Tag: scott ginsberg

Inspiration is Overrated: 6 Ways to Cash in on Creative Discipline

“Inspiration is for amateurs.”

I learned that from Dave Barry, who, last time I checked, wrote over twenty bestselling books and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Guess he was right.

HERE’S MY QUESTION: How can you create more than enough creative ideas so that you NEVER need to worry about running out?

ONE-WORD ANSWER: Discipline.

Discipline is the hallmark of inspiration.
Discipline is the foundation of all creativity.
Discipline is the four-letter word that guarantees success.
Discipline is the directed willpower that will eliminate artistic blocks.
Discipline is the differentiator that will set you apart from all other creative professionals.

Here are six ways to cash in on creative discipline:

1. Art requires structure. For that reason, you need to be “due at the page.” Or the canvas. Or the studio. Or the wheel. Whatever your primary creative venue is, commit to the schedule of “being due” at same time, every day.

Even if your mother in law is in town and wants to get together for coffee at 7:30am, you tell her, “Sorry Phyllis, I’m booked up during that time slot every morning. Can we make it 10:30?” It’s all about setting boundaries.

Because if you don’t set them for yourself, other people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. And it will be your fault. As Julia Cameron explained in Walking in this World:

“It is impossible to say yes to our art and ourselves until we learn to say no to others. People don’t mean us harm, but they do harm us when they ask for more than we can give. When we do ahead and give it to them, we are harming ourselves as well.”

Remember: Choose your creative time wisely. Let nobody steal it from you. What’s your creative schedule?

2. “Finding” the time doesn’t work. “Find” comes from the Old English term findan. Which means, “To come upon, alight on.” Which implies a search. Which means it’s possible that you might NOT find the time to create.

“Make” comes from the Frisian term makia, which means, “To build.” As in “BUILD into your schedule.” As in “BUILD your entire day around it.” Which implies a commitment. Which means it’s NOT possible that you WON’T create.

As Cameron explained in Vein of Gold, “The reason there is never enough time is because our time is not our own. We do not make it that way. Therefore, we do not experience it that way. When we believe there is “no time,” that is what we experience.”

Remember: You’re a creative ninja who sneaks in a little art at every opportunity. And you’re never too busy to create art. What did you make the time for today?

3. Patient faith, not inspiration. Creative scheduling notwithstanding, maybe nothing will come. Maybe you’ll get one measly idea all day. Maybe you’ll sit there, staring at your screen for two hours, scratching your butt – accomplishing nothing.

That’s OK. It happens to me sometimes. It’s all part of the deal. As Leonard Cohen reminded us in his amazing documentary, I’m Your Man, “You have to go to work everyday with the knowledge that you might not get it everyday.”

So, just show up anyway. Maybe it won’t be so bad. How patient and faithful are you willing to be?

4. Don’t believe your creative drought. Next, remove the term “writer’s block” from your vocabulary. It doesn’t exist anyway. Writing is an extension of thinking. You don’t have writer’s block – you have THINKER’S block.

Therefore: If you want to write more, think more. As Julia said in Finding Water, “Once we stop calling our writer’s block ‘writer’s block’ and begin using words like ‘resistance’ and ‘procrastination,’ we are suddenly no longer in rarefied territory.” What’s stopping your creative flow?

5. Don’t be so artsy fartsy. Cameron also says, “We do a disservice to ourselves is to make our work TOO special and TOO different from others. We need to normalize our days. The minute we identify with the rest of humankind, we are on the right track.”

My suggestion is to think of yourself as a blue-collar worker. Punching in, clocking out, every day. A union grunt who sports one of those work shirts with the embroidered nametag on the front. Just a working stiff, cranking out a double shift at the idea factory, trying to earn your keep to put bread on the table.

This kind of attitude humbles you and welcomes the muse to join you in the creative process. Is your big-shot artist posturing assassinating your ability to be a disciplined worker?

6. Lay a certain amount of track each day. George Carlin committed to writing twenty pages EVERY day. He did that for fifty years and went down in history as one of the greatest thinkers and comedians of all time.

Personally, I write for four hours a day. Minimum. Often times closer to seven. And when I clock out at quitting time, I always ask myself the same question: What did you write today? And if I can’t answer that question, I have failed as a writer.

The crazy thing is, people are always astonished when I share this hourly quota with them. Sometimes they’ll say, “God, do you have a life?” And I say, “Yes. I DO have a life – the life of a writer. And a writer writes. Always.” Did you hit your creative quota today?

REMEMBER: Famed poet Beckian Fritz Goldberg once said, “Discipline is the highest form of love.”

So, creativity is like breathing. All that matters is if you’re doing it NOW.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What awaits you in the refining fire of discipline?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “49 ways to become an Idea Powerhouse,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Download a free copy of The Nametag Guy’s (unofficial) 9th book!

HELLO, my name is Scott’s…
“Live your name.”

9 Secrets REAL Thought Leaders Know

My official definition of a Thought Leader is as follows:

“A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.”

Does that describe you?

If it does, cool. You probably know a lot of this stuff already.

If it doesn’t, that’s cool too. You’re about to learn what REAL Thought Leaders know.

1. Be a world-class noticer. When you notice more, you learn more. And when you learn more, you earn more. The cool part is, every single day; your environment gives you small nudges. And you have a choice to either to let them pass you by, or leverage them into new dimensions for your Theory of the Universe.

Check out my system for doing this called Freeze, Reflect and Identify. And remember: Opportunity never stops knocking – only YOU stop listening. What are you noticing?

2. Be prepared to express yourself. Not prove yourself, but EXPRESS yourself. That means not trying to look good for others. That means not playing to the crowd. Instead, start BEING. More specifically, start being … on paper. Start being … on stage. Start being … online.

To build the strongest possible Thought Leadership position, people need to experience YOU—BEING—YOU … in as many different media and dimensions as possible. Remember: Proving = Doing. Expressing = Being. Bring all of who you are to the statement you make about the world. Are you filling up your time with mindless efforts to prove yourself?

3. Become the world’s expert at learning from your experiences. You are a sum of all that you’ve experienced. Now it’s time to become a master at the individual integers that comprise that sum. FACT: You don’t fully own your experiences until you’ve thought about, written about and talked about the lessons you learned from those experiences.

Your challenge is to create your unique system for entertaining ideas. That way you profit from EVERY experience, so your followers can do the same. How are you letting your experiences change you?

4. Bring a new view into existence. Not even world-class eloquence can rescue a shallow, unsupported, unactionable point of view. Instead, establish a new approach. Pioneer in obscure areas. Maintain contrarian positions to as many subjects as you can. How original, fertile and unexpected is your Theory of the Universe?

5. Differentiate yourself by defining a process your competitors haven’t. This is how you develop a competitive mental angle. By NOT following predictable lines of inquiry. By defining problems differently than anyone else. That way, you differentiate through your diagnosis.

