Announcing His Resignation As Instagram’s Co-Founder, Kevin Systrom Aims To Rediscover His Curiosity And Creativity.
Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have announced their resignation from Facebook, the company that acquired Instagram for $1 billion. "We're planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again. Building new...
These Are The Skills You Need To Thrive In The Future According To A Global AI Expert
Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, has two daughters. One is a fashion designer. The other is a photographer. Instead of following their father into computer science, they followed their heart, passion and skills. Lee...
A Champion’s Mind – Relentless focus is a hallmark of great athletes and great entrepreneurs.
I paused the television screen as Tiger Woods was walking up the 18th-fairway at Sunday's PGA Tour Championship. I called my two daughters over to watch. Since they're gymnasts, I wanted them to see one mental habit that makes Tiger Woods a...
According To Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, These 4 U.S. Presidents Shared This Public-Speaking Skill
Abraham Lincoln didn’t have a TED stage to share his ideas; he used a tree stump instead. But his talks went viral. Farmers and townspeople would ride for miles to hear Lincoln speak. What they loved most about Lincoln was the way he used stories to...
The Art of the Elevator Pitch
Long before your favorite movie made it to a theater near you, it was presented in a pitch meeting. Hollywood screenwriters typically get three to five minutes to propose an idea, but it takes only around 45 seconds for producers to know if they want to invest....
The Magical Number 3 And How It Will Transform Your Next Presentation
Apple shoppers now have three new iPhone models to choose from. The phones come in three sizes and three colors--silver, space gray, and gold. Apple follows the rule of three in product marketing, presentations and branding. It does so...
This Real Elevator Ride Challenge Can Teach You How To Pitch An Idea In 40 Seconds
Mars Mundy’s car broke down shortly after he graduated from law school. And, like many people, he had a frustrating experience with repair shops. Mundy channeled his frustration into building a startup to transform the auto repair industry. He never did...
In-Class Presentations Teach Students To Enjoy And Excel At Public Speaking
During a visit to the United Arab Emirates, I was invited to speak to college students to learn more about how the country is preparing the next generation for a post-oil future. I met with students who were required to present their final projects in a...
Keep Your Audience From Getting Bored. Follow Apple’s Example Of The 10 Minute Rule.
The brain is easily bored. This one fact explains why Apple does what it does in its product launches. A presentation based on the fundamentals of neuroscience includes frequent changes to keep people interested. But how frequent is "frequent" change? The...
This Skill Makes Great Leaders Irresistible According To Google’s Chairman Of The Board
In the forward to John Hennessy’s book, Leading Matters, author Walter Isaacson writes, “There is one leadership skill in this book that I found a bit unexpected but also profound: storytelling.” Storytelling’s influence on Hennessy’s career is, indeed,...
Apple Product Launches Follow These 3 Presentation Tactics Every Time
Steve Jobs transformed presentations into an art form and nowhere is his presentation formula followed as closely as it is at Apple. Chief executive Tim Cook and the other executives who take the stage for this Wednesday's product launch will follow...
This Hurricane Animation Video Went Viral Because It Appeals To Our Ancient Brain
“Pictorial superiority is truly Olympian,” writes molecular biologist John Medina in his bestselling book, Brain Rules. Simply put, if information is presented verbally, people remember about 10% of the information. Include a picture and retention soars to...
Southwest’s People-Focused Mission Motivates Employees And Builds Trust
Tracy's dream had always been to be a flight attendant, and Southwest Airlines made her dream come true. For one flight, she was allowed to greet passengers over the intercom, pass out snacks, and a put a smile on the faces of the passengers. By the end of...
Starbucks’ Howard Schultz Elevated Corporate Storytelling To A New Art Form
Inspiring leaders are great storytellers. Their conversations transport you to another place that goes well beyond the physical attributes of the products they sell. Few corporate leaders have elevated the art of storytelling as much as Howard Schultz. As...
Boost Morale With This Proven And FREE Strategy
When the new head of sales for a large, publicly-traded firm delivered his first all-company address, his 33-minute presentation was interrupted by applause thirty-five times. I had worked with him weeks ahead of time to craft a presentation that would...
Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake Shares Elements Of Her Successful Pitch For The $3 Billion Startup
"If your idea can't fit on the back of an envelope, it's rubbish," Richard Branson once said. Crafting a pitch that is simple, concise, and exciting isn't as easy as it sounds. It takes creativity to tell a story that doesn't overwhelm with details but has...
The 400,000 Year Old Practice That Richard Branson Uses To Unleash His Best Ideas
Successful entrepreneurs who make a difference are, in effect, professional storytellers, says Richard Branson. The ability to craft a compelling story behind a product, service, company, or cause has long been one of Branson's great passions....
The Proven Algorithm To Help You Make An Emotional Connection
How can you tell if a person is excited or bored by a movie trailer, a television ad, or a presentation? You can ask them, but their answers might reflect a host of mental biases, or they may simply tell you what they think you want to hear....
Becoming An Astronaut Is 80 Times Harder Than Getting Into Harvard. These Skills Help Set The Chosen Ones Apart.
The movie, Alien, reminded us that in space no one can hear you scream. That's okay because NASA looks for astronauts who communicate effectively when things go wrong--and screaming isn't in the playbook. I titled my new book on persuasion, Five Stars, as...
Separate From The Competition By Being Your Brand’s Chief Storyteller
Walk into one of Ace Hardware’s 5,000 stores and you can buy grills, power tools, paint supplies or thousands of other home improvement products. Walk into a Lowe’s or a Home Depot and you can find products in the same categories. The average consumer who...
This Is The Most Valuable Career Skill College Students Should Learn
I recently received a call from a student entering a top Ivy League business school in the fall. She wanted to thank me for my books and columns, which she said helped her land a spot in the competitive program. Her grades were good, but not great. Her...
Four Tips To Help You Nail Your Next Presentation Or Pitch
We all face pressure. For golfers it might be a three-foot putt to win the tournament, while for entrepreneurs it might be a presentation to win over a new client. Either way, the mental effects are the same--loss of confidence, concentration, sweaty...
Steve Jobs’ Gift To You: The 7 Unbreakable Laws Of Success Roadmap
When Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, the ABC News program 20/20 asked me to share some of the insights I gleaned from writing three books on Jobs and Apple. The seven rules I offered are still relevant today and helped to propel Apple recently to a $1...
The Soft Skill Is The Best Investment Indra Nooyi And Warren Buffett Have Ever Made
After 12 years, PepsiCo’s chief executive is stepping down. Although Indra Nooyi’s impact on the company is well-known—and widely admired—what’s less known is the impact one class had on Nooyi’s career. When Nooyi was enrolled in a master’s program at Yale...
Five Steps To Rehearse Your Talk Like the Best TED Speakers
Every year I teach a class of elite business professionals who are enrolled in an executive education program at Harvard University. They are required to participate in group and individual presentations to graduate. After their presentations are complete,...
3 Presentation Tips From The TED Talk That Has Been Viewed More Than 5 Million Times
Storytelling is the single best tool we have to transfer our ideas to another person. Stories inform, illuminate, and inspire. Best of all, we know how to do it. Storytelling isn't something we do; storytellers are who we are. Nothing will bring your next...
The One Profound Question Steve Jobs Asked That Helped Take Apple From Near Bankruptcy To $1 Trillion
It’s easy to forget that Apple’s path to its $1 trillion valuation was nearly derailed when the company was running out of cash. Steve Jobs asked one profound question that got it back on track. In my keynotes about inspirational leadership, I often show a...
The Eyes Have It: The 4 Best Approaches for Making a First Impression
As a communication specialist, I can tell you how to craft compelling presentations, share powerful stories, and build brand messages. All that work is worthless if you violate one cardinal rule of body language: making eye contact. The art of eye...
7 Presentation Tips That Will Turn Your Presentation Into a Competitive Advantage
Give a great presentation and you're more likely to get promoted, sell products, win customers, engage teams, attract investors, and gain visibility. In other words, presentations are important. But how do you build one that'll work? Based on my 20 years...
Fresh Ideas Are Rare – Here’s How Geniuses Find Innovative Solutions
A soccer coach can learn a lot about winning games by watching basketball. That's the philosophy that drives Gareth Southgate, the coach for England's World Cup team. By combining ideas from different fields--literally--Southgate has helped England advance...
