Beer and diamonds…how to showcase your ‘uglies’
Recently I was walking past a popular bar near my house and the ad in the window said: ‘Over rated Beer too cold No empty seats’ The tag line: ‘Come in and see why 7% of people don’t like us’. I love it – taking a negative and crafting it into a positive narrative, using humour and authenticity. An anti-ad …
The immutable law of storytelling success
I am an economist by training (please don’t stop reading here!). One of the most famous laws in economics is The law of diminishing returns. In everyday language the law tells us that, after a point in time the more you put into something the less you get back. The law of diminishing returns has broader applications not just in economics but across …
Beyond Binary: How to grab your audience’s attention
“We work with people who only want the data; the facts. Do I just stick with facts or tell stories?” This is a frequent statement I hear from leaders all over the world. Most leaders stick with just the data, often stemming from their subject matter or technical expertise. Unsurprisingly, this results in little or no audience engagement and very …
Sorry, I have bad news…
Recently an oncologist friend shared how the hardest part of his job is giving patients bad news. It’s the toughest communication that anyone has to impart or receive. Leaders are often the bearers of bad news. Not life and death but job losses, restructures, demotions. So how can we deliver bad news and leave people with their dignity intact and …
Why so serious?
When was the last time you felt giddy with excitement at attending a business meeting or presentation? a. All the time b. Sometimes c. Never If you chose c) you are in the majority. Somewhere along the road, business has become burdened with a gravitas that borders on funereal. To paraphrase bestselling Irish author Marian Keyes, or rather her wonderful …
Start with fire
When selling fire extinguishers, start with fire, advises an old adage. Yet I often see charismatic leaders who the minute they have to present morph into boring ole’ Clark Kent instead of Superman! One way to channel Superman mode when presenting is to start strong. Why is this so important? Your audience is tough on bad starts: Sixty six percent …
What is the opposite of courage?
When Paul McCartney was in school, he was told he should give up music and get a ‘safe job’ in Liverpool’s then-thriving shipping or manufacturing sectors, just like everyone else. Thank god he didn’t follow that advice! The rest, of course, is history: he launched himself to stardom in the world’s most iconic band.
Caution! Caring people ahead
A posse of foreign journalists was travelling with the Dalai Lama as he visited poverty-stricken village after village. In every village the locals would come out and present the Dalai Lama with gifts: a handful of rice, an old book – whatever they had. One of the journalists became angrier and angrier as he saw people who had practically nothing …
Why dodgy perfume salesmen are masters of context
One of my holiday jobs as a student in London was to count people entering Harrods. We operated in shifts in crack teams of two with a clicker and a clipboard. It was mind-numbing, but watching nearby street vendors fascinated us. Every day, two men would set up on a pavement nearby and display a range of perfumes. They would …