2 Minute Talk Tips

2-Minute Tip: Don't Squander Water Cooler Talk   After winning or losing a big sale in a store there's tendency to brag or vent to colleagues around a literal or metaphorical water cooler. It happens after a big talk, too. We celebrate the brilliance or decry the stupidity of an audience.   Don't.   It's not effective. It won't help you win or save more sales in the future. And it has the tendency to hurt morale and reinforce negative -- and counterproductive -- attitudes.   Instead, take that time to dissect the talk or sale. What went well? How can you do more of that in the future?   What didn't go well? How can you avoid doing that again?   And learn how can you share those lessons with others.   That speech you just did is in the past. It's gone. It now time to learn lessons from it and get ready for the next talk.   Post Tip Discussion   Stuart Rice and I have similar paths, separated by a few years. We both started out selling consumer electronics before transitioning over to the vendor side of retail,