in presentations, a book. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wwheless/ Wes’s best selling book The Expert's Privilege, available in paperback and Kindle: wesbook.com Coaching & services: weswheless.com

Matt goes deeper into the hard skills vs soft skills debate, and outlines why he, especially given his professional background before he was a presentation trainer, is a hater of the hard skills vs soft skills way of seeing the world.

Guest Necil Beykont, a negotiation trainer in Istanbul, goes into the differences between hard skills and soft skills, and recommends terms we should use instead, and better ways of thinking than we currently use.

Based on his book "The Damn Rules," Nick Richtsmeier describes his Rule #4 (The Customer Is Wrong) and Rule #5 (The Competition Is Your Friend), and Alper, Matt, and Nick begin to speculate on what these things might mean for your presentations.

In this episode, returning guest Nick Richtsmeier talks about his book "The Damn Rules," and that the audience distraction you, as a presenter, face is often not a lack in you, it’s just the world your audience exists in, and here’s what you can do to turn the tables.

US-based strategy consultant Joe Fromandi talks about strategy consulting and helps Matt on a Curse of Knowledge-related problem Matt has been having with one of his services.

Guest Brad Farris returns to the podcast to talk about the benefits of using humor in presentations specifically, and leadership in general. Brad and Matt also discuss some tangible examples of how you can turn this from an "it is good" theory into something that you use and do in real life situations.

Matt and Alper discuss the very human impulse to control the world around us, and the fact that we don't and what that means for our presentations.

David Beckett, a pitch coach from The Netherlands, talks about the business of pitch coaching (one of the niches of presentation coaching), including how he got started, what he has learned from the audience members, etc.

Dr Nil Madi goes into the pre-existing emotional state of your audience members before you even begin your presentation, and the folly of thinking you can control the fluctuations in that emotional state during your presentation.

Taner Albayrak, a co-founder of a university in Istanbul, goes into the value of having good communication skills on board a ship particularly, and in your career in general.

Memet Yazıcı returns to the podcast to talk about the founder-led sales transition and what that transition means for the psychology of the founder and for the message that is going out to the customer.

Matt interviews Istanbul attorney Can Işıktaç on regulatory tit-for-tat. In a future episode, Alper and Matt will explore this issue further, and what we can take away from it in a presentations and communications setting.

Alper goes into the four things you need to consider in the early stages of preparing your presentation. These are things you need to do before opening your slide design software. And oh, by the way, make sure you are not using Prezi.

With this episode, the podcast reaches its 4th anniversary. Alper goes into dealing with nervousness, and specifically, the importance of reframing it as what it is. And, by the way, don't ever expect your nervousness to go away, no matter how experienced you are. Alper has been doing a webinar for four years, and still gets nervous, and Matt, even after doing this podcast for four years, stil...

Matt and Alper dive into the subject of POV (point of view), it being a significant part of Matt's business.

Owned-media expert Matthew Rawle goes into the error of thinking you need large numbers to make a newsletter work, how much to talk about the technical details of the problem you solve vs. how much to show pictures of your dog, and how to make a newsletter work if you are a corporate employee.

Brad Farris returns to the podcast to discuss the annual setting of goals, the importance of being able to zoom in and out on those goals, the importance of being able to keep both of those views in your head at the same time, and the value of flipping the "have-do-be" script we all tend to use.

Wes Wheless comes back on the show to talk about the 4 techniques he used to build trust with a new audience. In his case the new audience came after a business pivot, but these four techniques are equally relevant to anyone building trust with an audience in a presentation. These 4 techniques also form one of the major frameworks he describes in his upcoming book, so listen up, we are getting a p...

Ben Steele returns to the show to talk more about LLMs, including how the addition of context can mitigate, but not solve, the inherent problem of averageness, ChatGPT on the dating scene, and various ethical angles on the role LLMs play in our lives.

Returning guest Yalin Yuregil talks about selling software across borders, especially into Europe, including some of the factors you'll need to consider for your organization.

Chrissie Bettencourt, CEO of a company specializing in remote communication and a certified neuroplastician, gives some great tips on presenting or proposing an idea when you are up against a local incumbent, and on how to increase engagement in remote presentations.