Now, I’m not suggesting you ONLY keep a hammer in your toolbox and start seeing everything as a nail. Rather, I challenge you to clarify, trademark and become known for your unique approach to solving problems. What equation do you use that nobody else knows?

6. Formulas are the enemy. They’re non-updatable, unshakable and inelastic. They’re inflexible, choreographed, canned, insincere, inauthentic and preplanned. They’re often resisted, debated and creates defensiveness. And their rigid, rote learning limits people’s possibilities and stifles their creativity.

PRACTICES, on the other hand, work. They come in the form of simple, doable and human actions. They insinuate instead of impose. They’re adaptable and apply to various situations and people in their own unique way. They’re also easily digested, self-evident, non-threatening and encourage people’s creativity. Which of the two are YOU teaching?

7. Have a paper memory. Your brain is a moron. And if you don’t write it down, it never happened. So, the secret is simple: Take a serious inventory of your thoughts. Chronicle your thinking. Make sure everything you know is written down somewhere. Because, as George Carlin once said, “What good is a good idea if you can’t find it?” What’s your Content Management System?

8. Perfect your philosophy. As a Thought Leader, you don’t need some cutesy shtick – you need a philosophy. Poverty of philosophy prevents profitability. What’s more, confusion over where a leader stands causes stress in his followers. So, here’s the ONE question to ask yourself:

“If everybody did exactly what you said, what would the world look like?”

This distills the essence of your approach and becomes the architecture to help people see your philosophy more clearly. What’s more, once you’ve uncovered the 5-7 bullet point answers to that question, you now have a framework to guide your Thought Leadership practice. All you have to do is keep yourself accountable every day by asking this follow-up question: Is the message I’m delivering right now giving people the tools to build that world?

9. Practice questioning answers instead of answering questions. Answers are overrated. Answers are what “experts” provide. You’re a Thought Leader, and as such, your job is to have more questions and fewer answers. Here’s why: Questions are bridges. Catapults. Fuel.

Question earn respect, invite dialogue, reveal character, earn respect and transform organizations. Any moron can spew out an answer. Only a REAL Thought Leader can bust out a question that disturbs people into action. Which do you provide?

REMEMBER: Be out IN the marketplace with your ideas or be out OF the marketplace completely.

That’s what REAL Thought Leaders know.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How are you establishing a sustainable Thought Leadership Position?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the (full) checklist called, “45 Recession-Friendly Strategies for Entreprenerial Evolution,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

10 Ways to Enable Employees to Ask You for Help

“Why aren’t my people asking me for help?”

Well, that depends: Are you an askable person?

Consider these ten practices for pumping up your askability:

1. Don’t force solutions. While the willingness to find answers is essential to your askability, remember that you can’t force it. Especially when the answer isn’t immediately clear. Doing so only works in reverse. And any time you try to instantly compartmentalize everything that enters into your mindspace, key ideas often get overlooked.

So, here’s the secret: Don’t be afraid to bookmark. If someone’s question is (currently) unanswerable, try one of the following responses:

o “Great question! And you know, I have absolutely NO idea. So, let me think about that for a while. Can I email my answer to you by the end of the day?”

o “I would need to know more information about (x) to make an informed decision. If I went and did some research, when would be a good time to get back to you with my answer?”

o “I’m not sure. And because I’d rather not answer at all than try to answer poorly, would it be cool we continued this conversation after I’ve had some time to think about your important question?”

These types of responses reveal your imperfect humanity. They demonstrate honesty and a willingness to learn. Most importantly, they honor, affirm and respect the question AND the questioner. This assures two things: (1) You will have enough time and resources to find the best answer, and (2) People will come back to you with questions in the future.

Are you daring to be dumm?
Are you fitting people’s unique needs or trying to prescribe them a packaged answer?
And do you possess enough self-control to NOT answer a question until you’re ready?

2. Be an imperfectionist. Your employees, students, members (or whomever you want to perceive you as being askable) need to experience your vulnerability. Your imperfect humanness. Your occasional wrongness. See, two of the leading reasons people DON’T ask questions is because (1) they don’t want to look stupid, and (2) they don’t want to appear in need of help.

By being an imperfectionist yourself, you provide people with a safe place to be vulnerable. And that’s what gives them permission to start asking the REAL questions. Otherwise, you come off as too perfect or too smart or “too” whatever. Then people think you’re either annoying or lying. And the problem with that is, if people are too busy silently questioning your character, there won’t be any time left for them to verbally question key issues.

How imperfect are you willing to be?
How are you leveraging your vulnerability to earn people’s trust?
And how many questions were never asked because people perceived you as being “too”?

3. Make questioners feel essential. People also choose not to ask questions because they’re afraid of feeling stupid or rejected. So, immediately compliment someone’s question with affirmations like, “Now THAT’S a great question!” or “Wow, I’ve never heard that question before…” or, “You know, Paula, that’s a really important question. Can you repeat it again – slowly – so I can write it down and give it the though it deserves?”

It’s beyond making people feel valued, important, special and loved. It’s about making them feel essential. Like you couldn’t do without them.

How do people experience you?
Whose essence are you honoring?
And how do people experience themselves when they’re with you?

4. Make passion palpable. Not about the answer, necessarily, but passionate about the idea of answering the person, himself. After all, answers are overrated. What’s more important is the search. What the answer points to. And what the process of discovery helps the other person become.

Askable people are excitable people. They love questions, they revel in curiosity and they value strategic thinking. Do that, BE that, and your positive emotions will instantly transfer to the asker.

Are you passionate about questions?
How are you transferring your love to others?
And discovery process are you leading people through?

5. Practice psychological safety. Another reason people shrink from asking questions is because they fear that their questions (and the answers TO those questions) will later be revealed publicly. That’s why comfort, safety and in many cases, confidentiality, is HUGE for being askable.

My suggestion is to build a Question Box. Not a Suggestion box, a Question Box. This keeps it informal, anonymous and organized.

How psychologically safe do people feel around you?
What fears about questioning are your people plagued by?
And how could you introduce anonymity into the conservation?

6. Be willing to share information. Which means you can’t maintain a monopoly on information. Knowledge hoarders are company hurters. Don’t come across as someone who has a sense of scarcity. Share LOTS of relevant answers without the fear that it would reduce your perceived value.

What did you write today?
Whom did you share it with?
And what secrets are you afraid to tell?

7. Advice is the enemy. People don’t want advice. They want feedback. They want answers. They want you to listen. Besides: Advice creates defensiveness. And it’s rarely followed because it’s usually delivered from an assumed position of superiority.

Make sure NOT to say, “Can I give you some advice?” or the dreaded, “Here’s a friendly piece of advice…” This immediately lowers your askability. Instead, ask your people, “How do you want to be listened to?” or “Do you want me to just listen to what you have to say or do you want my input?”

