Shorts
These are short clips from selected episodes of The White Rabbit podcast.
The audience is not judging you
Restating questions in the Q&A
Lyuba describes her first Istanbul Toastmasters meeting
The benefits of joining Istanbul Toastmasters
Don’t confuse big numbers with success
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle goes into the importance of not confusing big numbers with success.
Constraints bring freedom
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle goes into the counter-intuitive idea that constraints can bring freedom.
Super-long newsletters
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle begins to go into an example of a newsletter that allows its author to dive much deeper into a topic.
Pop-up newsletters
In this short from the podcast, we discuss pop-up newsletters and how they can relieve a newbie from the “I’m going to have to do this every Thursday for the rest of my life” pressure.
Owned media might be better than LinkedIn
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle goes into how monetizing a large audience can be difficult if it isn’t monetized right from the start.
Monetizing a large audience
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle goes into how monetizing a large audience can be difficult if it isn’t monetized right from the start.
Instagram as an example
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle uses Instagram as an example of the evolution of social media over time.
AI photos
In this short from the podcast, Matthew Rawle mentions how an AI-generated photo ruined an otherwise great post.
Smallest Viable Audience Part 2
In this short from the podcast, we discuss Smallest Viable Audience and how it may be more effective than having a lot of people.
Unleashing your perspective
Pranav acknowledges that unleashing your unique perspective is actually not very easy.
Trust your audience
Nick goes into the need to trust your audience if you want them to trust you back.
The first three minutes
Nick goes into the importance of building trust in the first three minutes of your presentation.
The power of in-person connection
Pranav goes into the power of in-person connection, and how it can be more valuable even though the numbers might be smaller.
Standing out in the content crowd
Pranav talks about the importance of putting your thumbprint on the things you say.
Reluctance to be visible
Sevil talks about her reluctance to be the public face of her company.
Overcoming fear of opinion
Pranav goes into overcoming the fear of having your own opinion.
Navigating opposing views
Nick goes into the extra work involved in presenting to an audience with views that oppose yours.
Navigating echo chambers
Nick goes into how your preparation needs to include anticipating which echo chamber your audience will be inhabiting.
The internet is a trust-destroying machine
Nick calls the internet a trust-destroying machine.
From corporate to startup is a big mindset shift
Sevil goes into how the transition from corporate life to startup life is mostly about mindset shift.
Business execs and bro culture
Nick goes into one way to spot someone’s presence in what he calls “bro culture.”
Building trust in startups
Sevil goes into how one of the biggest transitions she’s seen in moving from the corporate world to the startup world is the need to build trust in a presentation.
Breaking patterns in public speaking
Nick mentions that the mere fact you are speaking in person, as opposed to speaking online, is breaking the pattern of what people expect these days.
Sean D’souza’s approach to selling digital products
Pranav goes into what he likes about Sean D’souza’s approach to selling lower-priced digital products.
Articulating your big idea
Pranav Kale goes into how your big idea will pretty much remain the same, even though the way you articulate it will undergo changes.
What is an intellectual headshot
The spaghetti thrower
The four elements of a good intellectual headshot
The beforetimes
Simple but not easy
How to know what to visualize
Another example of headshotting
An example of headshotting
Know your counterparty
Online meetings a double-edged sword
Navigating online meetings
Executive vs collective cultures
Navigating global business cultures
Caution in online meetings
The truth about presentations
The power of a recipe
Start with paper, not PowerPoint
The sequel
The Predictably Irrational book
Journey from corporate to freelance
The interest actually started with architecture
Cookbook concept ordered the book in 5 minutes
Book release timeline
Rate your days
The power of presence
The hidden cost of multitasking
Save time by investing in presence
Empathy in communication
Slow down to speed up
Example of overcoming curse of knowledge
Selim gives an example of overcoming the curse of knowledge. The curse of knowledge, of course, is your forgetting what it is like to not have the knowledge you worked so hard to get. This is a notable example in part because Selim comes from the enterprise software world at Dell, and if he doesn’t know what “SBC” means, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Your questions might be limiting your discovery
Matt, summarizing Selim’s point, mentions that our attempt to ask questions, as well intended as it is, can sometimes actually hurt our ability to discover the other person’s reality in a conversation.
The brain is a resource hog, and that’s why it defaults to “Me First”
Selim speculates that the human brain might be defaulting to the “Me First” strategy because of the way the brain is built.
Neuroscience holds the key to why “Me First” is our default
Selim suspects that the key to understanding why “Me First” is our default communication strategy lies in neuroscience.
Your advice might be stopping the conversation
Selim reminds us that our desire to be helpful might actually be getting in the way of a conversation.
Do not succumb to the false dream of influence
In summarizing Selim’s points, Matt riffs on one of his favorite topics, presentation training’s “false dream of influence.”
Recognize that you cannot control the customer’s purchasing decision
Selim touches on the nearly universal desire to control the other’s output, but the near impossibility of actually doing so.
What does Selim mean by “Me First” in sales?
Selim goes further into what he means by the “Me First” side of the “Me First vs Connection First” equation.