What Leaders Today Can Learn From The Declaration of Independence
Americans celebrate the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, but Thomas Jefferson wrote it with an eye on July 6, 1776. Two days after the Continental Congress approved the document, it was read aloud for the first time from poster-size sheets called...
Starbucks Ditches 1 Billion Plastic Straws After A YouTube Video Went Viral
Big numbers rarely spark action, but a sea turtle with a straw in its nose can trigger a movement. By now you’ve probably heard that Starbucks has announced it will eliminate plastic straws globally by 2020. The straws will be replaced with recyclable lids...
Spark Your Best Ideas With These Four Mind Hacks
In today's knowledge economy, you are only as valuable as your ideas. My job is to teach leaders how to communicate their ideas persuasively. But I can't help unless they have an original idea. Fortunately, there are some simple tips that you can use to...
The Life Or Death Consequences Of Bad PowerPoint For The Elite Navy SEALs
In business, an overloaded and confusing PowerPoint presentation is a nuisance that can result in lost sales. In a Navy SEAL mission, bad PowerPoint presentations could be deadly. While conducting my research for a new book on persuasion, I talked to Navy...
A Billionaire Investor And A Great Soccer Coach Reveal The 4 Habits Of Winners
Millions of soccer fans watched Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo steal the show by scoring three goals in the 2018 World Cup match against Spain. What television doesn't show are the habits that turned Ronaldo into a legend: discipline, drive, conviction and...
GE’s CEO Takes On The Challenge Of Communicating Big Changes To The Company
When GE announced a major strategic change (spinning off its healthcare unit and selling its stake in Baker Hughes), GE chairman and CEO, John Flannery, had to reassure employees, shareholders, and the financial media that he was doing the right thing by...
The Five Interview Tips You Didn’t Learn In Business School
The tools of communication have changed; the human brain has not. Business school grads who understand this fact of human psychology will find it easier to stand out in job interviews. And they need to find ways to stand apart. In a recent Wall Street...
The Storytelling Surgeon Chosen To Head The Dimon-Bezos-Buffett Healthcare Firm Is An Inspired Choice
Three of the most influential business leaders of our time—Jamie Dimon, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett—have chosen Dr. Atul Gawande to lead their new healthcare firm. Gawande’s credentials as a surgeon and Harvard Medical School professor give them...
Every Communicator Should Follow The Lead From The Fed’s Plain-English Campaign
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a law degree from Georgetown, but his first statement after the June FOMC meeting was written in ninth-grade language. It began, “The main takeaway is that the economy is...
The Key Driver Of Success In The Modern Age
A new McKinsey study of 800 occupations finds that automation and artificial intelligence will transform the workplace over the next decade. In order to compete, our skills have to change. The study finds that communication skills will be valued above all...
How Expert Presenters Mind-Boggling Supercomputer Specs Into Human Terms
The $200 million supercomputer, Summit, can perform mathematical equations at speeds that “boggle the mind,” according to a report in the New York Times. How fast is mind-boggling? Try 200 quadrillion calculations per second. That’s not a typo. But if it...
Hook Your Audience In Less Than 10 Minutes – Here’s How In 3 Steps
In a presentation of medium interest--not too boring and not too exciting--how long will it take for your audience tune out? The human brain has an onboard clock that times out after exactly--ten minutes. Neuroscience proves it. According to John Medina, a...
Use Director Ron Howard’s Checklist To Improve Your Next Presentation
If you want to create an exciting business presentation that keeps your audience on the edge of their seats, steal a page from one of Hollywood's best storytellers, Ron Howard. Howard is the legendary director of such modern classics...
How Software Giant SAP Looks Back To Drive Forward
NBA fans who spent more than one million hours pouring over basketball stats can thank enterprise software company SAP. As the 2018 NBA Finals get underway between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, fans will once again be checking...
Howard Schultz’ Letter To Starbucks Customers Reflects A Longtime Mission
The Starbucks announcement to temporarily close 8,000 stores this afternoon for racial bias sensitivity training has been met with a range of opinions on social media—snark, skepticism and support. I see the action as consistency of message—a valuable...
