In November of 2012 I decided to join professional network/entrepreneurial brain trust.
The rationale was simple, successful people don’t succeed on their own.
There are two parts to the program:
- Monthly interviews with a wide array of brilliant people, masters and advisors that have helped countless people with productivity, health, psychology, and more
- Membership to an exclusive community of ambitious professionals to hold you accountable, encourage you, and help you live a Rich Life
I read as much (or more) than anyone I know, but reading is a time consuming endeavor.
This brain trust provides access to knowledge, wisdom and proven strategies that top performers use to…
- Get more done
- Stay focused
- Earn more money
Below is a video preview and my notes from Nancy Duarte, discuss, among other things, how to leverage storytelling to get a competitive edge, specific ways you can deliver stories to persuade friends & family and become instantly memorable, and how to use the power of narrative to transform your life.
- Storytelling is a competitive advantage.
- Storytelling is about transformation; something or someone changes in the process.
- Your organization *HAS* to become a storytelling organization.
- Good storytelling is very difficult to replicate.
- Become an empathy architect because storytelling is about empathetically connecting to others.
- Use stories, symbols and ceremonies to turn an epic idea into a movement.
- People are attracted to leaders with ambitious, but realistic visions and goals.
- Goals that are too ambitious create skeptics.
- A leader’s job is to understand where the customers are going and where the employees are going. We need to meet them all there in the future at the same time
- Nancy on getting her start:
- “I was picking up the crumbs. But I had some of the yummiest crumbs and I got to sit there with the most powerful people in the Valley, because I was willing to do the work no else would do.”
- Too many people try to get by with doing the minimum — in school and in their career. If you are willing to do more, you’ll have a better career trajectory than your peers.
- A good, high stakes presentation should take 100 hours.
- That much time is worth it for big accounts, clients, etc.
- Ramit reminds us, the people who put in the most work get a disproportionate amount of the rewards.
- When you let people approve/co-create your work and messages, they have to represent it and evangelize for it.
- They won’t bad mouth it because they had a chance to review it and participate in the process.
- The most successful people are open to really tough/brutal feedback.
- Businesses need to have rituals and ceremonies (rites of passage).
- Example: Steve Jobs had a funeral for Mac OS 9. He had even eulogized. He had to show his developers that it was time to move on.
- There is narrative and emotions in the facts (Ex: Why did the numbers go up, or down?)
- Facts alone don’t work. Facts alone can’t persuade.
- Storytelling is the sugarcoating that helps people swallow the facts.
- Elements that make delivery powerful:
- Confidence
- Mimicry – Know how your audience feels and what they expect
- Be dressed and carrying yourself accordingly
- Leverage artifacts of visualization
- Advice from “Creativity, Inc.” (the Pixar Story): Keep feeding the beast (billable work, your day job, etc.), but don’t forget to innovate.
Bonus from Ramit: “When you’re going to a party, take a gift. Even if it’s just a $10 bottle of wine that the host throws away. Symbolism matters.”
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If you want access to all my interview notes, and additional insight and analysis on the mindsets and strategies that other top performers use, please subscribe below:
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