Are you a disrespectful dispenser of advice?
What type of information do you tend to answer with?
And how could you respond to people’s questions in a way that levels the playing field?

8. Become perceived as a problem solver. That means be a resource for people. For example, the aforementioned Arthur, my mentor, never fails to live this strategy. Whenever I approach him with a question, he always concludes his answer by whipping out his Blackberry and saying, “Here, I want you to write this down.”

And, Arthur will help you populate a list – right then and there – of the people you need to connect with. Or books you need to read. Or websites you need to visit. Problem solved!

What resources do you offer people?
When you don’t know the answer, where do you send your asker?
And wouldn’t be great if everyone who asked you questions could walk away with tangible resources to get more answers?

9. Help people process their answer. Finally, once you’ve given people your answer, try this: Pause. Sit quiet. Build space into the conversation so your words can profoundly penetrate people. Then, help them process by answering any follow-up questions, silly as they may sound.

Also, if you’re taking notes, consider emailing those ideas to your Asker later on that day. This might help them visualize the conversation so they can more effectively find solutions.

Are an idea midwife?
How are you helping the answering process?
And how often is it the OTHER person that discovers the solution?

10. Thank the asker. After a conversation in which people DID ask you questions, follow up via email, text, handwritten letter, etc., with an expression of gratitude. Thank people for courageously asking. Thank people for their specific questions.

And thank people for honoring you with their openness. This lays a foundation of affirmation AND subtlely reminds people that they can comfortable and confidently return to you with questions in the future.

Do you thank people for their questions?
Do you send people emails with the notes you took?
And what would happen to your askability if you combined it with affirmation and gratitude?

REMEMBER: If you want people to ask you for help, you’ve got to make yourself more askable.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How are you increasing your askability?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “37 Personal Leadership Questions Guaranteed to Shake Your Soul,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

7 Steps to Becoming More Bookable TODAY

“I need more bookings!”

Raise your hand if you’ve ever said that before.

My hand is up. Is yours?

Of course it is. Especially in 2009. Every salesperson, entrepreneur, small business owner or entertainer expresses that frustration at some point.

Unfortunately, many of us are too quick to blame this problem on some external force beyond our sphere of control. For example:

Bookings are down because the economy sucks.
Bookings are down because the industry is changing.
Bookings are down because budgets are cut and nobody’s hiring.
Bookings are down because everyone in the world is stupid except me.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever said one of THOSE before.

My hand is up again.

Well, here’s the good news (which, simultaneously, is also the bad news):

Part of the reason you’re not booked SOLID right now is because you’re not a bookable person.

Today I’m going to share seven steps to increasing your bookability:

1. Focus – don’t spray. Small Business Marketing Specialist, David Newman, regularly publishes and speaks about bookability. In fact, attending a seminar of his in 2009 sparked this very post. So, I asked him a few questions about the topic.

“First, it’s about specificity,” Newman said. “Someone is bookable if they solve specific problems for a specific audience around a specific issue.” Newman also explained, “Articulation and distinction is the secret. Someone is bookable if they’ve distilled down their marketing message with sharpness and clarity. It’s all about how they talk about (articulation) what they do differently (distinction) to improve the lives of the people who buy from them.”

MAKE BOOK: Have you stuck a stake in the ground and told the world about it in a meaningfully, concrete and immediate way?

2. Be easier and faster. In June 2008, a press release called “Improved Bookability,” was published by the international travel website, Eurostar. Their new initiative offered interactive seat requests, which gave customers the ability to request seats in real time and receive an instant acknowledgement and seat map from the website. Cool!

Lessons learned: Simplify your interface. Streamline the booking process. Provide reliable expectations. Offer peace of mind with automated confirmation, up-to date information and firm reservations.

MAKE BOOK: Are you bookable enough to publish a press release about it?

3. Your fanbase may help OR hinder. In December 2008, The Huffington Post ran a fascinating article called, “Bush’s Memoir: Publishers say no thanks.” On the comments section, a reader suggested, “Bull-horn carrying protesters will follow Bush around as he makes the conservative lecture circuit. This makes him an un-bookable speaker.” Wow.

Bookability isn’t so much about the company you keep; but rather the company you attract. This reminds me of the scene in Happy Gilmour when PGA executive, Doug Thompson decides to keep Adam Sandler on the tour – extreme antics notwithstanding. “That Happy Gilmore is a real crack-up! He’s bringing in some big crowds and we’re attracting new, youthful sponsors. It’s great for the game of golf!”

So, becoming more bookable isn’t a function of beating people with nine irons, wrestling alligators and doing the bull dance across the tee box. Rather, it’s about considering what types of people are the natural byproducts of your presence.

MAKE BOOK: Once you get booked, whom will YOU attract?

4. Beware of the unbookable bug. When asked to riff about the dangers of being unbookable, the aforementioned David Newman shared three excellent reminders. “First, don’t make clients deal with your ego. They’ve got enough on their plates as it is.

Second, if you’re not serious about what you’re doing now – STOP – and go do something about it. Get serious, get help, or get out. As Yoda says, ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’

And finally, remember that lack of integrity travels fast. You’ll be out of friends so fast your head will spin. And no friends = No business = Game over.”

MAKE BOOK: Are you in danger of being unbookable?

5. Share your schedule online. Posting your client calendar, tour schedule or media appearances on your website WILL get you more bookings quickly. For five reasons:

First, it proves that you’re busy by offering tangible evidence of success. Social proof is a powerful force.

Second, it invites existing and potential clients/fans to come out and see you. That way they can plan their schedules around you.

Third, it demonstrates your reach. So, when someone comes to your website and sees all the different cities, organizations and media outlets you’re working with, they’ll be thinking two things: (1) This guy MUST be good, and (2) Well, if he’s good enough for THAT company, he’s good enough for MY company too!

Fourth, posting your schedule online motivates you to fill it up. When I first posted my speaking calendar in 2004, I only had ten bookings for the entire year. And because I didn’t want people to think I sucked, that became a great kick in the pants to fill the schedule up.

Fifth, when you post your schedule online, customers start to target YOU. That’s when it starts to get cool. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the phone with a prospect who said, “Well Scott, I checked the schedule on your website and it looks like you have March 19th available to work with us. Is that OK with you?”

To which I always reply, “Um … Sure! … I guess I could fit you into my schedule…” (Even though I’m actually thinking to myself, “YES! Of course I’m available! Oh please book me! Pretty please with sugar on top!”)

MAKE BOOK: Are you the arrow or the bulls-eye?

6. Be one step ahead. On www.CatererSearch.com, I read an article titled, “Information centers get ‘bookability’ to win back customers.” The piece reported that six of England’s Tourist Information Centers (TICs) were to be converted into Holiday Shops that offered a full booking service.

