I overthink so you don’t have to.

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 […]

In order to best prepare for your presentation, you need to decide how important it is to you. There’s a big difference between low-stakes and a high-stakes situation, and how much you prepare should reflect that. But more importantly, realize that you are the one who decides how important a particular presentation is to you. […]

I blame my boys for the last two weeks. I mean, it’s a good thing, but still. It’s totally their fault I’ve been spending the last two weeks teaching myself how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.  Now, you may be saying to yourself, “Um…Tamsen, isn’t that something you should have figured out 30 years ago?” And […]

Is there a persuasion formula, a simple way to think about it so we can be better at it? Yes. There are three predictable things you’ll need to address in order to persuade an audience: goals, perspectives, and truths. When we change someone’s mind, we’re changing one of those three things. It’s not easy, however, […]

What’s the difference between branding and marketing? Branding is about meaning, but marketing is about method. Brand is something that you already have that you’re trying to distill and communicate. Marketing is how you communicate that message, which comes down to the four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion (Tamsen adds a fifth P for […]