How long have you been “working on your talk?” My guess: Too long. If there’s no deadline, you can work on it forever. And it will take about that long. We don’t give talks because they’re “ready.” We give talks because it’s time. And because nothing can put you on people’s radar like being right […]
A great talk doesn’t start with delivery; it starts with content.And it doesn’t end at delivery, either—because the best talks are not only a hit on stage, but inform your platform, your messaging, and your brand identity. Your talk is quite literally the mouthpiece of your brand. And that’s why crafting a stand-out signature talk […]
Unfollow Your PassionReignite & Reconnect in the the Age of Resignation Wed, May 25 @ 5:30pm ETEvery person on the planet wants their life to mean something.The pandemic changed everything we thought we knew about work— what it looked like, where it lives— and made us all think deeply about what we do— and why […]
Just as we’re all writers, we’re all speakers. You don’t have to make your living traveling the world doing keynotes. EVERY time you stand up in front of a room with other people in it, or speak up, even if you remain sitting. You’re public speaking. Period the end. It’s not something just professional speakers […]
We all feel resistance around things we don’t want to do. But ever feel resistance around things you actually want to do? How maddening is that? Public speaking is one of those things. It’s easy to just not do it. But the people who struggle with it aren’t those who flat-out refuse; they’re the ones […]
The two images below were taken almost exactly a year apart. The image on the left is what my book manuscript looked like when I was trying to figure it all out. The image on the right was taken a year later (a week ago). As finished as it will ever be. It easy to […]
Would you say you’re a good writer? Or a bad one? This was the question Entrepreneur’s editor in chief Jason Feifer, host of the Build for Tomorrow podcast, posted on LinkedIn recently. OK, I’ll bite, I thought. I selected “good.” Here were the poll results: Wow — More than half thought they were good, and […]
My brilliant, sweet friend Jenny Blake, founder of Pivot, had me on her podcast for the launch of Unfollow Your Passion. And her first question? “Tell us about the MLM days.” Ah, yes. For a few years in the early aughts, I was a multi-level marketing member, someone who sold jewelry for a now-defunct company […]
The Washington Post reported a charming tale of an 8-year-old kid named Dillon who wrote and illustrated his own book, then snuck it into the stacks of his local library in Boise. Dillon later admitted that what he did was “naughty-ish.” But the covert act of analog sharing not only won over the librarians, they […]
It’s true. Doesn’t matter if it’s true. Hate them. “Just be yourself,” and “Do what you love and you’ll never work again,” and “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.” Cliches are like hit songs without a good hook. It’s like just hearing them triggers a muscle in the back of my eyes, causing them to roll […]