“Many information centers already offer comprehensive information on the availability of holidays and accommodation, so it’s the logical next step for them to provide a booking service as well,” said ETB head of marketing, Andrew Maxted. Your challenge is to think about what the obvious next step to your main product is – then decide if it’s worthwhile to start offering that as well.

Think FedEx Kinko’s. They sold printing for decades. Then, in 2004, they expanded their offering by providing their customers with the most obvious, logical follow-up service: Mailing the stuff they printed to someone across the country. Hallelujah!

MAKE BOOK: Are you one step ahead of the people booking you?

7. What would Oprah do? Susan Harrow is a media coach, writer and consultant with a unique specialty: Getting booked on Oprah. She’s produced dozens of resources, tools and manuals explaining her system for attracting media attention. Interestingly, when I googled the phrase “getting booked,” her famous article “How to Get Booked on Oprah” came up hundreds of times. So, let’s examine each of her points. And I’ve added a challenge question to each one so you to plug yourself into Susan’s equation, just in case getting booked on Oprah isn’t your main goal:

a. Tape and watch Oprah for two weeks. Are you familiar with the content, format, rhythm and pace of the person/organization booking you?

b. Get to know Oprah’s preferences. What biographical information do you need to know to press (or avoid) hot buttons of the person/organization booking you?

c. Pitch a hot topic. Does booking you solve a problem that is relevant, pervasive, serious and controversial?

d. Put together a winning press kit. How could you punch people in the face with your viability?

e. Create six dynamic sound bites. Can you spontaneously spit out the most important ideas, concepts, and points you want to make as they relate to the idea you’re pitching?

f. Be more blurbable. Will the people booking you be able to remember and repeat your ten-second pitch to the person who missed the pitch meeting?

g. Get booked on local shows first. How much time have you spent fine-tuning your sound bites so they’re delivered in a relaxed, competent way?

h. Build credentials through public speaking and teaching. How can you sharpen and quantify your expertise in a concrete way that resonates deeply with the person booking you?

i. Wow the producers with brevity. Have you rehearsed enough so that when you open your mouth and start auditioning, your selling points come off as succinct, natural and inviting?

Ultimately, whether you’re trying to get booked FOR an interview, BY a hot prospect or WITH a new organization, Susan’s nine essentials will help you become more bookable in any capacity.

MAKE BOOK: Did you pass the Oprah test?

REMEMBER: External forces notwithstanding, you can’t “make” people book you.

All you can do is increase the probability of getting booked by making yourself a more bookable person.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Oprah’s producer is on the other line and I need to go change my underwear.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How bookable are you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “34 Cultural Trends that (should) Change Your Business,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

7 Essentials for Executing Exquisitely

“Ideas are free, execution is priceless.”

That’s my mantra.

It HAS to be. After all, how else would someone make a career out of wearing a nametag 24-7?

SO, HERE’S THE SECRET: Executing is eloquence. Period.

Today I’m going to teach you how to do it. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, creative professional or cubicle dwelling worker bee, consider these seven essentials for executing exquisitely:

1. Think on paper immediately. Writing is the great clarifier. Writing also makes everything you do easier and better. Unfortunately, too many ideas never make it past their initial stages because most entrepreneurs’ disorganized thinking blocks new possibilities from surfacing.

Here’s my suggestion: As soon you get a new idea for a project or business venture, spend an hour writing out the following lists:

a. Every Thought I’m Having about This Idea
b. Every Question I Have about This Idea
c. People I Should Talk to about This Idea
d. Immediate Action Items to Take on this Idea

The secret of thinking on paper is to just puke, non-stop, with no editing and no opinions. Brainstorming needs to be objective in order to prevent premature cognitive commitment, aka, falling in love with your idea too soon. Use flip charts, dry erase boards, note cards, bulleted lists, whatever it takes. Just do it soon. Because if you don’t write it down; it never happened. How will you out-write the competition

2. Be impatient. Just go. Just DO stuff. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Don’t wait until you’re old or smart enough. If you wait, you might spend all your waiting time talking your idea to death. And when the time comes to move, there will be no momentum left to execute.

Being impatient is about the willingness to look bad on the road to immortality. The courage to plunge forward planless. And the vulnerability to be an imperfectionist. So: Stop waiting to be paid for something you love and go DO something. Life’s too short. How much money, success and happiness is being (too) patient costing you?

3. Hack the rules. Hacking isn’t cheating. Huge distinction. In the phenomenon book, Trust Agents, authors Brogan and Smith explain the difference:

“Hacking is about finding alternatives for the traditional uses of a system. It’s about modifying the conditions of the system you’re in. It’s about using a system in a different way than it was designed. And it’s about figuring out your strength and applying it to the system of your choice so you position yourself as number one person playing the game in that system.”

Therefore, in the game of life, you have a few options:

a. Change the rules so you can win at your OWN game
b. Change the game so there ARE no rules
c. Play the game but become the exception TO every rule.

The question to ask when faced with one of these “rules” is, “Can this rule be ignored, modified or changed?” By doing so, you give yourself permission to refuse to accept your current circumstances. This opens the floodgates to diligent work on creating a new set of circumstances. Remember: Learn the rules, learn which of the rules are irrelevant, and then hack the shit out of them. What could I do in this moment that would be the exact opposite of everyone?

4. Keep asking, “What’s the next action?” In the classic time management system, Getting Things Done, David Allen explains that this single question is the secret to de-cluttering your mind and enabling stress-free productivity. (I agree.) And if I had to make a list of companion questions to go along with David’s, they would include the following:

a. Is what you’re doing RIGHT NOW consistent with your #1 goal?
b. What consumes your time but isn’t making you ANY money?
c. What are you doing that makes NO sense at all?

My suggestion: Write these four questions on sticky notes, post them in visible locations and look at them hourly. You’ll quickly discover that exquisite execution is the natural byproduct of skyrocketed productivity. How many ideas did you fail to execute because your time was managing YOU?

5. Don’t be stopped by not knowing how. HOW is overrated. HOW is a dream destroyer. HOW is the enemy of progress. HOW is the hallmark of hopelessness. Basic to all exquisite execution is: (1) Know-WHY and (2) Know-WHAT. Your mission is to learn the minimum amount you need to know for now, just to get started.

Trust your resources and believe that the requisite competence will come in time. Either by trial and error, by Google, or by asking smart people smart questions. How much execution have you squandered because you’re at war with HOW when you should be in love with WHY?

6. Fail like you mean it. Flawless execution doesn’t exist. Exquisite, yes; flawless, no. So, here’s the secret: Make mistakes, make them early, make them quick and make them quietly. Then write down what you learned. They go teach someone what you learned. And then keep moving. Period. Amen. Q.E.D.

