Received this great link from the amazing Dame and I just had to jot it down so I remember.
And share with all of you too, of course.
How to create your SOUL STYLE?
“Creating a clear vision of your Soul Style is like assembling a beautiful landscape of your charmed life using your favorite idols, icons and inspirations from the past, present and future. Let’s not think about the closet, what’s in stores or in your pocket right now. Cultivating your highest beauty requires an intimate and personal Soul Style journey so you can adore, adorn and astonish yourself more.”
3 steps to jumpstart this ride…
Adore!
What do you adore about yourself? Be specific about your body, your being and your beauty. Who and what do you adore? Collect pictures of yourself, your inspirations, favorite quotes, colors, desires and your favorite Soul Style icons. Plaster these images and visions on a huge poster board that expresses your Soul Style statement.
Adorn!
What are your top 3 absolutely fab favorite adornments ever? What is your top favorite obsession? Do you like to adorn yourself with vintage handmade Italian python cowboy boots that you bought for $20 at the flea market? (Dame Lori does!) List all your favorite designers that you adore (but perhaps can’t afford) and coness all of your secrets.
Astonish!
What is the most astonishing outfit you have ever worn? Do your desired goals align with what you have in your closet?
Write down your top 3 desires (professionally and personally) for the rest of the year, close your eyes and visualize what you desire to look like while accomplishing these astonishments.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
What every Author Should Know
A friend sent me this link. Priceless. Enjoy.
What Every Author Should Know About Radio and Television Interviews by Michael Hyatt
If you are a published author—or plan to be one—you will inevitably be asked to appear on a radio, television, or Internet show to talk about your book. It’s critical that you learn to do this well. Assuming you have written a good book, nothing drives sales of it more than publicity.
I was personally thrown into the deep end of the pool with my first book. In the course of eighteen months, I did over 1,200 interviews. I appeared on all three major television networks plus CNN, as well as national and local radio and television. During that time, I went through three rounds of professional media training. It was total immersion. Baptism by fire.
More recently, I have sat on the other side of the table, interviewing authors. I have hosted the Chick-fil-A Leadership Backstage program for the last two years where I have had the privilege of interviewing the speakers after they spoke. In addition, I routinely interview authors for my own blog. Sadly, while most authors spend a lot of time honing their writing skills, very few hone their interviewing skills. As a result, their books do not sell as well as they should.
Therefore, based on my experience as both an interviewee and an interviewer, I would like to offer ten suggestions for improving your interview skills:
1.Prepare thoroughly for the interview. Before the publication of each book, I have identified all the questions I might be asked. I have then written 3–4 talking points in response to each question. I don’t write out the answer verbatim; that would sound too canned. I then prepare a “Briefing Book,” using a three-ring binder with one tab per chapter. Behind each chapter, I put the relevant talking points, statistics, and illustrations. I ad lib from that.
2.Remember that the show is not about you. This is a big mistake many rookie authors make. You are not the star of the show. The host is—or perhaps more accurately—the audience is. You are there to help them get what they want. Your job is to keep them interested in the topic, so they don’t change the dial. This is key to the producer keeping his or her advertisers happy.
3.Understand the audience. You can’t help the audience get what they want unless you understand them. Television shows, radio shows, and Internet shows are used to providing demographic and psychographic information to their advertisers. You can cut right to the chase by asking the producer or the booker for this information. In addition, before interview begins, it is a good idea to ask the producer if there is anything in particular you should know about the audience.
4.Don’t expect the interviewer to have read your book. Many first-time authors complain that the interviewer didn’t read their book. Trust me: this is the norm. Assume that the interviewer hasn’t read your book, and you won’t be disappointed. And whatever you do, don’t embarrass them on-air by asking! Instead, make the host look smart by providing the producer with a list of questions to ask. Nine times out of ten, they will ask you these exact same questions.
5.Be able to explain what your book is about in a few sentences. Many authors cannot do this. They have never crafted an “elevator pitch.” Here’s the concept: You get on the elevator of the NBC building in New York City. You suddenly discover that the producer for The Today Show is standing next to you. Being polite, she asks what your book is about. You have 10 floors to tell her—about three sentences. You need to write this out and memorize it. It should be no more than 2–3 sentences.
