Latest news with #Nussbaum
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Capture Your Audience With A 'Howdahell' Moment
Young confident successful business people discuss and analyze work, statistics, plans, startup in a ... More meeting room. Teamwork. Presentation. During a sales call, a representative for an AI software company concluded his pitch to a prospective customer by saying, 'Our Large Language Model can learn all of your company's features and make them available to any query on demand.' And then he added, 'It's very much like the way you learned the French language when you worked for Alcatel Lucent.' Astonished, the customer replied, 'How did you know that?' 'I see on your LinkedIn page that all your education and work experience have been in the U.S. except for the four years you spent in Colombes, France, so I put two and two together.' Jeff Nussbaum, a former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, calls this a 'Howdahell' moment, because the listener thinks, 'Howdahell did he know that?' In his book, 'Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History,' Nussbaum explains, 'That one line sent a message to the audience: 'This speaker knows something about us. He took the time to learn something about us.' And perhaps, on a subconscious level, it leads them to think, If he understands this problem we face, maybe we should listen to him when he discusses other problems we face.' Nussbaum's conclusion describes the magic moment when a speaker truly connects with the audience, the ultimate goal of persuasion. Unfortunately, in this day and age of 'corporate pitches,' presenters deliver the same pitch to all audiences, over and over again, and that moment is lost. This is not to say that you should abandon consistency of your company's messaging. Nor should you create a brand-new presentation for every audience. Instead, use the same slide deck but insert 'Howdahell' moments in your spoken narrative. Create the 'illusion of the first time,' a phrase that comes from the theater world, where actors often have to perform the same role in the same play hundreds of times. Fortunately, as a business presenter, you enjoy a freedom that stage actors don't have: you can reshape your narrative and give every presentation a new dose of freshness and spontaneity. And you have three excellent options to customize your content. Visit LinkedIn in advance, as the sales rep above did, to learn about your audience and embed that information in your presentation. Two other sources for your customization are: Your prospective company's website. Browse the site and learn about the company's products, culture, and people. You may find that some of their people or partners share connections with you and your company. Include these mutual connections in your narrative as a tasteful, appropriate form of name-dropping. Find the key phrases of their mission or marketing material and repeat them back to the customer. People feel validated when they hear their own words resonated. Chatbots. Query Perplexity, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, Microsoft's Copilot, or Meta's LLaMA for the latest news (ideally the day of your presentation) news about your prospective customer's business and its sector. Reference those trends as they might affect your customer's business. Create the illusion of the first time every time you present.
Ottawa Citizen
12-06-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
Cannonballs at Dow's Lake: Return of swimming marked at new recreational dock
Article content Swimming at Dow's Lake is now permitted in the first time in more than a century. Article content The inauguration of the Dow's Lake recreational dock began with a splash on Thursday as politicians, National Capital Commission representatives and community members cannonballed into the water. Article content Article content It was warm, warmer than the wind that left swimmers shivering after their collective dip. Article content Article content Tobi Nussbaum, CEO for the NCC, was one of those swimmers. He told the Ottawa Citizen, while wearing a drenched watersuit, that he wanted swimming in the capital in the summer to be 'what skating is in the winter.' Article content Article content For many Ottawans, swimming in Dow's Lake is unthinkable. Those feelings were played upon when Nussbaum joked about the parallels to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who jumped into the River Seine before the 2024 Olympic Games. Article content But Laura Reinsborough, Riverkeeper and CEO at Ottawa Riverkeeper, said Dow's Lake and the Siene were incomparable. The Ottawa Riverkeeper is responsible for testing water quality in Dow's Lake for the NCC, and for the entirety of this year it has passed with 'flying colours,' she said. Article content In Ontario and Québec, levels of E. coli, a bacteria of concern that can cause infection and gastrointensional illnesses, must be under 200 per 100 millilitres of water to be considered safe for swimming, whereas in Europe the standard is 900. Article content Article content Article content 'This is excellent, excellent water quality,' Reinsborough said. 'And even after a significant rain event, when we'd expect in an urban area that conditions would deteriorate, Dow's Lake is showing excellent water quality.' Article content The Ottawa Riverkeeper will continue to monitor Dow's Lake water quality, five days a week. Article content It has been a decades-long wait for Dow's Lake's conditions to improve to meet swimming standards. Throughout that time there have been sweeping changes to area waterways. Article content Jennifer Halsall, the project lead on the Dow's Lake dock project and a real-estate advisor for the NCC, said tests for contaminants in the waterways were coming back consistently good, to a point that contaminants were either 'not picking up' or were 'less than half of human health thresholds.' Article content Dow's Lake's history has also changed over the years and it is 'very different from the Dow's Lake we would have seen 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago,' Halsall said. For example, what is now Commissioner's Park was once a lumber yard and the shoreline wrapping around the lake didn't exist until 1958.