Without approaching failure this way, you’ll get swept away in the undertow of personal drama. Which accomplishes nothing but granting your emotions an all day pass for disturbing your ability to execute. So remember: Failure IS an option – not learning from that failure isn’t. When was the last time you screwed up royally, and what did you learn from that?

7. Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness. Every day. That’s the two-word secret to executing ANYTHING. And it shouldn’t even have to be a secret, but I guess not everyone has grasped this concept yet. For example, when I talk to fellow authors, they’re always “working on their next book.” But when I ask them the only question that matters – “What did you write TODAY?” – they fumble to give me an answer.

Which means they’re not consistent.
Which means they’re not executing.
Which means they ARE going to be buried with their book still inside them.

Tragic.

On the other hand, when I talk to writers who discipline themselves to stick to their writing schedule – every day – the conversation changes. People actually carry out their ideas. People actually write amazing books. And they also tend to be cooler people to talk to.

So, not only is consistency the engine of exquisite execution; it’s also the conduit of character. Remember: There is no royal road to greatness except by constantly plugging. Every day. What action have you taken on your idea, TODAY?

REMEMBER: Execution is eloquence.

And in the business world, there are talkers and there are doers.

I wonder which one YOU are.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you executing exquisitely?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “45 Recession-Friendly Strategies for Entreprenerial Evolution,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

How You Can Own a Word in People’s Minds AND on Google

If you google the word “nametag,” it points to me first.

If you google the word “approachability,” it (also) points to me first.

This is not an accident.

In fact, I’ve spent every single day of the past seven years assuring that everything I do contributes to my company’s OWNERSHIP of those two words. (Check out my tag cloud gallery on Wordle!)

So, they’re mine. Forever. And YOU can’t have them. Neener-neener-neener!

Sorry to be so infantile. It’s just that Word Ownership is absolutely ESSENTIAL to your success in the marketing world. Because it’s not about marketshare – it’s about mindshare. And today I’d like to share seven strategies for making sure the net worth of your One-Word Equity skyrockets.

1. RESEARCH it. Spend some time perusing the websites of the ten most successful people in your industry. Ask yourself: What word do they own? How are they making that clear? What word could YOU own that’s better and more specific and more memorable? Another suggestion is to email twenty of your best customers and ask them, “What’s the first word that comes to mind when you think of me?” Look for trends in their answers. Are you listening to the right people?

2. RECOGNIZE it. It’s not like you have to open a dictionary and just pick some random word to own. You already ARE a word. You just need to enhance and articulate your ownership of it. Ask yourself these questions:

o After meeting you, what is the one word that people will never think about the same way again?
o What is the one word you have published more thoughts about than anyone else?
o What word do you have to google to get your name to come up as the first ten hits?
o What’s the one word you are perceived as knowing more about than anyone else on the planet?
o When friends or family members introduce you to new people, what’s the one word guaranteed to be included in that conversation?
o When people see or hear your name, what is the first word that comes to mind?

3. EXPLORE it.. Imagine for a second that you’re starting a non-profit organization that builds community events for retired engineers. And maybe the ONE word that symbolizes what you’re all about is PARABOLA. Cool. So, here’s what you do next:

o Look it up in the dictionary.
o Do some serious wordsmithing.
o Google the word.
o Find out if there are books written ABOUT the word.
o Spend some timing writing your immediate reactions when you see that word.

Remember: “Owning” the word, means knowing everything ABOUT that word. And here’s the best part: If a potential customer says, “Parabola? Where’d you come up with THAT company name?” And YOU say, “Well, parabola comes from the Greek word “parabolicus” which means “application,” which is exactly the type of value we deliver to our customers….” Whoa. Unique, unexpected AND unforgettable! How much do you know about YOUR word?

4. RATE It. A lot of my clients tell me that they DO own a word, which is awesome. The only problem is when they say something like, “Well, my word is Passion” or “I own the word Integrity.” Ehhh. OK. Maybe you DO own that word. My question is: Do your customers think your word relevant, marketable, unexpected and cool?

Odds are, if your word some vague platitude, some trite term or some overused cliché, it’s NOT. Your word needs to move people’s eyebrows. This involuntary indicator of interest, intrigue and curiosity is the best instant barometer of your marketing. It means that your word possesses stopping power. Because the effectiveness of a message isn’t necessarily dependent on its longevity, but rather its ability to evoke emotion in the moment. Is your word making people stop in their tracks?

5. REGISTER it. The odds of registering www.yourword.com are highly unlikely, unless you want to fork over ten grand. So, the first thing you should do is mess around with a few different permutations of the domain. For example, if www.parabola.com was taken, what about www.parabolaexpert.com or www.parabolaworld.com or www.theparabolaguy.com?

Remember: When you own the domain, you own the idea. I suggest surrounding your domain by purchasing as many variations, permutations, misspellings, and connected domain names as possible. They’re only like ten bucks each, right? Isn’t your brand worth investing $1000 in domain names if that secures your position in the marketplace AND people’s minds?

6. RECORD It. That mean write articles … that means post blogs and tweets … that means do interviews … that means post tweets … that means publish your philosophy … that means put that word EVERYWHERE on your website.

Basically, you need to punch people in the face. You can’t count on your customers to connect the dots for you. In order to win the battle against the Attention Economy, it’s almost like you need to grab hold of people by their shirt collars and say, “Listen to me! Right here! OK, yes, you. This is exactly what I want you to do…”

Remember: Complexity generates contemplation. And contemplation kills sales because a confused mind never buys. Have you recorded your word EVERYWHERE, so there’s no question in people’s minds that it’s yours?

7. RE-LEARN It. If you want to new customers, new opportunities and, even the MEDIA to come to YOU – because you’re the Thought Leader, because you OWN that word – you have to be a student of it. You can’t just up and decide that you own the word parabola, register a few domain names, smear it all over your site, write a few articles about and then quit.

Here’s the secret: You HAVE to commit yourself to a life-long learning plan based around that word. Get Google Alerts on that word. Check Amazon for new books written about that word weekly. Continually explore and write about the various dimensions OF that word.

Word ownership is a continuous process. If you don’t dedicate yourself to enhancing your mastery and practicing that word everyday, someone else will steal it from you. What new thing did you learn about your word this week?

REMEMBER: One-Word Equity is the secret to becoming That Guy.

Own yours today.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What word would people have to search on Google to get your name first?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Need to build your Thought Leadership Platform?

Perhaps my monthly (or yearly) coaching program would help.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

10 Ways to Out Write the Competition

On July 24th, 2008, The New York Times published an Op-Ed written by Jerry Seinfeld to celebrate the life – and commemorate the death – of his friend and colleague, George Carlin.

“Every comedian does a little George. I couldn’t even count the number of times I’ve been George downright invented modern American stand-up comedy in many ways. Every standing around with some comedians and someone talks about some idea for a joke and another comedian would say, ‘Carlin does it.’

