10 Things - Guest Post from Author Michael Nir

Today's guest post comes from author Michael Nir. His Kindle book Silent Influencing teaches you how to become a more effective leader and improve your career and work life. Thank you Michael for taking the time to share this information with us today. 

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Silent Influencing

1. It was initially written in Hebrew.
2. The actual writing of the book occurred in a brief burst and took 36 hours and was completed in three long days … Needless to say that it was after a period of rigorous planning which also included discussions of the various illustrations.
3. Several of the hand shaking maneuvers had been tried out at least a year in various circumstances and locations including airports, spas, TV interviews, and a Buddhist monastery.
4. One of the mirrors in Michael’s house cracked after extensive repetition of the first exercise of the book.
5. The mob hit man portrayed in the book is based on a famous character from the TV series.
6. In the Hebrew edition the Native American wearing the fur coat was actually saying that it’s the last time he’s going to buy a coat at Zara, while translating, the professional team advised against mentioning a specific brand or store.
7. If you pay attention closely you may notice that the mob gentleman has grown a scar on his left cheek, sources indicate that that was given to him during his morning volunteering with the Boy Scouts.
8. Bartlett’s anecdotes provided a few humorous openings to the chapters, most readers report that the prelude to the fourth chapter is the most entertaining, illustrating that also 300 years ago people had a good sense of humor.
9. It is amazing to see how many bosses do actually employ the – “I am the boss know it all position”; some though do get eaten by corporate bears.
10. At some point Tom our lovely businessman graphic was rather displeased with the graphical and illustrative abilities of Philip (illustrator) and decided to take a stand or rather sit down and make that nasty comment about the unwieldy chair he was given on chapter 5.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About – Michael Nir

1. He resides in an artist village overlooking the Mediterranean and enjoys growing vegetables in the garden;
2. He tried a few times to paint, mostly abstract paintings, it seems though that his talent resides elsewhere: the family’s cat - Panama hid for a week after seeing one of the paintings;
3. Among his best friends, is RumbleFish - a 29’er full suspension mountain bike; Michael maintains that Rumble always keeps pace, never complains, and is ever available for a quick ride. As of yet we have not been able to secure any response from Mr. Fish
4. He makes a mean Tiramisu (an Italian dessert), based on a recipe that was handed by word-of-mouth through many generations from his father side Polish ancestors…. Actually it was given to him by a former boss.
5. He married in a desert oasis, the reform Rabbi had to be in tiptop condition in order to make the 500 feet ascent to the desert spring.
6. The story about the bear in the book: “Bear in Mind” is totally true; the whereabouts of his companions to the adventure in Denali national Park are unknown. The grizzly by the way is probably still residing in the park.
7. When he was young, his life dream was to become a bartender. At 22 he attended a bartending school for a week and received a diploma. He worked at several places, including the famous: Huddle – A Costa Mesa, Orange County California bar. As it was a local bar, Michael had to familiarize himself with over 150 names of the regular clientele, along with their preferred drinks, their preferred seating arrangements, and their dominant psychological disorders. 
8. One of his most noticeable achievement, was the swallowing of a tiny Mercury battery at the age of six. This of course happened as his parents were preparing for a trip to former Yugoslavia. As this type of battery is highly toxic it was removed by an operation. Michael still maintains high levels of energy from that sordid incident.
9. During his cross country trip from Los Angeles to New Haven when he was eight years old, Michael and his father stayed in a hotel in the Rockies of Colorado. The hotel was situated in a small town on the banks of a rushing river. Michael couldn’t sleep the entire night for fear of the river rising and sweeping the hotel with it, which did not happen. However, a year later that river did actually rise as the snow was melting in the mountains and did actually sweep that hotel and half of the town with it. To this day, Michael prefers to keep an arm’s distance while sleeping near rushing rivers.
10. Michael travels often, mainly in Europe. He trekked quite a bit in big European airports. His record is a mile run in Frankfurt international making a tight connection from Gate A 72 to C 13, with a carry-on and a laptop. Unfortunately in order to make the connection he ran over a few innocent bystanders. He would like to use this opportunity to extend his heartfelt apologies.

10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

1. Know your topic, that is know your topic really well.
2. Research on your topic, prepare a plan for collecting information about the topic and follow through on that plan.
3. Define objectives for your writing, and for your books.
4. Start with a table of contents or a list of topics; It has probably been said thousand times so I will add once more – start with a table of content and or a list of topics.
5. Read, I mean it. Read a lot. Read a lot of everything. Reading gives perspective, insights, and understanding.
6. Write make sure your writing is part of your daily schedule. Know when you’re focused and when you’re not, it’s better to write when you’re focused…
7. Accept that sometimes things don’t follow the plan, sometimes writing doesn’t work and know that it’s fine, that it’s okay. Avoid calling it a writer’s block - since if it that’s what you call it, that’s what it will become. Instead, accept that sometimes it just doesn’t work, and it will pass, and you will write again.
8. Walk there is something meditative about walking. When you’re stuck take a walk, enjoy your outside wherever that may be. The pace of walking in itself clears our minds and allows fresh ideas to flow in.
9. Keep a pencil and a piece of paper always within reach. The best ideas always pop up when we’re not expecting them.
10. Appreciate feedback given, however also be cognizant that feedback is very much representing the person giving the feedback and always should be taken with a grain of salt. Some feedback is positive some feedback is negative and always the feedback is an exercise of projecting, through which the giver projects his images on the receiver.

How to Research Your Story Before Writing Your Book

There are several ways to research your story before writing your book.

I always like to read a few books around the topic I’m going to write on.

This helps me understand the framework or the environment of my topic. As I’m reading books around my chosen topic I’m also looking actively for mismatches, for interfaces, for areas that are not clearly defined. I like my books to answer the specific challenges that people come across and provide a fresh and insightful point of view.

I use social networks a lot; I will post a few questions on any social network and then follow through the answers with more questions and ideas. Usually people will share links to blogs which I will happily read. The social networks help me assess the gravity of the topic I’m basing my book on. There is a lot of information on most topics, the trick or rather the wisdom is to create a structure and a flow with which to present your concepts in your material. I would like people picking up my book even if it’s a business book or self-help book to be drawn to it as though they’re reading a novel. The next step is writing down my proposed outline. I use Google words and some other free tools over the Internet to search for key messages and keywords that are relevant for the topic. I use these words to search topics and stories that are already there on Amazon. I then tell myself the story or the way I think the story would be like a few times; I do that while walking, resting, during breaks for work - this is kind of a self test for the story. And then discuss this story with family and friends to see how it sounds and to receive their feedback. Usually at this time I also write the introduction that is about 1000 - 2000 words. I read this introduction and let other people read it and listen to their feedback.

This probably and ends my research for a new book. I would then continue and write the book.