6.Listen carefully to the questions. It is easy for authors to become anxious and interrupt the host. This is never a good thing. Plus, you might find yourself answering the wrong question. Make sure that you let the interviewer finish. Then affirm the question. Even if it is combative, you can say something like, “I totally understand where you are coming from. In fact, I had that same concern when I first started researching this book.” Then answer the question—don’t dodge it.
7.Keep your answers brief and to-the-point. There is nothing worse than a rambling author who is missing the interviewer’s cues. The host keeps trying to interject a point or “bring the plane in for a landing.” Perhaps the producer has already queued the music, but the author keeps right on talking. This is not good. A good interview is like a ping pong match: the interviewer hits the ball over the net. The author then gets in position and hits it back, starting the cycle all over again. In addition, you need to speak in sounds bites.
8.Be energetic and authentic. From the interviewer’s perspective, there is nothing worse than a low energy, superficial interview. Instead, you must be energetic. If you are not excited about your book, how do you expect anyone else to be? If you are doing a phone-in radio interview, stand up. Walk around. Smile. Even though your audience won’t see any of this, they will hear it in your voice. Believe me, it makes a difference.
9.Don’t become defensive. Don’t expect the interviewer just to throw you softballs. His job is to keep it interesting for his audience. Nothing is more interesting than conflict. You should expect tough questions and a little drama. This can actually help you win over the audience—if you have done your homework, and if you remain calm under fire. Resist the urge to become defensive. It only makes you look weak. Instead, agree where you can agree. Follow the feel-felt-found formula: “I know how you feel. I felt the same way. But here’s something I found in my research.”
10.Refer listeners back to your book. This is the art of the soft-sell. Publicity doesn’t do you any good if you don’t point people back to your book. If you’re too aggressive, it will turn potential readers—and the host—off. If you are too laid back, the publicity won’t result in sales. Instead, mention the title, offer a few nuggets or “free samples,” and then refer people to the book for more information. For example, “In my book, The Dance, I provide seven tips for resolving marital conflict. We don’t have time to get into all of those right now, but let me give you the first two.”
Writing a great book is half the job. The other half is embracing your role as the book’s chief spokesperson. If you do this well, you have a chance of creating a long and successful writing career.
What Every Author Should Know About Radio and Television Interviews by Michael Hyatt
If you are a published author—or plan to be one—you will inevitably be asked to appear on a radio, television, or Internet show to talk about your book. It’s critical that you learn to do this well. Assuming you have written a good book, nothing drives sales of it more than publicity.
I was personally thrown into the deep end of the pool with my first book. In the course of eighteen months, I did over 1,200 interviews. I appeared on all three major television networks plus CNN, as well as national and local radio and television. During that time, I went through three rounds of professional media training. It was total immersion. Baptism by fire.
More recently, I have sat on the other side of the table, interviewing authors. I have hosted the Chick-fil-A Leadership Backstage program for the last two years where I have had the privilege of interviewing the speakers after they spoke. In addition, I routinely interview authors for my own blog. Sadly, while most authors spend a lot of time honing their writing skills, very few hone their interviewing skills. As a result, their books do not sell as well as they should.
Therefore, based on my experience as both an interviewee and an interviewer, I would like to offer ten suggestions for improving your interview skills:
1.Prepare thoroughly for the interview. Before the publication of each book, I have identified all the questions I might be asked. I have then written 3–4 talking points in response to each question. I don’t write out the answer verbatim; that would sound too canned. I then prepare a “Briefing Book,” using a three-ring binder with one tab per chapter. Behind each chapter, I put the relevant talking points, statistics, and illustrations. I ad lib from that.
2.Remember that the show is not about you. This is a big mistake many rookie authors make. You are not the star of the show. The host is—or perhaps more accurately—the audience is. You are there to help them get what they want. Your job is to keep them interested in the topic, so they don’t change the dial. This is key to the producer keeping his or her advertisers happy.