I’ve heard it my whole career: ‘Carlin does it,’ ‘Carlin already did it,’ ‘Carlin did it eight years ago.’”

And he didn’t just “do” it. He worked over an idea like a diamond cutter with facets and angles and refractions of light. He made you sorry you ever thought you wanted to be a comedian. He was like a train hobo with a chicken bone. When he was done there was nothing left for anybody.

I know George didn’t believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises. And it just makes me even sadder to think that when I reach my own end, whatever tumbling cataclysmic vortex of existence I’m spinning through, in that moment I will still have to think, ‘Carlin already did it.’”

NOW, HERE’S THE COOL PART: Did you know that during George Carlin’s 50+ years in show business, he wrote twenty pages of new material, every day?

Yep. Most people don’t know that.

Most people know that he:

o Released 23 comedy albums, one of which won a Grammy.
o Wrote three best-selling books.
o Featured in 14 HBO specials.
o Starred in his own sitcom.
o Acted in numerous movies.
o Appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show over 130 times.
o Inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in 1994.
o Received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in November of 2008.

But twenty pages a day? Most people don’t know that.

George Carlin was the consummate example of how to “Out Write” the competition. And it earned him a spot in history as one of the greatest Thought Leaders of all time.

What about you? What did YOU write today?

Here are ten questions to ask yourself if you want to out write the competition:

1. What ideas do you have that you discuss and write about with the most passion? If you can talk about it forever, you can write about it forever. This a great place to start for someone who’s not sure which topic to tackle. Remember: Passion makes writing easier.

2. Are you writing for an audience or just talking to yourself? Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Talking to yourself (on paper) is a powerful device for self-realization and idea clarity. But when you’re going to publish something, you need to envision your audience at the onset. Remember: Always write for your ideal reader.

3. Is everything you know written down somewhere? Your memory is a moron. Don’t trust it. Learn to have a paper memory. As George Carlin remarked, “A good idea is no good unless you have a way to find it.” You win when you customize your Content Management System. Remember: If you don’t write it down, it never happened.

4. Are you writing to sound like a writer or to sound like YOU? Hopefully the latter. Because your job as a writer is to DISAPPEAR from the page. To help someone forget he is reader. To be a great date for your reader. Remember: Writers that sound like writers are usually annoying writers.

5. What did this piece of writing cost you? Odds are, not much. Maybe your time. And your vulnerability. And your comfort zone. Other than that, writing costs very little. In fact, it’s probably more expensive NOT to write. Think about that. Remember: Writing time is rarely wasted time.

6. What’s your writing schedule? “Inspiration is for amateurs,” Dave Barry once said. And I agree. You don’t need inspiration; you need discipline. Discipline is the hallmark of inspiration, the foundation of all creativity and the only four-letter word that guarantees success. It is the directed willpower that will eliminate artistic blocks, and it will set your writing FREE. Remember: Discipline is your differentiator.

7. What did you write today? That’s the question you need to ask yourself at the end of every day. And if you don’t have an answer, then you don’t have the right to call yourself a Thought Leader. Period. Come on. This is what you DO. Stop making excuses. Remember: There is no Writer’s Block – only Thinker’s Block.

8. Have you written about that yet? Every time you think something powerful, experience something cool or say something brilliant, this is the question you ask yourself. If the answer is, “Yes,” pat yourself on the back. If the answer is, “No,” make sure you write it down within thirty seconds. If the answer is, “Maybe,” make sure you write it down within ten seconds. Remember: Ideas are free; but execution is priceless.

9. How much of your writing have you publicly deployed? Strive for about 80-90% – then keep the rest exclusive. Don’t worry about piracy. Don’t worry about giving away the farm. Let your competition worry about that. You go write some more. You will win. Think about it: Do you think Tom Peters look back at his body of work and says, “You know, in retrospect, I really should have published LESS”? No way. Remember: The more “by” that comes BEFORE your name; the more your credibility will enable people to “buy” what comes AFTER it.

10. What are you risking by sharing this material? If the answer is, “Not much,” you lose. Here’s why: Thought Leaders are trust agents. Trust is a function of intimacy. And intimacy is a function of self-disclosure. So, I’m not suggesting you reveal your deepest secrets or darkest perversions in your next blog post. Rather, I encourage you to be fearless in your writing. As my mentor often reminds me, “Good writing is like walking across a stage naked. Remember: Slice open a vein and bleed your truth all over the page

FINAL THOUGHT: Writing is the basis of all wealth. I’ve said that many times on this blog.

Because your biggest differentiator as a Thought Leader is to be able to say, “Oh yeah, I’ve written about that before…”

So, go write something.

That’s what Carlin would do.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How will you out write the competition?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “9 Things Every Writer Must Do Every Day,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Download a free copy of The Nametag Guy’s (unofficial) 9th book!

HELLO, my name is Scott’s…
“Live your name.”

6 Ways to Breathe Possibility into People

Nobody cares what you’ve done.

They only care what you’ve LEARNED – and – how what you’ve learned can be applied to their world in a practical, actionable way.

That’s the secret to being an inspiration to others:

Transforming “How I did” into “How you can.”

As I mentioned in How to become the Most Inspirational Person You Know, the word “inspire” derives from the Latin inspiraire, which means, “to breathe into.”

So, what approachable leaders breathe into people is POSSIBILITY. And whether you’re writing, presenting or working with someone one-on-one, here’s a compendium of practices to help you do so:

1. Accelerate the actionability of your message. “I believe this! I can do this! I want to try this!” That’s what your readers, listeners, viewers, subscribers and audience members need to think after they’ve been exposed to your ideas. That they can take action. So, in order to move from “How I did” to “How you can,” consider compounding your message with action items like:

o An exercise to do that bridges what you said into their unique situation.
o A checklist could to keep people accountable and consistent in the future.
o An assignment that, when they’ve completed it, people will be ready to move forward.
o An equation (algorithm, formula, system, etc.) people can easily plug themselves, their situation or their company into.

BREATHE IN: You words become persuasive the moment someone is compelled to take action as a result of being exposed to them. How actionable are you?

2. Challenge people. Let’s say you’re telling a story about an obstacle you overcame. Either in a conversation, during a presentation or in a piece of writing. Here’s what you do: First, once the story is over, allow it to land. Embrace the pause. This increases the probability that your words profoundly penetrate people.

Then, call to the hearts and minds of your audience by using phrases like, “I invite you to reflect with me,” “Consider this question,” “Plug yourself into the following equation” and “Ask yourself how good you are at these things.”

BREATHE IN: Language like this immediately 180’s the message and moves the story from Me Land to You Land. How challenging are you?

3. Help people. In a few different ways. First, help people absorb and understand what you said. But allow things to unfold at their speed. Do this by becoming a master at letting the pearl sink. Second, help people see their field of possibilities. Ask them how they would coach themselves through this situation.