What is necessary in both of your stories
Alex mentions that the two stories (the company story and the customer story) will be significantly different, even though they are describing the same business, because they are for different audiences.
Strategy for founders
Alex goes into how important it is to stay in touch with what you want to change about the world. Your strategy will largely flow from that, and it will change as you learn more about the market.
Reframing the story for internal consumption
Alex goes into the internal story that you tell to your employees, partners, investors, etc. It will come from the same bigger picture that your customer story does, but it will be reframed for internal consumption.
Importance of strategy in making your stories
In the words of Alex, don’t be “generic and flabby” when coming up with your story. Or in other words, have something to say.
How Alex got into the business
Alex goes into how he got started in the strategy business, and how he realized how thoroughly-done it was, yet he was able to bring something new to it.
Communication of the strategy is more important than the strategy itself
Your strategy is important, but sometimes even the best ones are crazy simple. So your success is not going to be based so much on how special your strategy is, but on how well you communicate it to your employees and your customer base.
An example of the customer story using IKEA
Alex gives an example of what the customer story might be like, using IKEA as an example.
Note that this is not necessarily the story IKEA uses, we’re just using IKEA as an example. However, IKEA, if you decide to use this, please contact me for bank information for the royalty payments. 😉
An example of the company story using IKEA
And in this one, Alex gives us an example of what a company story might sound like, using IKEA as an example.
And again, note that this is not necessarily IKEA’s story, it’s just us imagining what IKEA’s story might be like. IKEA, if you decide to actually use this, please contact us for bank information for the royalty payments. 😉
What is a credible manner
Şebnem goes into what builds credibility with a potential customer.
What an employee without the storytelling skill will do
Şebnem goes into what an employee without the storytelling skill will do initially, and what she steers him or her towards instead.
The three levers of trust
As Şebnem sees it, there are three levers of trust we can pull, and here she throws in a fourth, bonus, one too!
Some employees already have the story mindset
Şebnem mentions that some employees already have the story mindset, so all you need to feed them is the raw data, and they’ll take care of the rest.
Other employees don’t already have this mindset, and they need additional assistance. She goes into that in other clips.
Selling an idea
Şebnem comments on how selling an idea and understanding your customer are closely linked.
One company will have different audiences
Şebnem reminds us that different constituencies in the same company are going to respond to different angles of the message.
In other words, don’t get lazy and think that one message is good for everyone in the same company!
Is storytelling for business a natural skill
Şebnem mentions that storytelling for business is not a natural skill, and how it is regained.
Our education system and early job training drill the skill out of us until what we “think” the business world needs is totally out of line with what it actually shows us it is wanting.
Importance of understanding the market
Şebnem comments on the role of understanding the market in building personal credibility with your potential customer.
How the market fits into their reality
Şebnem goes deeper into how she fits her product into the customer’s reality.
Creating credibility through association
And don’t forget the fourth lever of building trust, credibility through association. Some of your existing customers might be really good partners for this.
Building trust personally
Şebnem goes into how you establish personal trust with a new customer, and that a key part of that process is your ability to describe the market and how it, and your product, fit into the customer’s life.
Building the story
Şebnem mentions how important a story format is to the sales process.
Why don’t companies have these stories
The customer story and the company story are pretty easy to write if you have something to say, but virtually impossible to write if you have nothing to say.
In this short, Alex Smith goes into why so many companies don’t have these stories.
And yes, you guessed it, it’s pretty closely related to the fact they don’t have anything of use to say.
Dolly Parton quote
Who would have thought Dolly Parton was a strategy expert?
According to her:
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
Alex Smith goes into what most people do instead.
What is probably going to happen if you haven’t done your homework
What will you end up with if you try to write your stories before you do your strategy homework?
If you don’t have something to talk about, what are you left with
If you don’t have a strategy and the two stories, all you are left with is hustle. In other words, “a world of hurt.”
In this short, Alex Smith goes into how that is.
Internal consumption story will mention you a lot more
In this short from the podcast, guest Alex Smith digs into the company story and who it’s for.
The customer is James Bond and you are Q
In this short from The White Rabbit podcast, Alex M H Smith uses “Q” in the James Bond movies as an example of how much of you should be in the stories you tell your customers.
LinkedIn and attending conferences
LinkedIn, and attending conferences, will be good for outreach, but it is important to remember that they need to be just a couple tools in a much larger marketing toolbox.
Understanding GDPR
Understanding GDPR, and not running afoul of it, will be critical in your outreach.
Outsourcing sales in other industries
Rick relates further experience with the outsourcing of sales activity, mentioning here a story from the telco world.
Tech industry used to outsourcing sales
Rick mentions that the tech industry is used to outsourcing sales activity, and therefore your company will probably be familiar with it, if you decide to go down that route.
Other things of interest to investors
Rick lists some of the other data investors will want to see when they vet your plan, in addition to the sales growth numbers.
Investors will want to see the research
Investors will want to see the qualification research you are basing your decisions on.
Don’t feel pressure
Rick mentions that your team might only do the qualification research once, or maybe a few times at most, in their lives, but there are some who do it regularly.