Tag: speaking

Bare minimum

FabrizioLeave a comment

You need to subtract, not add.

You need to cut, not expand.

You need to combine, not fragment.

You need to connect, not divide.

And when you are down to the bare minimum, that’s when clarity kicks in. In life, in writing, in business, in projects, in marketing, in communication, you do not get to deep understanding by adding chaos on top of chaos.

And when you are down to the bare minimum, that’s when you can slowly start building. On solid foundation, in the direction you have chosen, taking the right people with you.

No other way

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you want to become a writer, read a lot and write a lot.

If you want to become a director, watch a lot of movies and make a lot of movies.

If you want to become a musician, listen to a lot of music and make a lot of music.

If you want to become a content marketer, consume a lot of content and create a lot of content.

If you want to become a public speaker, check out a lot of talks and give a lot of talks.

There really is no other way.

You learn from others and you practice what you learn at scale.

It’s an iterative process and it never ends.

Today is a great day to start.

Never be the same

FabrizioLeave a comment

The best way to approach anything new is by putting aside what you know about it.

We have been taught that experience matters more than anything else. And since today everything needs to happen now (even better, yesterday), we augment the importance of experience and try to get farther by doing more of what we have done so far.

That rarely works.

Experience matters, for sure, but it is not a good predictor of the success you are going to have in your next endeavor. And it does make sense, since the world is complex and ever-changing. What you truly need is not experience, but the capacity to put that aside and learn something new over and over again.

Your next gig might be similar to the previous one. It will never be the same.

I know nothing

FabrizioLeave a comment

The point is not being right.

The point is feeling confident enough to take action, while at the same time feeling diffident enough to keep our senses awake.

If we spend most of the day trying to be right, we lose. We lose energy, we lose focus, we lose opportunities, we lose relationships. We lose the very same resources we need to learn and progress.

Find the motivation to do in the conviction that you don’t know.

It is self-renewing energy.

False dichotomies

Fabrizio1 Comment

Two reasons why many arguments fail to move the conversation forward and develop the relationship – from the beautiful book by Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style.

  1. We approach the argument as if it were a dichotomy. Black or white. Right or wrong. Good or evil. For as much as this is convenient to survive, it is not a great representation of how things actually are. And it is certainly not a path to understanding.
  2. We make it personal. It is rarely about finding the truth or the better course of action. It is about beating your opponent. Who is motivated by the wrong values, less intelligent, and not as refined.

When we avoid falling into these traps, we find the place for learning and growth.

Arguments should be based on reasons, not people.

Steven Pinker