Ezra had a marketing company for healthcare businesses.
His contracts were usually in the 6 -figure range and he got results.

The problem was Ezra liked to talk.
So much so, that he would end up oversharing and losing potential clients.

All we needed to do was improve one thinking skill and Ezra’s close rate jumped.
After all, Ezra had the energy, the systems, the formula, the capacity to get results.

While you are doing any task, you (without even realizing it!) are using your 28 thinking skills.

When the thinking skills you need to use are strong, doing the task happens easily.
If the thinking skill you need to use is weak, doing the task will be a challenge.

The struggle that Ezra had, came from a weak thinking skill of using relevant cues.
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The thinking skill of searching and using relevant cues is mostly associated with social skills.
It can be a finger on the lip, signaling to be quiet and it can be the cue your friend is looking down and needs a hug.

However, not all cues are social cues.
You can get cues in how organized a person is by seeing their desk, you can get cues whether this project will work or not by testing it in a small market.

In Ezra’s case, he got so passionate about what his work and the results he can get for the client, that he would miss cues the clients would drop while talking

Searching and using relevant cues is an interesting thinking skill as some people don’t see the cues at all, while others take in all cues and have a hard time shifting out what’s relevant.

4 Ways we worked to improve using relevant cues both in sales calls and other areas of life:

1) Watch their words
I had Ezra use his second brain (the part of your brain that always distracts you with a song or something you need to ask ChatGPT) to listen to the words people are saying.
Are they using emotional words?
Are they using a lot of analogies or stories?

Then use this information to respond in that way.
People who use analogies often understand best with analogies.
People who share stories, connect with you on a story level.

2) Listen out for their tone of voice
​There is a big emphasis in social skills on looking out for facial expressions and body language, but often we miss the tone of voice.
When you start looking out for it, it becomes a fun game, a storyline of how the other person is receiving this conversation.
Once again you this information to know how to continue the conversation.

3) Play games that help you improve using relevant cues in general.
My favorite is Cat crimes or Dog crimes, and you really need to see what is relevant and what is simply extra information.

4) Another thing Ezra noticed was the often he’d get sidetracked by a single detail and that’s where he’d go off rail.
By reminding himself to Zoom out whenever the conversation went in the wrong direction, he was able to quickly get it back on track.
Zoom out on what are we actually talking about here.

ST Rappaport, Brain Engineer for ADHDish Business Owners