Experts Lose, Visionaries Win

Yes, yes, I know. In issue #3, I said Educating Your Market is an Opportunity. But today, I want to take a different angle.

Actually, I want to take you on the journey that I went on this week.

The start of my journey was a couple of unconnected concepts that awakened my curiosity. The first was a comment by Steve Brossman talking about being a guest on podcasts. He said:

Be the Prize, not the Professor

Steve talked about the fact that in a podcast interview, your results are determined by the energy delivered and the emotion stimulated, not by the education provided. And Steve should know. With 30 years of experience in dealing with broadcasting, Steve has had to get results from some of his interviews in order to get paid.

This dovetails with my own experience coaching speakers for TEDxRuakura. Our biggest focus was to bring the entertainment factor into the talks that we were crafting. Entertainment doesn’t mean telling jokes. It means taking the information you have and presenting it in an engaging way, taking your audience on a journey of discovery.

Whatever you know needs to be related to your audience, where they are now and where they want to be, or showing them what is possible they had never thought of.

Which takes me to the second piece of information that I came across this week:

Be the Visionary, not the Expert.

This is from the book The Referable Speaker by Michael Port & Andrew Davis. In the chapter Expert v. Visionary, they explain that Experts sell solutions, while Visionaries ask a question Google can’t answer.

The point they make is that expertise has become a commodity. If everyone focuses on solutions, then everyone is giving just a slightly different version of the same information. This is not a recipe for standing out and being memorable.

The answer they suggest is to focus on a big question. A question regarding the normal way things are done.

In my mind, this is a philosophical approach. If you take the audience on a philosophical journey rather than a technical or tactical journey, you have become a visionary, not just an expert.

To put this another way is the saying:

• A poor teacher tells

• An average teacher explains

• A good teacher demonstrates

• A great teacher inspires.

This is worth diving into in more detail.

A poor teacher tells - They say this is what you need to do

An average teacher explains - They say this is what you need to do, in this order, and this is why it is in this order.

A good teacher demonstrates - They say this is what you need to do, in this order, and this is why it is in this order, and they show you how it is done.

A great teacher inspires - Before they say anything, they take the time to understand where you are at, tease out why solving this problem will be good for you, and how it will change your life. Then, they go through the explanation and demonstration.

Conclusion

I think it is worth considering your message and rating it against the teacher scale above. Where are you currently? Where do you want to be? It isn’t much harder to create a philosophical, inspirational approach, but it can really help you stand out from the rest.

Snippets is a section where I take some interesting text I have come across in the previous week and comment on it.

For my snippet this week, I want to share a piece of AI content a friend created, followed with some thoughts.

Unleash Your Potential:
Flipping Procrastination to Drive

The clock’s ticking. You know that task you’ve been dodging? It’s time to pivot from evasion to engagement. Let’s revolutionise your procrastination habit by slicing those mammoth tasks into appetising, bite-sized portions. This method transforms an insurmountable peak into a series of small hills, each with its own victory flag waiting to be planted. You’ll feel a rush with every checkmark you add, powering you up for the next round.

Sweeten the deal with a sprinkle of rewards. Think of your to-do list as a treasure hunt, where every task ticked off leads you to a piece of the loot. Introduce a blend of tasks that vary from the mundane to the stimulating, crafting a rhythm that keeps your mind dancing rather than dawdling.

Harness the power of your mind’s eye. Paint a mental masterpiece of the euphoria and ripe opportunities that await upon the task’s completion. This is not mere daydreaming; it’s strategic envisioning, aligning your inner drive with your outer actions. Proclaim your mission to those around you; let their anticipation of your success fuel your ascent from the quicksand of procrastination.

Now, let’s turbocharge this transformation. Ignite your day with bursts of focused activity. Remember, the enemy of procrastination is motion. So, leap into action. You’re not just chasing deadlines; you’re chasing your potential, your dreams, and your legacy.

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Why have I shared this? Because I am impressed with what can be achieved with AI. Many people are concerned about what AI might mean to them going forward. But I believe that AI, at this point, is a powerful tool that, if used well, can have amazing results and, if used badly, can be dangerous.

My challenge to you is to spend some time experimenting and learning how to use it effectively.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

This quote caught my eye today for a specific reason. Quotes do not always need to be profound. One of the most important things a quote can do is make you think. This quote of Benjamin Franklin (not his best quote to be sure) makes you wonder what he is on about.

Really, my hope in sharing this quote today is to inspire you to put your own quotes out there. Don’t feel that it has to be something profound. I think prolific is more important than profound. Because when you do a lot, some of them will hit the mark. But if you can focus on creating quotes that make people think, then you can’t go too far wrong.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

Got deadlines to meet with instructional design and my own course materials. The rest of this year will be full-on.

Recreationally:

Got a trip to Auckland to meet with a bunch of people in person for the first time after a year of online masterminds.

What I am reading:

I am going to read through The Referable Speaker, after just reading one chapter for this issue.

What I am watching:

Been watching Welcome to Wrexham and lovin’ it.