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Epoch Times
‘Massive' Increase in Pensioner Shoplifters in Past Year, Security Firm Reports
Food retailers have seen a 'massive' increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, thought to be down to cost-of-living pressures, a security firm has said. John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Security, said his staff were seeing a 'different sort of shoplifter now' as the cost of living 'pushes people to something they've never done before.' Kingdom Security, which provides security services for hundreds of stores across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and shopping malls, was receiving 20 to 30 reports of shoplifting a week from across the UK involving 'people who just can't afford to buy food,' Nussbaum said. He said: 'We've seen a massive increase in pensioners shoplifting, putting a jar of coffee in their bag and one in the trolley, that sort of thing. 'For us over the last 12 months, we've got this different level of crime now. We're now experiencing something different—pensioners, people who don't normally shoplift. 'We've had instances of mothers caught shoplifting when they're with their kids. Related Stories 3/13/2025 12/23/2024 'We're used to seeing the organised gangs, that's the norm, but the types of people being caught now has changed.' He estimated that 5 percent of all those caught shoplifting by Kingdom staff on a weekly basis were aged over 50. 'We've not seen this before, and I've been in security for 30 years. Ten years ago, five years ago, you wouldn't have seen this kind of theft. We put it down to the cost of living. People can't afford to spend £10, £20 on food. It's desperation.' He added: 'Retailers don't tend to involve the police when they're dealing with pensioners. Stores tend to want to handle it on their own. 'It's not good publicity for a supermarket if it got out that a pensioner had been handed over to the police for shoplifting.' Nussbaum's comments follow figures showing that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales in a year has passed half a million for the first time. A total of 516,971 offences were logged by forces in 2024, up 20 percent from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shoplifting offences have been running at record levels for the past two years and have seen a 'sharp rise' since the COVID-19 pandemic, the ONS said. Additionally, Nussbaum said, staff were seeing 'terrible violence now, every day' from organised gangs, with one employee punched in the face just this week and those working at a shopping centre north of London wearing stabproof vests. He said: 'It's not unusual to come across guns on site. 'We carried out a big operation with police to clean up the city centre, which included the shopping centre. We found knives, drugs—there's a lot of drug-dealing going on. 'We have a quick response unit for one of our bigger retailers which can get to places very quickly and is highly trained for a variety of incidents and safeguarding. 'But you have to remember that retail staff also have to deal with this every day.' He said: 'There's no fear any more. 'If someone gets arrested they might get a fine or spend a night in jail. There's no deterrent any more. There's nothing to stop these people. 'We've had prolific shoplifters who get arrested and they're back two days later. We have this quite a lot.' Nussbaum said he supported facial recognition technology being trialled by Asda at five of its Greater Manchester stores, involving customers' faces, picked up on CCTV, being scanned and compared against individuals on an internal watchlist. The watchlist, compiled by Asda, is made up of individuals staff suspect have been involved in 'theft, violence and/or fraud in Asda stores,' although they may not be convicted of any crime. Home Bargains, Southern Co-op, Budgens, Costcutter, and several independent convenience stores use similar technology.
South Wales Guardian
12-05-2025
- South Wales Guardian
‘Massive' increase in pensioner shoplifters in past year, security firm reports
John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Security, said his staff were seeing a 'different sort of shoplifter now' as the cost of living 'pushes people to something they've never done before'. Kingdom Security, which provides security services for hundreds of stores across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping malls, was receiving 20 to 30 reports of shoplifting a week from across the UK involving 'people who just can't afford to buy food', Mr Nussbaum said. He said: 'We've seen a massive increase in pensioners shoplifting, putting a jar of coffee in their bag and one in the trolley, that sort of thing. 'For us over the last 12 months, we've got this different level of crime now. We're now experiencing something different – pensioners, people who don't normally shoplift. 'We've had instances of mothers caught shoplifting when they're with their kids. 'We're used to seeing the organised gangs, that's the norm, but the types of people being caught now has changed.' He estimated that 5% of all those caught shoplifting by Kingdom staff on a weekly basis were aged over 50. 'We've not seen this before, and I've been in security for 30 years. Ten years ago, five years ago, you wouldn't have seen this kind of theft. We put it down to the cost of living. People can't afford to spend £10, £20 on food. It's desperation.' He added: 'Retailers don't tend to involve the police when they're dealing with pensioners. Stores tend to want to handle it on their own. 