‘Think Big’ Is Thinking Too Small
If we follow the well-intentioned advice to “think big,” is it possible that we’re still thinking too small? In my career as a business journalist, author, and columnist, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to meet leaders who are changing the world....
The Shortcut To The 10,000 Hour Rule
In the hit song Ten Thousand Hours, rap star Macklemore credited author Malcolm Gladwell for popularizing the now famous rule for turning him into a musical success. By now you know the rule —it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to master a specific task. Ten...
How to Pitch a Billionaire
A prominent venture capitalist recently invited me to speak to leaders of his portfolio companies on the topic of storytelling. I joined billionaire Vinod Khosla at his exclusive Khosla Ventures CEO Summit along with an exceptional list of business leaders...
U2’s Bono: How To Present Data Like A Rock Star
“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” is a classic U2 song. It’s also how I feel about presentations. It’s rare that I find a public speaker who delivers a slide-show that’s informative, educational, engaging, entertaining, and inspiring. I never thought I’d...
‘Your Story Is Your Strategy’ Says VC Who Backed Facebook And Twitter
“Storytelling is the most underrated skill,” says Ben Horowitz who, along with business partner Marc Andreessen, has built one of the most influential venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. Andreessen-Horowitz has invested in the next generation of leading...
5 Leadership Lessons Pope John Paul II Taught A Young Swiss Guard
How many of us can say our former boss was a ‘saint’ and mean it, literally? On Sunday, April 27th Andreas Widmer will be among the millions expected to attend the canonization of Pope John Paul II. Unlike most of the others, however, Widmer holds an especially close...
BMW Radically Rethinks The Car Buying Experience
The world’s automakers are showing off their sleek new 2015 models and concept cars at the New York International Auto Show, which opens to the public today. The most radical innovation in the car industry might not be obvious on the show floor, but instead in the...
The Key To A Lasting Relationship In Business And In Marriage
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson once said, “Lash praise on people and people will flourish; criticize and they shrivel up.” Branson may have discovered the secret to successful relationships in both business and in life. Asked why they quit their jobs and...
How Bill Gates Radically Transformed His Public Speaking And Communication Skills
Bill Gates has returned to the company he co-founded, serving as product and technology advisor to newly appointed Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. In this new position, the public might see a very different communicator than the leader who left his day-to-day role at...
The One Habit That Brilliant TED Speakers Practice Up To 200 Times
Last October I received a call from a business leader who is recognized as a pioneer in her industry. She had been invited to give a TED talk this month and asked if I could give her some tips. “Well you have plenty of time to practice,” I said after giving her some...
Public Speaking Payoff: The Presentation Worth $55,000 A Minute
Human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson received the longest standing ovation in the history of the globally famous TED conference. In his March 2012 speech titled, “We Need To Talk About An Injustice,” the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative shared his concerns about...
9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks
Forbes.com article posted on March 4, 2014 Depending on your perspective, 2006 was either a really bad year for public speaking or the start of a world-changing transformation. In that year the famous TED conference began streaming 18-minute presentations from the...
How Sheryl Sandberg’s Last Minute Addition To Her TED Talk Sparked A Movement
Millions of women are being encouraged to “lean in” and to pursue their goals thanks to Sheryl Sandberg’s book and non-profit organization by the same name. As the Facebook COO, Sandberg’s now famous 2010 TED talk, Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders, helped to launch...
From T-Shirt Salesman To Mega Producer: Mark Burnett Shares Five Keys For Personal Transformation
Here is the link to the posted article. “I've never done something only for the money—ever. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do well at it,” producer Mark Burnett told me in a phone interview this week as he was preparing for the release of his new movie, Son...
TED Talks Are Wildly Addictive For Three Powerful Scientific Reasons
Ideas are the currency of the 21st century. You can have brilliant ideas—truly revolutionary ideas—but if you cannot persuade others to act, those ideas don’t matter. Today, thanks to the world-famous TED conference, independently organized TEDx community events, and...