Do this by asking people Back to the Future Questions. Lastly, help people build long-term, self-generative capabilities. Feed the development of self-reliance. Do this by becoming a listening midwife, that is, helping others give birth to their own understanding.

BREATHE IN: Let people lead themselves. What are you helping people do?

4. Throw people lifelines. If you’re a leader, odds are, you’re not normal. And don’t worry – this isn’t a bad thing. The only challenge is making sure your message stays relevant and relatable. Otherwise “How you did” is perceived as “How the hell am I supposed to?”

For example, I’m a writer. That’s what I do. That’s my occupation. And, sure: I’m also a speaker, coach, consultant and entrepreneur. But writing is my occupation inasmuch as it occupies most of my workday. As such, I spend four to seven hours writing, every day.

Four to seven hours.

Now, upon hearing such a number, most think, “Good god. Four to seven hours? But I don’t have that kind of time to write!” And naturally, I respect that. Because it would be ridiculous to expect my clients, workshop attendees and readers to invest that kind of time each day.

So, I challenge people to start with fifteen minutes a day. That’s it. If you do the math, that comes out to 1/100th of your daily allotted time. (I don’t think that’s asking too much!) In fact, when I started my career as a writer in 2002, fifteen minutes was the unit of writing time I started out with. And if I can do it, so can you.

That’s a perfect example of a lifeline. You inspire others to function at a higher level by telling them to take action things in the context of their unique situation. You breathe life into people’s hopes and dreams by meeting them where they are.

BREATHE IN:Don’t run the risk of people thinking, “Oh, but I could never do that…” What lifeline could you throw them?

5. Democratize your experiences. Open the curtain. Simplify and demystify your message. First, ask yourself questions like, “What is the universal human emotion here?” “How could what I endured relate TO (and offer help FOR) people who aren’t like me?” and “What lessons are inherent within my experience that anybody could apply to their own life?

This line of thinking builds a generic equation your followers can plug themselves into. Second, answer those questions with nuggets, keepers, pebbles, one-liners and other digestible forms of wisdom. Third, you physically write those answers down. And fourth, you articulate those chunks of wisdom to stick the landing of the message you’re delivering.

BREATHE IN: Move people’s hearts and engage their capacity to dream. How democratic is your message?

6. Inspire others with a vision of what they can contribute. Reflect their reality. Show them what they know. Make them aware of their abundant, inherent treasures. One way to do this is to offer your attention and acknowledgment of another person’s contributions to your worldview.

For example, after having a conversation with someone, type out your notes into a bullet-point list. Then email your keepers to that person later that day. Not only does it prove you were listening, not only does it honor the other person, but it helps people see the brilliance they didn’t realize they possessed.

BREATHE IN: Inspire people to continue contributing in their own unique way. How do you reflect genius back to others?

– – –

REMEMBER: The secret to inspiring people isn’t sharing what you’ve done, but rather, what you’ve learned.

AND, the practical application of what you’ve done to their unique situation.

Otherwise “How I did” morphs into “How the hell am I supposed to?”

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How actionable, relatable and translatable is your message?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “7 Ways to Radically Raise Receptivity of Those You Serve,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Are you wasting your audience’s time?

Here’s the most dangerous thought your audience members could EVER have:

“Why did I even bother coming to this?”

I learned this lesson after a recent presentation with the American Advertising Federation.

No, I didn’t bomb. Actually, one of my audience members shared a piece of feedback I’d never heard before, but one I’d never forget:

“Scott, what I appreciated most about your presentation was that you never wasted our time.”

Huh. That’s interesting. Never really thought of it that way.

But it makes perfect sense.

HERE’S THE REALITY CHECK: Time is currency. People are busy. And they don’t care about you.

I’m not saying they don’t like you. I’m sure you’re a very interesting, intelligent person.

But self-interest is a powerful force. And whether you’re a salesperson, speaker, writer, entertainer or leader, the last thing you want to do is deliver your message in a way that’s perceived as a waste of people’s time.

Whether you’re faced with one hundred, one thousand– or just one guy sitting across the table – consider these eight strategies for helping YOUR audience get the maximum mileage out of the presentation:

1. What would YOU do? Let’s start with an experiment. First, make a list of three experiences where you watched a movie, attended an event or sat in the audience of a performance and thought to yourself, “Wow. This is a TOTAL waste of my time.”

Next, write down the attributes that contributed to the meaninglessness of each presentation. Then, be honest. Ask yourself if you’re guilty of embodying any of those attributes while YOU present. If not, rock on! If yes, no worries. Consider using that list as an audit to help you prevent wasting people’s time in the future. How boring are you?

2. Put your material to the test. As you prepare your presentation, run each if your ideas, stories, points, statistics, quotations and illustration through the “Nobody Cares about You Test.” It’s pretty simple. Just ask yourself:

“Is this piece of material meaningful (appeals to self-interest) concrete (meat, not fluff) and immediate (actionable and applicable)?”

If not, throw it out. Because if the audience’s answer to what you say is, “Who cares?” you lose. And so do they. Are you speaking with Meaningful Concrete Immediacy?

3. Challenge people to get lost. Here’s a hard truth to swallow: People will forget 99% of the stuff you say during your presentation. But what they WILL remember is what they said to THEMSELVES while listening to what you said.

Your mission is to send people on mental journeys. To help them get productively lost. Now, I’m not suggesting you encourage them to start text messaging during your speech. Instead, remind your audience up front to take notes on what they hear themselves say. Are you helping your audience members listen to themselves?

4. Be scary good. Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters said it best: “When I’m playing a show, my number one goal is to make sure nobody in my audience looks at their watch.” Now, if you’ve ever seen those guys in concert before, you better believe they accomplish that goal during every gig. Because they’re just THAT good. They give their audience permission to be taken over by their performance.

Here are the two best strategies for constant audience captivation:

(a) Get off the stage and walk around the room. People will have no choice but to pay attention to you.
(b) Talk to individual people. As if your speech was a conversation. Look them straight in the eyes.

When you do this, everyone in the room will be engaged. Because when you focus the attention on one; you capture the attention of all. Are your audience members looking at their watches?

5. The slide show isn’t your girlfriend. Having a relationship with the slide and reading it is an insult to the audience’s intelligence. Do this and I guarantee they will both look at their watches AND ask themselves why the hell they bothered to come to your presentation in the first place. Total waste of time.

Your screen is a reference point – not a Magic Eye poster. If you find yourself looking at your slides for more than five seconds, you have too much information on your slides.

Remember: No more than ten words. You should be using mainly pictures anyway. Would your spouse be jealous of the affair you’re having with your PowerPoint?

