When they were 17 and 18 years old, our daughters moved to South Carolina to perform with the Charleston Ballet Theatre, and our son moved to San Diego after graduating college. One Christmas I asked if they were trying to escape the parental grips of mom and me and they said, “You and mom put the travel bug in us!” and that we did – as someone had done for me.

Back in the dark ages of the 1960’s, before computers and PowerPoint presentations, there were 35mm slide shows. Each fall, before the pennant race and World Series kicked in, our middle school principal, Mr. Nussbaum, would run his ‘how-I-spent-my-summer-vacation-traveling” presentations.

We gathered in the auditorium for assembly in blue pants or skirts, white shirts, and red ties, pledged allegiance to the flag and sang the National Anthem. The lights dimmed and the projector flashed slides of the Parthenon or perhaps the Manneken Pis in Brussels. He let his hair down and made fun of his limited skills in Spanish or his New York version of a French accent. Each slide was a joke-filled story from his personal experience that lured you into his trip and transported you to a crossing of the Tower Bridge or a walk together through the Louvre Museum.

Manneken Pis "Little Man Piss" in Brussels

Growing up in the projects of Brooklyn painted a bleak, existential dead-end picture; Alfred Nussbaum dedicated his life proving it was not. He drew on his own inspiration to design presentations that would inspire us to break through the brick walls of our social circumstances.   He sold us an image of the life we could have by sharing himself, his personal stories, and experiences – that’s selling!

People don’t buy your presentations; they buy you. Bullet points don’t sell; “your story” sells. Charts, graphs, stats, and facts are not the story; they support the story. Inspired selling comes from you, from your heart and soul, and from your personal experience. If you want your audience and customers to open up to you, trust you, and place their confidence in you, then open yourself up to them. Vulnerability is intimidating, but that is the nature of transparency. Your prospects, customers, and audience are buying you. Sell your story and you have sold yourself.

“This weekend, Alfred Nussbaum, passed away at the age of 100. He was married to one woman for 59-years, fathered three children, and had a 42-year career as teacher, principal, and chairman with New York City Board of Education. He loved history, literature, travel, photography, and telling good jokes”

We had, shall I say, a personal relationship, as I spent a fair amount of time in his office. He might have been a successful business and sales leader; instead, he chose to sell street kids solutions to fulfill our dreams.