From Peter’s desk

Parli Molto, Dici Poco

October 26, 2026 · By Peter Ciaccia

There’s an old Sicilian way of sizing a man up in the first five minutes, and it has nothing to do with his deck, his title, or how many people call him a mentor.

It’s how much talking it takes him to say nothing.

You know the type. Six-hour presentation. Ninety slides. Every buzzword ever invented, stacked like sandbags against a flood of questions he hopes you won’t ask. Information overload isn’t an accident — it’s a smokescreen. If he buries you in paper, maybe you won’t notice there’s no deal underneath it.

Information overload doesn’t sell the deal.

Six-hour presentations don’t close the deal.

Experience closes the deal. Confidence closes the deal. The man who’s actually done it doesn’t need ninety slides, because he’s not trying to convince you he’s done it. He’s telling you how it gets done, and you can hear the difference in about thirty seconds.

And yet everybody wants to be a mentor now. Mentor first, results later — or never. Don’t try to be a mentor until you show them how it’s done. Teaching is the trophy you earn after the work, not the costume you wear instead of it.

Then there’s the positive-energy crowd. All vibes, all affirmations, all “let’s circle back with good intentions.” Positive energy does not get stuff accomplished. It just makes you easier to deal with while nothing gets accomplished. Pleasant is not the same as productive. A smile is not a track record.

People change their story. Patterns don’t.

And the pattern is always the same: the ones doing the most talking are doing it to cover the sound of nothing happening.

Parli molto, dici poco.

Say less. Close more.