6. Practice non-rambling spontaneity. Build space in your presentation for the unexpected. Comments. Arguments. Hecklers. They’re all good things. Just let them happen. Welcome useful audience digressions. Some of the best stuff is the stuff you never planned on saying.

At the same time, beware of going off on some eye-rolling tangent that instantly encourages people to start checking their email on their iPhones. Listen closely to what your audience isn’t telling you. Because they might be silently saying, “Dude, we GOT it. Move on to the next point.” Are you enabling the organic without beating dead horses?

7. Save self-gratification for the bathroom. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little personal in your presentation. Nor is it a mistake to share vulnerability from the stage to help build credibility. After all, intimacy via self-disclosure IS what builds trust and receptivity in your audience.

Just remember: There’s huge difference between personalizing and masturbating. One builds an approachable connection with the audience. The other is an ego-driven parade of self-indulgence that your audience can see coming from a mile down the street. No pun in intended.

Your challenge is to honesty gauge whether or not what you’re about to say is (actually) going to improve your audience’s condition, of it’s just going to help YOU maintain an erection. Whom are you (really) giving this speech for?

8. Entertaining, educating and inspiring aren’t enough. If you truly want to maximize every minute of your audience’s time, you need to DISTURB them. I don’t suggest gratuitously showing a bunch of sensationalist pictures to prove your point. Rather, consider embedding emotion into everything. EVERYTHING.

The word “disturb” actually comes from the same Latin derivative as “emotion.” So, your job is to elicit physiological reactions: Audible gasps. Extended laughs. Jaw drops. High fives. Head turns. Forehead slaps. Get the picture?

Your presentation must run the gamut on the emotional spectrum. Topic notwithstanding, your words need to make people mad, sad, glad and rad. Remember: Your audience’s bodies will never lie to you. Emotion is the final arbiter of the effectiveness of your presentation. How are you disturbing people?

In conclusion, I’d like to share an experience of attending a presentation that wasted MY time, along with what I learned from it.

In 2006 I attended a program called “How to Create Promo Videos that Make You More Bookable.” Sounds like a cool session, right?

Well, it would have been. But the speaker, Diane, spent the first TWENTY minutes (of a sixty-minute program) playing nothing but clips of her own clients. And even though her videos were cool to watch, that wasn’t the reason I came to her session. It was billed as “How to Create,” not, “Hey Look What I Created!”

For the record, I thought about saying something. But then I totally chickened out. Wimp.

The guy next to me, on the other hand, didn’t.

Right around minute twenty-one of Diane’s Self-Promotional All You Can Eat Buffet, he jolted up with fire in her eyes. And in the middle of her presentation, he flat out yelled, “Excuse me, Diane? Are actually going to tell us HOW to make a video, or just shamelessly self-promote for the remaining forty minutes?”

Dead silence. Even MY draw dropped to the floor – and I give speeches for a living.

The speaker was dumfounded. And I couldn’t wait to see how she was about to handle the situation.

Eventually, after fumbling over a few words, Diane apologized. She even laughed a little. Because she KNEW that she’d screwed up as the presenter. Naturally, she stopped the videotape, turned up the house lights and delved into the meat of her presentation about HOW to make the video.

HERE’S THE FINAL QUESTION: Do you think the Diane ever won the audience back?

Nope. It was too late. The speaker had already wasted twenty minutes of everyone’s time. And when you’re at an out of town conference that you paid seven hundred dollars to attend, that’s unforgivable.

HERE’S THE FINAL LESSON: As the speaker, you have a responsibility to make an improvement on the energy in the room. To enlarge the people sitting in it. And to assure that when people walk out of that room, they’re better off in some way.

Never waste your audience’s time.

If you do, they won’t invite you back next time.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are your audience members wondering why they bothered to come?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “234 Things I’ve Learned about Writing, Delivering and Marketing Speeches,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Download a free copy of The Nametag Guy’s (unofficial) 9th book!

HELLO, my name is Scott’s…
“Live your name.”

5 Strategies for Establishing a Sustainable Thought Leadership Position

1. Don’t try, seek or set out to be a Thought Leader. You earn this honorable designation when the world dubs you so. Furthermore, being a Thought Leader isn’t an intentional goal – it’s an incidental consequence.

As leadership professor Warren Bennis say in On Becoming a Leader: “People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves freely and fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So, the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself. To use yourself completely. All your skills. All your gifts, and energies – in order to make you vision manifest.” Are you trying or becoming?

2. Build an enrollment. That’s your mission: To enroll people in your thinking, vision, dream, philosophy and theory of the universe. Then, on an ongoing basis, to deliver unique value in a respectful, permission-based way.

Now, I understand that the idea of building an enrollment may sound too grandiose, too celebrity-ish and too impossible to the average businessperson. “Who am I to build an enrollment?” you think. Wrong question. Instead, ask yourself, “Am I being selfish with my knowledge?” Whom are you enrolling?

3. Notice things and give them names. Everyone has heard everything before. So, if there is nothing new under the sun, what do you say? Here’s your first clue: Create names, designations, acronyms and titles for the things you notice. Make them original, creative and consistent with the branding of your philosophy. These names are your content, your products, your branding, your expertise, your marketing, your technology, your philosophies and your differentiators.

As Thought Leader Seth Godin says, “Part of the challenge in breaking through is finding a niche you can overwhelm.” Remember: When you name something, you can do something about that something. You can begin exploration and working with that something. You can help people talk about that something. You can change people’s thinking about that something. I named “approachability.” What are you naming?

4. Take contrarian stances to as many ideas as you can. Try this: Make a list of all the conventional wisdom, traditional principles and standard operating procedures you disagree with or oppose to. Then explain why their way is stupid and yours is better. Here’s an example from one of my blog posts from earlier this year:

“Customers are overrated, clients are useless and prospects are for amateurs. You need FANS, and you need to give them megaphones.”

The best part is, when you 180 existing ideas and express them in a new way, you challenge people to think in a new way. You toggle their melons. That’s what leaders do. They walk with a constant posture of challenging the process. Do you pattern your thinking in ways that are inimical to conventional wisdom?

5. Constantly strrenghten your platform. Platform is EVERYTHING. It’s the single most important attribute of Thought Leadership. It’s a combination of your intellectual assets, visibility, network, notoriety, permission assets, credibility and positioning.

And the best part is, proper positioning through powerful platforming prevents the need for prospecting. Because clients come to YOU. On the hand, if you don’t have a platform, you may as well be winking in the dark. Because no matter how smart you are, you will be the only one that notices. Yikes. How strong is your Thought Leadership Platform?

REMEMBER: There is no finish line.

If you want to be a Thought Leader, you’ve got to work at it every single day.

Your followers are waiting.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How are you establishing a sustainable Thought Leadership Position?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the (full) checklist called, “45 Recession-Friendly Strategies for Entreprenerial Evolution,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

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