3.Understand the audience. You can’t help the audience get what they want unless you understand them. Television shows, radio shows, and Internet shows are used to providing demographic and psychographic information to their advertisers. You can cut right to the chase by asking the producer or the booker for this information. In addition, before interview begins, it is a good idea to ask the producer if there is anything in particular you should know about the audience.
4.Don’t expect the interviewer to have read your book. Many first-time authors complain that the interviewer didn’t read their book. Trust me: this is the norm. Assume that the interviewer hasn’t read your book, and you won’t be disappointed. And whatever you do, don’t embarrass them on-air by asking! Instead, make the host look smart by providing the producer with a list of questions to ask. Nine times out of ten, they will ask you these exact same questions.
5.Be able to explain what your book is about in a few sentences. Many authors cannot do this. They have never crafted an “elevator pitch.” Here’s the concept: You get on the elevator of the NBC building in New York City. You suddenly discover that the producer for The Today Show is standing next to you. Being polite, she asks what your book is about. You have 10 floors to tell her—about three sentences. You need to write this out and memorize it. It should be no more than 2–3 sentences.
6.Listen carefully to the questions. It is easy for authors to become anxious and interrupt the host. This is never a good thing. Plus, you might find yourself answering the wrong question. Make sure that you let the interviewer finish. Then affirm the question. Even if it is combative, you can say something like, “I totally understand where you are coming from. In fact, I had that same concern when I first started researching this book.” Then answer the question—don’t dodge it.
7.Keep your answers brief and to-the-point. There is nothing worse than a rambling author who is missing the interviewer’s cues. The host keeps trying to interject a point or “bring the plane in for a landing.” Perhaps the producer has already queued the music, but the author keeps right on talking. This is not good. A good interview is like a ping pong match: the interviewer hits the ball over the net. The author then gets in position and hits it back, starting the cycle all over again. In addition, you need to speak in sounds bites.
8.Be energetic and authentic. From the interviewer’s perspective, there is nothing worse than a low energy, superficial interview. Instead, you must be energetic. If you are not excited about your book, how do you expect anyone else to be? If you are doing a phone-in radio interview, stand up. Walk around. Smile. Even though your audience won’t see any of this, they will hear it in your voice. Believe me, it makes a difference.
9.Don’t become defensive. Don’t expect the interviewer just to throw you softballs. His job is to keep it interesting for his audience. Nothing is more interesting than conflict. You should expect tough questions and a little drama. This can actually help you win over the audience—if you have done your homework, and if you remain calm under fire. Resist the urge to become defensive. It only makes you look weak. Instead, agree where you can agree. Follow the feel-felt-found formula: “I know how you feel. I felt the same way. But here’s something I found in my research.”
10.Refer listeners back to your book. This is the art of the soft-sell. Publicity doesn’t do you any good if you don’t point people back to your book. If you’re too aggressive, it will turn potential readers—and the host—off. If you are too laid back, the publicity won’t result in sales. Instead, mention the title, offer a few nuggets or “free samples,” and then refer people to the book for more information. For example, “In my book, The Dance, I provide seven tips for resolving marital conflict. We don’t have time to get into all of those right now, but let me give you the first two.”
Writing a great book is half the job. The other half is embracing your role as the book’s chief spokesperson. If you do this well, you have a chance of creating a long and successful writing career.
Conan O'Brien's Guide to Creativity
Reading this article from Fastcompany.com and it was such an inspiration, I just had to capture it on my blog and share with all of you. Also, to remind myself later on down the road in case I forget.
Conan O'Brien opened up about how he works. He's an analytical guy. He thinks a lot about the creative process, how to turn a half-baked idea from a morning brainstorm into comedy gold (or a diamond--see below) by the 4:30 p.m. taping of his TBS late-night show. For all the preparation he does, the best material often comes from going off-script and reacting in the moment. Which is like surfing. We’ll let him explain.
These are his curated comments on creativity:
Creating a show is like playing the horses.
