Are your communication skills helping or hurting you?

Greetings, Chief Storytelling Officers.

I once had a good friend of mine tell me something that I’ve never forgotten.

“What we appreciate, appreciates.”

As you come out of the Thanksgiving holiday (if you’re American) and race towards the end of the year, I encourage you to keep the quote in mind. Appreciate the people around you, the wins you’ve had, and the fact that you’re dream is still yours to achieve.

-Robbie

Back in 6th grade I was in the gifted and talented program. I loved it because so much of our learning was through unstructured “play”. I wasn’t forced to take multiple choice test that were all about memorizing random facts. Instead I was given the opportunity to explore what interested in me.

So for my english class I decided to do a project on propaganda in the media. Why did I do it?

I have no idea. It seems pretty crazy for a 6th grader to want to study propaganda. 

What I remember is how interesting I found it while working on the project.

The same news story would be covered in completely different ways depending on the political slant of the news organizations. The tools and tactics they used played on people’s emotions. I’d see how they would use words to create the good guys or the bad guys. Their language choices made all the difference in how people felt about what they heard or read.

I didn’t know it back then but I do now. This was just the start of my obsession on how words shape actions.

I’m going to be blunt in this newsletter.

Most founders don’t take enough care with their words. Not even close.

I hear so many softeners, justifications, and weak language when founders are sharing their story. It’s even worse when they are being asked questions.

Your words shape the world around you.

One of the series b founders I work with sent me an email the other day on what they wanted to focus on in our upcoming coaching sessions.

They laid out 4 questions and said “I need A+ answers and delivery for these 4 questions for the next board meeting.”

They know that in order to demonstrate the leadership the board expects that they need to come prepared. The founder knows that words matter. Getting it right isn’t a choice, it’s a requirement.

The way you communicate every day may not seem all that important but it adds up day after day.

If you do it right it’s like the guy who at 55 still is in great shape. People can’t believe it. Then they ask what the secret is and he says that he went to the gym 3-4 days a week for 30 years and doesn’t eat anything with a bunch of sugar.

Those daily actions add up over time and put you in a place few will ever get to.

Communication strategy is something I love as you can tell given that I started this journey in 6th grade and now 24 years later I still obsess over it.

One of my heroes is Ted Sorensen. He took JFK from a poor communicator and turned him into one of the greatest of all time. Not only that but he wrote the messages that prevented the Cuban Missile Crisis from turning into a nuclear war.

Great communicators run the world.

That can be you.

It’s not an overnight story but it’s one that creates a huge moat for you to dominate for decades to come.

So if you want to do the work on your own I encourage you to do a few things:

1. Read great speeches (I have a bunch of books I personally study with the great speeches throughout history)

2. Listen to the best communicators and how they speak (I share many of these examples on LI and in my YT videos)

3. Study rhetoric and oratory

Those will take longer but are free or low cost ways to do it.

If you’re wanting more serious help there are two ways depending on the depth you’re looking for:

First, Potential AI which is the technology platform that will help you build out your two core stories and how to best deliver them to raise capital. Over time this will become the storytelling mentor you need for all types of communication.

Second, Competitive Storytelling which is my coaching practice. I take on very few clients but it’s where you will get every single thing I’ve learned throughout my obsession and career as a trial lawyer, founder, venture partner, and coach that’s helped founders now raise $670m.

Don’t underestimate the ways your life will change when you become a world-class storyteller and communicator.

I won cases that were unwinnable.

You can win whatever game matters most to you.

Resources

Here’s a video breaking down why the classic problem-solution storytelling structure is mostly wrong for founders looking to raise capital.

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If you’re trying to get up to speed on LLMs this is a good intro talk.

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One great piece of architecture from each major movement. This is more about appreciating beauty and what humans are capable of.