To be sure, I'm not referring to the silver fox from the Dos Equis beer commercials, who once ran a marathon just because it was on his way, whose organ donor card lists his beard and who speaks fluent French — in Russian.

　　要说明的是，我不是指双X啤酒广告里那个头发花白的老男人。在广告里，因为正好碰见，他就跑了一场马拉松。他的器官捐赠卡上把胡子也列在了其中。他还能讲流利的法语——用俄语口音。

　　The bar doesn't have to be that high.

　　其实标准用不着定的这么高。

　　In a noisy world where personal branding is a professional imperative and where we constantly compete with equally qualified rivals for clients, jobs, promotions, assignments, or funding, not to mention admiration and affection, being just a little more interesting and memorable can be the deciding factor in our favor.

　　在这个喧闹的世界，在职业中塑造个人品牌是必需的。我们经常和相同水平的对手竞争客户、工作、升职、任务或者是赞助。更不用说在魅力和吸引力方面，有趣难忘能成为对我们有利的关键因素。

　　The following list of seven rules should yield some promising results for those who want to up their game with some new skills and behaviors:

　　希望通过新技能和行为方式提升自己的人可以学习下面这7个法则，它们会给你带来成效。

　　1. Master conversational skills.

　　1.掌握对话技巧

　　The ability to converse is a key competency for successful client pitches, board room presentations, management meetings and the myriad hallway conversations that influence major business decisions. Skillful small talk and more substantive conversations can make anyone more interesting, provided one has something interesting to say.

　　客户销售、会议室展示、管理会议和走廊谈话能够影响重大商业决定，而对话能力是其成功的关键。有技巧的短对话和内容丰富的说话内容能让人更有吸引力，前提是你得有些有趣的东西可说。

　　To get better at it, widen your interests and learn about anything from current events to local issues. Keeping conversations balanced by showing sincere interest in others is critical. A report in Psychological Science cites a study that shows that people who engage in deeper, more substantive conversation are happier than those who keep interactions superficial. Happy people are definitely more interesting than miserable ones.

　　要想在这方面做的更好，就要拓宽你的兴趣，了解从当地话题到最新事件的一切。重要的是对他人表现出兴趣来保持对话平衡。一份心理学报告中引用了一项研究，表明谈话内容更深层、更具实质性的对话双方比只是泛泛交谈的人更快乐。快乐的人一定比忧郁的人更有吸引力。

　　2. Learn to make a solid business case.

　　2.学会稳固生意

　　Occasionally we get lucky. We ask for something — resources, money, time, support — and we get it. But for the most part, the higher the stakes, the more scrutiny our requests are under. Entrepreneurs, managers, and executives who cannot make a solid business case, linking needs to strategic goals, detailing risks, opportunities, and projected ROI, based on research and analysis, are discounted by the decision-makers who can green-light a project.

　　有时我们很幸运。当我们要求某样东西——资源、资金、时间、支持——我们轻易就得到了。但是大多时候，我们的要求会受到更仔细的核查。如果企业家、经理、主管通过研究和分析需求、战略目标、具体风险、机会、投资回报率之后也不能保证经营稳固的话，他们在能够决定项目是否通过的决策者心中的形象就会大打折扣。

　　By clearly showing value, telling a compelling business story and answering tough questions from stakeholders, we become valued players in a serious game.

　　通过清晰地展现出价值所在，讲述一个扣人心弦的商业故事，解答股东们难缠的问题，我们就可以在这场严峻的比赛中成为有价值的选手。