Here’s a collection of thoughts on the pursuit of brilliance. More of a ‘stake in the ground’ than a statement of fact, and I’d be delighted to get your views too. Brilliant presenters have to sacrifice- The warm feeling that not caring about how you were received can give you- You’ve got to care to…
Here’s a great clip from YouTube with Michelle Pfeiffer explaining how she got the most important role in her life- Elvira, in ‘Scarface’ with Al Pacino- It reminded me that- Acting is a very tough business. Constant rejection, sometimes hundreds of auditions without success and often with no feedback on why you didn’t get the…
As a bloke who has built a few businesses up from nothing to sale, starting with no brand, no clients, no capital, no support and often, no idea how hard it is, there are just a few things I have learned that are worth knowing. There are also many that aren’t, such as- Coventry (in…
Sometimes it’s much easier to pitch with almost no hope of actually winning because you can be. Er… honest. I was involved in a pitch a couple of years ago, right at the hard start of the bad times, where we were asked to take part in the process as an afterthought, to make up…
I read an article a few years ago about travelling preachers in 19th Century America. There were hundreds of the faithful fellows, literally wandering from town to town, all through the thousands of empty miles of the mid-west. They made their living, or their dinner, by being good, because they knew that if they weren’t…
There’s a word for it. It’s called ‘a tell’. It’s when a speaker ‘tells’ the audience about something without saying anything. There are congruent tells, where the subtle message reinforces the real one, like smiling sincerely and saying ‘I’m really happy to be here’; and such congruence makes for a powerful message. Then there’s the…
I’ve got a friend called Quentin. He’s an actor and a good one too with a long track record of theatre, stage & screen roles behind him. Actors can sometimes be a bit full of themselves but not Quenty, he’s a no-nonsense kind of bloke and when he says something to me with that special look…
We’ve all heard the numbers- 7% of your meaning is contained in the words you say; 35% in the vocal delivery and the rest (I can’t be bothered to do the sums), is body language… Well folks it seems like even the guy who did the study thinks it’s not true. Dr Albert Meherabian did…
Sometimes, often when you least want it to happen, usually at the most serious moment, something happens. A phrase comes out wrong and is somehow horribly right; someone exposes their stupidity to the light, your colleague drops you in it or life’s essential futility slaps you in the face- What can you do? Have a…