Apple Store Model Boosts Health Care Enrollment In Connecticut
Ask a person who their role models are and you’ll learn a lot about their character. You will also learn how successful they are likely to be. In September I wrote this column about Connecticut’s health insurance marketplace (Access Health CT) and how it was...
5 Must-Have Presentation Tips For Pitching To Angel Investors
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when pitching to angel investors is bombarding them with data and boring PowerPoint slides instead of inspiring and engaging them. This is one of the key lessons I learned as I followed a Forbes.com reader and...
Veterans: Recruiters want to hire you but they will need your help
Companies want to hire military veterans. It’s the right thing to do and it’s good for business. Intel hired the equivalent of more than one veteran every day in 2012 and is committed to being the high tech workplace of choice for America’s heroes. “From an employer...
Five remedies to protect you from the pessimism bug
According to a recent TIME Magazine poll, the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as “optimists” has plummeted from 79 percent in 2004 to 50 percent today. Count me among the optimists. In 2004 Facebook was the brainchild of a group of Harvard friends and...
‘If you see something, say something’: How communication training keeps you safer in the sky
The crash of Asiana flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport has put aviation safety back in the spotlight. It’s far too early to tell definitively what happened in the crash. What we do know for certain is that this is the safest period for U.S aviation in...
Public Speaking: Two proven ways champions raise their game
After Inbee Park won the United States Women’s Open this weekend she credited experience (she has won three major titles in a row) and weekly sessions with a mental coach. As a result, Park was calm, relaxed, and thoroughly enjoyed her final round. It struck me that...
How ‘Shark Tank’ Star Barbara Corcoran Reinvented Herself After A Public Speaking Disaster
As producers for Shark Tank conduct a nationwide search for candidates to appear on season five of the ABC television show, they are inviting entrepreneurs to make the ultimate pitch, selling themselves and their ideas to a cast of investors—‘sharks’—including real...
The Single, Simplest Way To Radically Improve Your Customer’s Experience
When I stepped off the shuttle bus on a recent trip to Oregon’s Bandon Dunes golf resort I immediately realized why it’s ranked as the #1 golf resort in America—its people. Golfers visit from all over the world for the spectacular views and links style challenges on...
10 Presentation Techniques You Can (And Should) Copy From Apple’s WWDC Keynote
I look forward to Apple keynote presentations and product launches because, as a communications specialist, it’s hard for me to find a better role model for creating, designing, and delivering a presentation. The keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference...
Ten Presentation Techniques You Can (And Should) Copy From Apple’s WWDC Keynote
I look forward to Apple keynote presentations and product launches because, as a communication specialist, it’s hard for me to find a better role model for creating, designing, and delivering a presentation. The keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference...
The NSA’s Truly Appalling Misdeed: Bad PowerPoint
An alternative title to this column could be, “Everything bad about PowerPoint I learned from the National Security Agency.” Like many Americans I've been reading about the top-secret program (PRISM) whereby the NSA and the FBI are tapping directly into Internet...
Bill Marriott: The Four Most Important Words Employees Need To Hear From Their Boss
In a recent New York Times interview, the executive chairman and former CEO of Marriott International, J.W (Bill) Marriott, offered this advice to leaders: The four most important words in the English language are “What do you think?” Marriott speculated that some...
The #1 Skill College Grads Should Have Learned In The 5th Grade
Many college students will graduate this year without adequate instruction in the one skill that might prove to be the most valuable in their careers. The good news—there’s still plenty of time to learn it and plenty of resources available to do so. The #1 skill is...
‘It’s Important To Tell Our Story:’ 5 Ways Apple’s Tim Cook Stayed Cool Under Fire
Which of these statements is accurate: Apple’s Web of Tax Shelters Saved Billions Apple Paid $6 Billion in Taxes, Largest Corporate Tax Payer in U.S. Both are accurate. The first headline is from the front page of The New York Times today and the second is from Apple...
How Warren Buffett And Joel Osteen Conquered Their Terrifying Fear of Public Speaking
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was “terrified” of public speaking. He was so nervous, in fact, that he would arrange and choose his college classes to avoid having to get up in front of people. He even enrolled in a public speaking course and dropped out before...