Recipient Labs Shorts Archives -

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 four elements of a good intellectual headshot

Another example of headshotting

Online meetings a double-edged sword

Executive vs collective cultures

Navigating global business cultures

Start with paper, not PowerPoint

The Predictably Irrational book

Journey from corporate to freelance

The interest actually started with architecture

Cookbook concept ordered the book in 5 minutes

The hidden cost of multitasking

Save time by investing in presence

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.