Twenty years ago, just having exited the Navy about four years prior, I was getting ready to present my training to a panel of high ranking naval officers, who would then decide between the training I was offering, and that of others the Navy had brought in to try and persuade them to hire their company, instead. I was second to last. It was now my turn. The working title of my training was “Communication that Creates Favorable Physiological Responses for Patients in the Hospital Setting.” Without question, the other presenters had spent hours & hours in the weeks leading up to the big day. They knew a lot was on the line, and were determined to masterfully weave their words into what would amount to a 15-20 minute sales presentation that would assure the contract. I didn’t spend so much as 1 minute preparing for my presentation in the weeks leading up to that day. I didn’t use 15-20 minutes for my presentation, either. I used 90 seconds. Upon walking to within six feet of the three tables that were side by side, and where the panel members were seated, I paused. After turning slightly, taking a second to look each one of them in the eyes….I finally spoke. I said one word: Fuck. I then stood there, silently counting to ten; a length of time that no doubt felt like an eternity to everyone in that room…including me. As I counted, I noted both the physiological changes I was able to observe, and…the ones I knew were occurring, that I could not see. “In the ten seconds since I spoke that one word, I’ve observed flushing in your faces. Your capillaries have dilated. Your eyelids have ceased blinking. Your respiration rate has increased. Your heart rate has picked up considerably, and your entire endocrine system is going through fluctuations as I speak..” (They were all medical officers…so I knew that they knew what I was saying was irrefutable) “With one single word….just one…I have altered your physiology in a way that will have lingering effects in the hours that follow. Just. One. Word.” “That’s my business. That’s what I do. I teach people to quickly begin linking words together into short, simple, and powerful phrases, that alter the mental and emotional states-the thus, the very biochemistry-of their chosen audience. Here, your audience will be the patients you have been tasked with caring for. I simply show you how to care more effectively.” With that, I simply reached into the inside pocket of my suit jacket, pulled out my business cards, and quietly placed one in front of each of them…only then, saying “thank you for your time” as I walked back to the door I had used to enter the room. You could hear a pin drop. The next morning my phone rang. “We’d like you to come back in to discuss a few things. We think we’re probably going to go with you. 90 seconds. 90 emotional, impactful and undeniable seconds. As a party, we have to get better. We do. And….we CAN get better.