A Leadership Lesson from a Lousy Alarm
In the past month I’ve spoken or performed in California three times. First in San Francisco, then in Sacramento, then in Los Angeles earlier this week. I had a performance in downtown LA on Monday night, but I had to be back in Atlanta early Tuesday afternoon in order to host/MC a big corporate event […]
Saturn, a Garage-Sale Telescope, and Your Brand
Saturn, a Garage-Sale Telescope, and Your Brand Earlier this month I was in a discussion about branding and customer experience with a group of my peers. I thought of this story from my 2012 book. I shared it and was told afterward that it made a real impact on several people in the room […]
Small Action, Big Impact
Small Action, Big Impact Have you ever considered the impact that a small action or decision can have on your audience? Something you consider minor can have an enormous impact on a customer, client, or anyone else who is paying attention to your brand. Here’s a real-world experience that may give you something to think […]
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances
Branding, Acting, and the Given Circumstances Sometimes we talk about the art of acting as if it were somehow dishonorable, and about nothing but lying and ego. But the reality is that great acting is about the truth, and understanding that can affect the way you make decisions about your brand and your real life […]
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud!
Pride Goes Before the Fall – So Stay Proud! I’m sure you’ve heard the idiom “Pride goes before the fall” sometime in your life. You may recognize it as coming from the Bible – Proverbs 16:18, to be exact. In the original context, it is a traditional two-part warning: “Pride goes before destruction, and a […]
Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 4: Contact
Five Kinds of Amazing, Part 4: Contact We all want our audiences to perceive our brands as “amazing,” and the “Five Kinds of Amazing” model provides a way to organize our approaches for making amazing experiences happen. In reviewing the first three elements, the magic metaphors all relate to primarily visual experiences. – Talent/Expertise: relating […]
Reasons To Use a Microphone
Always Use the Microphone Planners, speakers, networkers, on behalf of your audiences and attendees, I beg you: if there is a microphone in the room where your event is happening, use it and make sure everyone else does, too. Plan for it, use it, enforce it, and remember that it’s not just for the others […]
When Scrutiny Becomes Prejudice
When Scrutiny Becomes Prejudice Recently I heard a local radio personality – a man with whom I usually agree – engage in such intense scrutiny of a news story that his objectivity audibly turned into prejudice. He discussed wasteful, extravagant government spending and pointed to numerous government conferences as the source of some of his […]
Entrepreneurship and Magic Radio Interview
I recently sat down with Roger & Stacy Vaughn as their guest for their business radio show, “Veterans with a View” on The Better You Network. Enjoy this conversation about entrepreneurship, business, and making a career out of an unusual passion! Click here to visit the show page and listen!
Recent Press Hits in Alabama and Georgia
Just a quick update this time. I had two recent press hits, one relating to an entertainment opportunity in Alabama, and one regarding a speaking engagement on small business branding in metro-Atlanta. Cherokee County Herald 5-15-2013 (PDF file) The entertainment event was for the Cherokee County (AL) Chamber of Commerce. Even in the entertainment setting, […]