'It's not good publicity for a supermarket if it got out that a pensioner had been handed over to the police for shoplifting.' Mr Nussbaum's comments follow figures showing that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales in a year has passed half a million for the first time. A total of 516,971 offences were logged by forces in 2024, up 20% from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shoplifting offences have been running at record levels for the past two years and have seen a 'sharp rise' since the Covid-19 pandemic, the ONS said. Additionally, Mr Nussbaum said, staff were seeing 'terrible violence now, every day' from organised gangs, with one employee punched in the face just this week and those working at a shopping centre north of London wearing stabproof vests. He said: 'It's not unusual to come across guns on site. 'We carried out a big operation with police to clean up the city centre, which included the shopping centre. We found knives, drugs – there's a lot of drug-dealing going on. 'We have a quick response unit for one of our bigger retailers which can get to places very quickly and is highly trained for a variety of incidents and safeguarding. 'But you have to remember that retail staff also have to deal with this every day.' He said: 'There's no fear any more. 'If someone gets arrested they might get a fine or spend a night in jail. There's no deterrent any more. There's nothing to stop these people. 'We've had prolific shoplifters who get arrested and they're back two days later. We have this quite a lot.' Mr Nussbaum said he supported facial recognition technology being trialled by Asda at five of its Greater Manchester stores, involving customers' faces, picked up on CCTV, being scanned and compared against individuals on an internal watchlist. The watchlist, compiled by Asda, is made up of individuals staff suspect have been involved in 'theft, violence and/or fraud in Asda stores', although they may not be convicted of any crime. Home Bargains, Southern Co-op, Budgens, Costcutter and several independent convenience stores use similar technology. Mr Nussbaum said: 'Facial recognition is brilliant and more retailers should do it. Anything that aids identifying shoplifters, organised gangs, people who could be violent is a good thing.'
ITV News
12-05-2025
- ITV News
‘Massive' increase in pensioner shoplifters in past year, security firm reports
Food retailers have seen a 'massive' increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, thought to be down to cost-of-living pressures a security firm has said. John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Security, said his staff were seeing a 'different sort of shoplifter now' as the cost of living 'pushes people to something they've never done before'. Kingdom Security, which provides security services for hundreds of stores across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping malls, was receiving 20 to 30 reports of shoplifting a week from across the UK involving 'people who just can't afford to buy food', Mr Nussbaum said. He said: 'We've seen a massive increase in pensioners shoplifting, putting a jar of coffee in their bag and one in the trolley, that sort of thing. 'For us over the last 12 months, we've got this different level of crime now. We're now experiencing something different – pensioners, people who don't normally shoplift. 'We've had instances of mothers caught shoplifting when they're with their kids. 'We're used to seeing the organised gangs, that's the norm, but the types of people being caught now has changed.' He estimated that 5% of all those caught shoplifting by Kingdom staff on a weekly basis were aged over 50. 'We've not seen this before, and I've been in security for 30 years. Ten years ago, five years ago, you wouldn't have seen this kind of theft. We put it down to the cost of living. People can't afford to spend £10, £20 on food. It's desperation.' He added: 'Retailers don't tend to involve the police when they're dealing with pensioners. Stores tend to want to handle it on their own. 'It's not good publicity for a supermarket if it got out that a pensioner had been handed over to the police for shoplifting.' Mr Nussbaum's comments follow figures showing that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales in a year has passed half a million for the first time. A total of 516,971 offences were logged by forces in 2024, up 20% from 429,873 in 2023. The figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shoplifting offences have been running at record levels for the past two years and have seen a 'sharp rise' since the Covid-19 pandemic, the ONS said. Additionally, Mr Nussbaum said, staff were seeing 'terrible violence now, every day' from organised gangs, with one employee punched in the face just this week and those working at a shopping centre north of London wearing stabproof vests. He said: 'It's not unusual to come across guns on site. 'We carried out a big operation with police to clean up the city centre, which included the shopping centre. We found knives, drugs – there's a lot of drug-dealing going on. 'We have a quick response unit for one of our bigger retailers which can get to places very quickly and is highly trained for a variety of incidents and safeguarding. 'But you have to remember that retail staff also have to deal with this every day.' He said: 'There's no fear any more. 'If someone gets arrested they might get a fine or spend a night in jail. There's no deterrent any more. There's nothing to stop these people. 'We've had prolific shoplifters who get arrested and they're back two days later. We have this quite a lot.' Mr Nussbaum said he supported facial recognition technology being trialled by Asda at five of its Greater Manchester stores, involving customers' faces, picked up on CCTV, being scanned and compared against individuals on an internal watchlist. The watchlist, compiled by Asda, is made up of individuals staff suspect have been involved in 'theft, violence and/or fraud in Asda stores', although they may not be convicted of any crime. Home Bargains, Southern Co-op, Budgens, Costcutter and several independent convenience stores use similar technology. Mr Nussbaum said: 'Facial recognition is brilliant and more retailers should do it. Anything that aids identifying shoplifters, organised gangs, people who could be violent is a good thing.'
