Branding & Messaging

We’ve talked before about setting an outcome for your message — that’s what makes your message measurable. It also helps you shape your content. But when you talk to others about your ideas, what should your goal for delivery be? What will help you shape how you get your ideas across? There’s obviously a huge range of situations where we need to […]

You put a lot of work into your messages. You spend a lot of time and effort on building, writing and sharing your content, your presentations, maybe even your book. At a high level, there are reasons all that work is worth it. If your messages work the way you want them to, they’ll help you […]

I’m obviously a big believer in the power of speaking to drive business, both to and for your business. If you’re in a business (or represent one), there are few opportunities better than a conference stage to get in front of the people you want to hear your message. When it comes to that kind of speaking, I see […]

There’s a bit of a rant ahead, but it can be summed up in these 16 words: “It is nothing short of ridiculous to memorize ten words in order to remember one fact.” I don’t think I can say it any better than Dale Breckenridge Carnegie said it…way back in 1915. But I do think I can […]

So, you need to draft a message. Sounds simple, right? After all… it’s just a piece of content. It could be an email, or a blog post, or a presentation. So why is it often so hard? Because a message isn’t just a message. Wait… what? No, really: a message isn’t just a message. Yes, there are […]

Have you ever struggled to figure out how to organize your day, or week? Has it ever felt like what you were doing, and how, was *almost* right, but still not there yet? Do you wish that those occasional moments of “flow” — when you were so engaged in what you were doing that time […]

You already know your idea — or product or service — is an answer. It’s your answer to a question your audience (or clients or customers) have. You also know that, for some reason, whatever they’re doing now to find that answer isn’t working for them, or isn’t working well. They’re tense. So are you. They’re tense […]

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the success of your marketing and selling efforts — not to mention much of your speaking and writing efforts — depends on how good you are at changing people’s minds. Except that people don’t like to change their minds. In fact, when challenged, people will often double down on their […]

Here’s something to try… Fill in the following “script” for your idea or message: When I/we speak with: [type of audience] They often want to know: [common question your idea, product, or service answers] So they can: [high-level goal to achieve] When looking for that answer, they often focus on: [current perspective or approach] Rather […]

I’ve been filling your eyeballs with a bunch of information on how to pinpoint your audience based on what questions they’re asking, and I introduced this as-yet-unnamed tool where you could “place” your audience on one of three bases of a metaphorical baseball diamond: At First Base: They’re UNAWARE of both the “real” problem and the […]