CAREER

the journey

As Game of Thrones was winding down, Maisie began her transformation from actress to entrepreneur. Together with a co-founder, she created Daisie, a digital platform for creators to network and collaborate with each other. Maisie believes that it’s important to speak up on issues that she feels strongly about, so she took her story to the TED stage. There was only hurdle to overcome. Despite 22 award nominations for Game of Thrones, Maisie acknowledged that she felt “totally inadequate” as a public speaker.

After Maisie read Carmine Gallo’s book, Talk Like TED, she was ready become the speaker she needed to be to make a difference.

the transformation

Maisie began her TED Talk:

“Upon finding out the news that I would be giving a TEDx Talk, I did what I think most people do and watched about fifty TED talks back-to-back and read Talk like TED by Carmine Gallo for some inspiration.”

As an actress, Maisie has developed a keen sense of good storytelling, a theme that comes across in Carmine’s books. A great speech or presentation is like a great movie—the first scene should draw you into the narrative. Inspiring entrepreneurs don’t start with the product; they start with the story behind the product.

And that’s exactly how Maisie approached her TED Talk. She began with her origin story.

I’m the youngest of four siblings. My parents divorced when I was four months old. I really was the icing on the cake of a terrible marriage.

Maisie told the audience that she grew up in a three-bedroom council house outside of Bristol (a form of public housing in Britain).

I went to a very ordinary school. I got very ordinary grades. I wasn’t quite good enough to get a gold star, and I also wasn’t quite bad enough to be kept after school. Everything about me was pretty damn ordinary, except for how I felt on the inside. I had big dreams.

The story continues and, like any good story, has peaks and valleys—moments of joy mixed with unexpected roadblocks for the hero to overcome.

Although Maisie says she hasn’t set foot in a classroom in years, she’s made it her mission to continue learning. One of those skills is to sharpen her ability to weave a story to move people to action.

Ideas that catch on are wrapped in story. We all have the capacity to move people, to inspire them and to capture their imagination. The secret is to find your authentic connection to the topic and to share that passion with others.

The story continues and, like any good story, has peaks and valleys—moments of joy mixed with unexpected roadblocks for the hero to overcome.

Although Maisie says she hasn’t set foot in a classroom in years, she’s made it her mission to continue learning. One of those skills is to sharpen her ability to weave a story to move people to action.

Ideas that catch on are wrapped in story. We all have the capacity to move people, to inspire them and to capture their imagination. The secret is to find your authentic connection to the topic and to share that passion with others.

Seymour continued to praise Carmine’s book in magazine interviews.

“There is one book that I definitely have to mention: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo. I studied it page by page, and it has been a huge influence on how we approach communications at MAGFAST. It’s also perfectly aligned with the first book that I mentioned [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie] because it’s all about emotional impact.”

transformation

Seymour’s crowdfunding results generated so much buzz, Richard Branson invited Seymour to his home on Necker Island to share the story with other entrepreneurs. Carmine is thrilled that one of his books contributed to Seymour’s success.

You can watch a portion of Seymour’s crowdfunding pitch here.

Seymour has one piece of advice for entrepreneurs and business owners: “Marketing, marketing, marketing. It’s all about marketing. Unless you can sell whatever it is that you have, it’s just a hobby. Marketing is everything.”

transformation

Jesse named his company Fans First Entertainment because he believes experiences are the most valuable part of a person’s life. If you make every customer feel like the most important person in the room and create experiences —stories—they’ll want to share, your customers will reward you with their loyalty.

Today, the Savannah Bananas capture the nation’s attention, sell merchandise in all 50 states, sell out all of its games, and has been featured on ESPN and MSNBC which titled its story, “Fans are going bananas For baseball.” To date, Jesse’s teams have welcomed more than 1 million fans to their ballparks. 

Watch the MSNBC feature.

transformation

 Ward didn’t just nail it; he crushed it. Ward raised nearly $500 million dollars over several rounds of fundraising. His investors include the legendary VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz. (watch Carmine’s interview with Andreessen CEO, Scott Kupor)

Carta has crossed into the rare status of ‘unicorn,’ and is now worth more than $1.7 billion.

In a webinar for Business Insider, entrepreneurs asked Ward how he managed to persuade venture capitalists to buy into his idea. “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs,” Ward answered. 

“When I first started doing the series A and series C decks, I read the book. I hand wrote my entire presentation and I practiced it over and over. It all came from this book. If you want to be a great pitcher, start with this book. It’s 10 bucks on Amazon. It’s worth every penny.”

transformation

Using Carmine’s books as a guide, Steve worked on his presentation, public-speaking and storytelling skills. He got promoted to a sales role and used Carmine’s techniques to stand out. 

“When I first moved into a sales role I struggled with explaining complicated technology solutions (VoIP PBX, Unified Communications) to non-technical people. I found that presenting and demonstrating our solutions in a way which was memorable and easy to digest was not something anyone could do well—among both my peers and competitors. 

After discovering Carmine’s books, I realized they were like having the cheat code for a video game. After digesting and applying the concepts he outlined, I was able to explain our solutions much more simply, which helped me stand out from peers and my competitors.”

transformation

Carmine helped SanDisk create a narrative that clearly explained the company’s vision and long-term value. The story focused on the experience of the team, which had successfully weathered downturns in the past; its superb technology; Sandisk’s exclusive patents; and its $2.5B cash position, which it had built up in the good times. Carmine helped to craft the story and both he and Vanessa Gallo, Gallo Communications’ body language expert, prepared the executive team for public presentations and television interviews.

the result

Carmine’s relationship with SanDisk extended over the next seven years until October 21, 2015, when Western Digital offered to buy SanDisk for $86.50 a share, or more than double Samsung’s original offer. SanDisk was sold for $19 billion. Business pioneers can have the greatest ideas in the world, but if those ideas are not communicated persuasively, it doesn’t matter.

Harari went on to receive the Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama.

transformation

When Intel released a mix of technically advanced products along with confusing messaging and code-names. Carmine held classes each month with sales professionals and executives to help craft a clear, compelling and consistent story. 

For example, Intel released its Core 2 duo, a ‘dual-core’ processor family for desktop and laptop computers. The acronyms and tech specs left everyone confused, even employees who couldn’t clearly explain the technology to customers. Carmine refined the message to focus on the benefits to the customer and he created a rhetorical language that would grab people’s attention. For example, Carmine suggested: “Intel’s chips act as the brain of your computer. The Core 2 Duo is like getting two brains in one computer. That means your applications will load faster, your games will play better, your video will look better, and your battery will last longer.” 

Carmine’s workshops grew in popularity and he was asked to travel to Intel campuses in Silicon Valley, Portland, Austin, Phoenix, Europe, and Asia. The feedback that Carmine’s classes received from executives, marketers, engineers, general managers and directors among the highest-rated performance reviews for any outside advisor.