The Original Human Connection Blog

Stories, insights, and studies on human connection, written by Brian Miller, The Connection Magician. Delivered to your inbox every other Wednesday.

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Ordinary Conversations Can Create Extraordinary Impact

Ordinary Conversations Can Create Extraordinary Impact

It doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day. And when you extend the give of human connection to another, they will extend that gift forward, and the ripple spreads quickly. Today, she is an advisor at a great school making a huge positive impact on students lives. And the critical inflection point was a single kind remark from a visiting comedy magician. It was a powerful reminder that sometimes we don’t have to do any outrageous to make a dent in the universe. We just have to be present, understanding, and kind.

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Why Small Business Owners Actually Fail to Connect with Customers

Why Small Business Owners Actually Fail to Connect with Customers

Why do so many entrepreneurs and business owners fail to connect with customers? You’ve got a brilliant idea and a unique solution that doesn’t exist in the marketplace. You’re better, faster, or cheaper than the competition. Yet, your ideal customers or clients just don’t get it. And because they don’t get it, they don’t want it, and won’t buy it. What’s going on here? That’s what Tijana Buric asked me on her podcast Career Alchemist, where I was recently honored to be a guest.

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How to Magically Connect with College Students in 2024

How to Magically Connect with College Students in 2024

This weekend I spent two days with 1500 college students representing nearly 300 schools across America. It was NACA Live – the National Association for Campus Activities’ annual national conference. I had the incredible honor of being selected to showcase on stage for 15 minutes, and spend the day interacting with students.

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The Magic of Influence: From Card Tricks to Speaking Gigs with Brian Miller

The Magic of Influence: From Card Tricks to Speaking Gigs with Brian Miller

When you’re a magician the most important part of your job is not tricking people. It’s connecting with people. Because fooling people is easy, but making people enjoy being fooled? That’s the real magic. And the only way to do that is to create a shared experience in which everyone feels heard, understood, and valued. Being a professional magician for 10 years taught me to make instant connections with perfect strangers, and that skills has led to every opportunity in my life, personally and professionally. I recently had the great pleasure of sitting down with Gabe Marusca on his podcast The Nomad Solopreneur Show.

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How to Attract the People Who Change Our Lives

How to Attract the People Who Change Our Lives

This blog explores the concept of ‘unlikely mentors’ from Chris Roberts’ TEDx talk. We discuss a three-step process: Identify, Adopt, Engage, illustrating how to find and learn from mentors outside traditional networks, based on real-life experiences and professional development insights.

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2023 reflections and what to expect in 2024

2023 reflections and what to expect in 2024

This is my final blog of 2023. I’m about to do something radical… I’ll be taking the final 2 weeks of the year off. Having been self-employed since I was just 16 years old I find it very difficult to take vacations. In fact, in the first 3 years that my wife and I dated, I never took a single vacation. Our honeymoon was the first time Lindsey saw me take a proper break. But this year is different.

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