Persist with Poise

As 2011 draws to a close and a new year awaits with many more chances to chisel our speaking/presentation skills, we thought it would be worth it to end on a note of perseverance by Seth Godin.

Insulate yourself...
from anonymous angry people
Expose yourself to art you don't yet understand
Precisely measure the results that are important to you
Stay blind to the metrics that don't matter
Fail often
Ship
Lead, don't manage so much
Seek out uncomfortable situations
Make an impact on the people who matter to you
Be better at your baseline skills than anyone else
Copyedit less, invent more
Give more speeches
Ignore unsolicited advice

Making sabha better requires a delicate, piecemeal approach, so let's start with the right attitude in 2012.

After all, what better way to start it off with Sunday sabha?

Elevator speeches don't make you Brahmrup

Seth Godin shares this nugget of insight:

No one ever bought anything in an elevator 

The purpose of an elevator pitch isn't to close the sale. 

The goal isn't even to give a short, accurate, Wikipedia-standard description of you or your project. 

And the idea of using vacuous, vague words to craft a bland mission statement is dumb. 

No, the purpose of an elevator pitch is to describe a situation or solution so compelling that the person you're with wants to hear more even after the elevator ride is over.

Similarly, nobody takes away a sticky message by just listening to the shakeup (unexpected) part of a talk. The unexpected sets up the talk, piques attention, but if there are no stories without concrete and credible, everyone will just get off the elevator.