powerful counsel | powerful messages | powerful conversations
Are you ready for the fall conference season? If you’re leading a breakout session, start by saying THANK YOU to the people who chose to walk into your session room! Acknowledge your audience’s discernment and good taste. They chose YOUR session, … [Read more...] about Say thank you!
We fear change. Our brains fear change. Laying down a new neural pathway takes energy and attention! How can you get your team, your customers, or your partners to change? Peter Denning and Robert Dunham’s The Innovators Way is my favorite book on … [Read more...] about Persistence and patience = real change
In June, we talked about the power of soundbites. They stick in our ears. We can remember them for years. Want to reach into a human’s mind? Use a soundbite! But what if your message is getting intermediated by AI? If the human is not watching … [Read more...] about Who’s reading/listening/watching?
If I am reaching for my phone every three minutes to look up some acronym you just mentioned in a talk, you are making me work to listen to you. Don’t make me work to listen to you. The minute I grab my phone, you’ve lost me for the duration, because … [Read more...] about Have mercy on your audience
Clarity is a discipline. Sure, many of us have the skill to stand on a stage, riff on the slides we have behind us, and walk off the stage without breaking a sweat. But delivering a clear, useful talk requires making choices. It’s about cutting … [Read more...] about Clarity is awesome
What makes a great spokesperson? Skill for sure. Quality of content, absolutely. But there’s a third component that can be overlooked: attitude and intention. Soundbites and stories stick in peoples’ heads. You can deliver high-quality stories … [Read more...] about Skill + content + intention = magic!
“Perception is reality.” Lee Atwater coined this phrase in political campaigning because he understood that what people think is more powerful than what’s true. Objectivity does not exist. This can be super frustrating, but it’s … [Read more...] about Perception. It’s still reality.
I ask every client two questions: What do you uniquely see? What are you uniquely doing about it? I get some amazing answers! And yet, while a fundamental insight is essential, it is not sufficient. If you want your idea to have impact, you … [Read more...] about Got ideas? Get help!
Answering questions is a very particular skill. An expert spokesperson - whether they are on a podcast, an earnings call, an All Hands, or a tough media interview - does these three things well: Acknowledge that a fellow human said words. … [Read more...] about Politeness, discernment, and persistence
Every expert, talented PR person I know spends enormous energy creating messages for leaders and coaching them to be polished, prepared, on-message. But we can’t climb into the nervous systems of our spokespersons. Every leader needs to practice … [Read more...] about Courage is a communications skill
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