“If branding is your heritage, there’s a reason you outgrew it.”
persuasive communication
Negotiating the Red Thread Way – EP065
Understanding the Principles Behind Their Interests The conventional wisdom with regards to negotiating is to “argue interests, rather than positions.” But what does that mean?
Why Telling a Complete Story Doesn’t Always Work – EP062
In Medias Res We talk a lot about telling stories with our messages, but a common mistake is to tell a story that’s already over.
What’s Your Speaker “Point of View” – Holmes, Watson, or Conan Doyle? – EP061
The Key to a Great Mystery Story Have you ever watched a detective movie and felt like you were just about to put it together right when the detective solves it? How do we get our audience to have that feeling when they’re listening to our message?
Solving the One-to-Many Message Problem – EP060
Build a Message That Appeals to Every Member of Your Audience We need to reach many different people, but we have only one message.
My Best Piece of Writing Advice – EP047
Start with the Goal and Skip the Rest Here’s the best piece of writing advice that I’ve ever received: after you finish your first draft, go back and delete the first paragraph.
Building Your DIS-Confirmation Bias – EP046
Disprove Your Position to Strengthen Your Argument Most people reach a point in their life where they do things a certain way. The problem with that is that we all have confirmation bias: we tend to only seek out and remember information that confirms what we already believe to be true.
The Counterintuitive Secret to Creating Change – EP045
How the Red Thread Uses Cognitive Dissonance One of the toughest questions for any message maker is simple but big: how do you get someone to actually do something different? How do you create change?
The Biggest Mistake You Can Make in Your Conclusion… and How to Avoid It – EP041
Leave Clues for Your Conclusion In Ancient Greek theater, an actor suspended from a crane playing a god would swoop in at the end to resolve the plot. From this, we have the concept of deus ex machina, “god from the machine.”
An Easy Way to Find Pieces of Your Personal Red Thread – EP040
Understanding Power If you’re trying to figure out what your personal Red Thread is all about, start with what you can do better than anyone else.