5 Ways to Project Confidence in Front of an Audience
Harvard Business Review 5 Ways to Project Confidence in Front of an Audience Employees, investors, and partners don’t just follow anyone — they follow leaders who have command of the business and command of the stage. Whether you’re presenting on an analyst call or...
Profits Soared At Carnival After Its CEO Discovered This Communication Tool
Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship—Horizon—departs from New York City this week with about 4,000 guests. Also on board are 1,450 crew members who are responsible for keeping those passengers safe, happy, and eager to take another cruise. Across all of...
The Crucial Leadership Lesson Steve Jobs Taught Tim Cook
Speaking to more than 5,500 graduates at the 2018 Duke University commencement on Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reminded them that, despite the problems facing society, "this is the best time in history to be alive." The data backs up Cook's observation....
Oprah’s Powerful Words Brought Tears In Her USC Commencement Speech – Here’s How
It was fitting that the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism chose a master communicator--Oprah Winfrey--to deliver the 2018 Annenberg commencement speech. Oprah's speech on Friday to 960 students and their families had the hallmarks of...
Philadelphia’s Bid To Be Amazon’s HQ2 Will Help You Improve Your Communication Skills
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some the 20 cities on Amazon’s shortlist of potential sites for its second headquarters are seeing an unintended benefit from the presentations they created to pitch themselves to Amazon. The pitches are...
LinkedIn Survey Shows This One Skill Will Keep You Relevant
Robots don't have a heart; humans do. The line sounds trite, but it's the key to standing out and getting ahead at a time when automation and artificial intelligence threaten to eliminate millions of jobs. This is the conclusion of the recently...
5 Tips For Success From Warren Buffett
The billionaire Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway investing partner Charlie Munger have been dispensing financial wisdom and life lessons for 24 years at their annual shareholders meetings. CNBC has recently archived about 120 hours of videos from...
The Nine Words That Took This CEO From Poverty To The Pinnacle Of Success
Words matter. Words can shape a person’s life and career. They did for Arnold Donald. Nine words took Carnival Corp’s CEO from poverty to the top of a $48 billion company. This summer, Donald celebrates his fifth year as CEO of the world’s largest leisure...
The 3 Presentation Tips I Learned While Preparing CEOs For IPOs
I recently heard from the marketing director at a pre-IPO company. "The CEO can't tell our company story," she said. The CEO is visionary, passionate and competent, but he's not skilled in the art of communication and public speaking. Fortunately, there...
Use These Presentation Hacks To Captivate Your Audience
Molecular biologist John Medina once told me, "The brain does not pay attention to boring things." The statement profoundly shaped my approach to communication skills. My mission is to give readers the tools they need to keep their audience from getting...
When Presenting, Simple Is Always Best… Always
Steve Jobs once said, "Simple can be harder than complex." It's true, which is why it's hard to express your ideas simply. Anyone can write long, confusing sentences. Anyone can speak in esoteric jargon. But simplicity is worth pursuing because it "can...
Jeff Bezos Replaces PowerPoint With Narratives In All Amazon Presentations – Here’s Why
In his 2018 annual letter, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos repeated his rule that PowerPoint is banned in executive meetings. What Bezos replaces it with provides even more valuable insight for entrepreneurs and leaders. In his letter, and in a recent...
Software Giant SAP Looks Back To Its Roots To Drive The Future
NBA fans who spent more than one million hours pouring over basketball stats can thank enterprise software company SAP. As the 2018 NBA Finals get underway between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, fans will once again be checking...
Avoid 3 Mental Hurdles That Get In The Way Of Success
Hans Rosling was a famed Swedish statistician and widely admired TED speaker. Rosling passed away before he could see his new book, Factfullness, climb to the top of the New York Times bestseller lists. Bill Gates calls the book one of the most important...
New Grads Should Follow PepsiCo CEO’s 5-Step Success Model
I’ve been speaking recently on the topic of communication skills to advance a person’s career. In my presentations I talk about Indra Nooyi’s “5 C’s” model of leadership. She presented it publicly several years ago, but it’s more relevant today than ever....