Back in 1964, futurist and science fiction arthur, Arthur C. Clarke predicted that, by the year 2000, human beings would "no longer commute, they will communicate" and that ninety-five percent of all office work would be done without ever having to leave the home. Well, he was right.

Thanks to the global pandemic, most of us are doing all of our work from home and it appears to be the cultural shift reverberating around the world, ushering in the next era of communication and disruptive business models and technologies far sooner than governments and companies anticipated.  

We are changing the way we buy, sell and communicate with each other, especially in business, in profound ways we won't fully understand for some time to come. But undeniably, the change is happening. And even as we are adapting surprising well, we are also struggling with even the most basic things -- like communicating with each other on video meeting platforms.

This week, Charlie has a thought-provoking conversation with Taran Hughes, Startup Sales & Performance Coach, Founder TCS Sales Accelerators,  co-Founder of PitchSLAP and author of The Conscious Sale: Using the Power of State, Intention and Belief – A Guide to Sales Success. Taran has two decades of experience in sales, working primarily in enterprise telecommunication companies, where he perfected the art of sealing the deal. He would eventually turn his attention and career to working with experienced startup founders by helping them to define market and true value proposition.

In April of this year (just one month into the pandemic) Taran launched PitchSLAP with his co-Founder, Zineb Layachi, as a global virtual platform for startup founders who already have traction or are very close to MVP stage to get immediate, actionable feedback to polish their sales or investor pitch. 

Charlie and Taran discuss how businesses and people are adapting to this shift in communication happening and the innovation needed in order for us to truly embrace and maximize our new remote reality.

NOTE: Charlie also has a slight meltdown over her rude Alexa but such is life now that we're all working remotely from home!

ARTICLES MENTIONED

—  Why Does Zoom Exhaust You? Science Has an Answer (WSJ) (link)
—  The future of work—the good, the challenging & the unknown (Microsoft Research) (link)
—  How to Negotiate — Virtually (HBR) (link)
—  Zoom aims to be the next big platform for start-ups to build billion-dollar businesses (NBC) (link)
—  Zoom, but in VR: Why Spatial’s free meeting app feels like a leap forward (CNET) (link)
—  Keep it Together, Microsoft: New mode for vid-chat app Teams reminds everyone why Zoom rules the roost (The Register) (link)
—  Arthur C. Clark video clip on the future of work and communication (YouTube) (link)

CONNECT WITH TARAN HUGHES

Website:  www.pitchslap.live
LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/taranhughes
Book:  The Conscious Sale
Twitter:  iamtaranhughes
Email:  taran@theconscioussale.com

REACH OUT TO THE SHOW:

Website: https://tech2025.com/fast-forward-podcast/
Twitter: @fastforward2025
Instagram: @fastforward2025
Facebook: https://bit.ly/fastforwardfacebook
Email: fastforward@tech2025.com
Charlie on Twitter:  @itscomplicated
Charlie on Instagram:  @charlieoliverbk
Charlie on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlieoliverny