I overthink so you don’t have to.

You have a message. You want to get it heard. That’s all good. (I mean, people have to hear your message to act on it, right? Right.) Except that’s not enough, is it? Nope. Because after someone hears something, they react to it,  and it’s that reaction that determines what happens next. You can’t get the action […]

Long sales cycles make it hard to structure your message and address the right questions. The key is to instead structure a series of messages that answer the right question at the right time. A message format that your organization probably uses is focused on how. In fact, it’s common for ALL of your messaging […]

The ABT method is just about the simplest storytelling structure, but we can make it more effective. ABT, developed by Randy Olson, stands for “And, But, Therefore.” Each of those words corresponds to an act of a story. The first act is set up so you present, with the “And,” two pieces of information that […]

 This week we look at 3 books that will make you a better communicator by making the useful usable. Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath, is amazing at detailing how to get your message to stick with your audience. They make that information usable with an acronym: SUCCES. A great message is […]

Waffle House stays open no matter what, and the Waffle House Index represents their Red Thread. Even though this chain of southern restaurants is committed to keeping their doors open, there are times when a disaster or national emergency makes that impossible. But this is where the Waffle House Index comes into play. Because Waffle […]

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” “Haters aren’t your problem. Ignoring them is.” “You can’t change what you do until you change how you see.” What do those three phrases have in common? They capture someone’s Big Idea (Simon Sinek, Jay Baer,…me). They’re short (tweetable, even!).  They’re clear. They’re memorable, […]

Presenting without slides or notes can happen by accident or on purpose, but how do you do it? It’s not about memorization, but internalization. With memorization, you’re thinking about which word comes next. Internalization, however, is about remembering which concept comes after which concept. When it comes to presenting without slides or notes, there’s a […]

We’re told to use storytelling in business, but why do stories work at all? What’s crazy: the concept of storytelling in business is, at this point, at least 20 years old, but we don’t seem to be getting any better at it. Why not? It goes back to why the pieces of a story are […]

If you could choose to be anyone, who would you choose? I chose “the Dread Pirate Roberts.” Perhaps I should explain. The Princess Bride is and has always been one of my favorite movies (and books), and the Dread Pirate Roberts is one of the main characters. He kidnaps the heroine, Princess Buttercup, after killing […]

How do you make persuasion easier so you get them where you need them to be by the end of your talk? You need to get across the “no hole,” the gap between where you want them and what they believe before you talk to them. In the middle are all the reasons they can […]