Creativity needs two ingredients, in comedy especially. It needs the sort of relaxing bull shitting, left-brain throwing ideas around where 99 percent of it is a waste of time. But then someone throws out a weird nugget or they're just riffing on something completely inconsequential and they come up with something great. And then the next day is about we're assembling them, we're putting it together. and you'll see rehearsal is really key, because rehearsal is where everything is put up… I can look at some things on paper and say it's going to be great. But you see it on its feet and you just know it's not there. … That's the thing I can't stress enough. In comedy, it's a little bit akin to the, there's the guy that goes down to the racetrack, looks at the horses, talks to the jockey, tastes the soil, measures the humidity. And he may do one percent better than the kooky old lady who shows up and says, "I like the color blue and I’m going to go for Blue Bottle in the fifth."
No, wait--it's really like making of a jewel.
It's almost like when you make a diamond. You need an incredible amount of pressure to turn carbon into a diamond, and I think as you get closer and closer to the show, the pressure increases, and you start running out of time and that's when more and more key decisions are made.
Prepare like crazy so you can wing it.
My formula has always been I'm big on preparing. Prepare like crazy. But then just as you're heading out, half an hour beforehand, forget all of it. It's there. It's in your reptile brain. Go out but feel loose enough to grab opportunities as they come up. Don't just stick to the plan if you see an opportunity. Now sometimes you go out there and the energy is such that you just stick to the plan and you do fine. But when you get out there and the energy is particularly good, I'm the first one to throw out things left and right and just go for it. The show is always best when it's just play. When you're playing, there's a tension, yin-yang tension between think beforehand and then just get out there, between preparation and improvisation. And that's been a lot of my career, finding the balance between those two.
Improvising is like surfing.
I'm very open to when things don't work. That becomes the fun. Obviously, Johnny Carson was really great at that. I've learned to really enjoy that. It's surfing. You don't know exactly how the wave is going to break. You get on it and then you improvise. And I think there's something, it's really inspiring actually, there's something in the human mind that knows when something is organic. That knows when something is happening in the moment. So the audience will laugh at our prepared stuff but whenever things go off the rails and I start shooting from the hip and then maybe going back and forth with Andy or a guest, and we're all shooting from the hip and we're making it up as we go along, the whole energy in the room changes. People know it. They know that this is the real thing. They know that these cookies are being made fresh right there in front of them. And it's exciting.
Creativity should be fun. Seriously.
I used to be very intense at rehearsals. I just found it wasn't helping. So I've tried to learn and say let's keep it light. Let's also not overcook things. Let's try and get things into rough shape. One of the qualities people like about what we're doing is that it can feel very loose. That's the biggest comment I get from everybody on this new show: You look like you've having so much fun. And the truth is you can't fake it. You can fake it a little bit, but you can't fake it day after day.
Fostering a collective comic sensibility is like cooking.
I do sympathize with how the batting average for writing good material is really tough, so at the very least I’m trying to create an atmosphere where failure is inevitable. And where everybody gets to make fun of everybody. Do you know what I mean? I like to screw around with them, try and make them laugh. One of my favorite things is to take out my iPhone and be pretending to read them reviews of the show we just did which all praise O'Brien's ability to rise above the writing. And all these different ways of insulting them. They know it's all a joke…I used to think I need people to marinate--this sounds disgusting--they need to marinate in the essence of Conan. So I make sure that I'm around a lot. I'm just here. I'm roaming the halls… So there's this sense that they can pick up on how I think. Now we've got so many people who have been with me for so long that some of them talk like me. But then there's also when someone comes up with something out of left field that's got a different energy and it's good. It's all of our excitement about that that sends the message that it's good to find those things.
What Conan has learned from CEOs.
The last year has been completely improvised from the time I sent out the ["People of Earth"] statement. And I think it's been one of my better years. I'm learning that not everything is in my control. I heard once years ago, they did a study and they found that really successful CEOs are good at knowing what's in their control and what's not in their control… And I have learned that there are new cycles that good for a show like mine. There are new cycles that bad for a show like mine. There are times when the guests, great guests are coming left and right. There are times when you're really in a flow, things come and go, your opportunities come and go. It rains. There's a drought. It rains. The show is not all coming from me. My job here is just to try and make the adjustments I can make, set a tone.
Conan’s pep talk to the staff.
My people tend to stick with me for a long time, and I tend to stick with them. What I try to tell them especially with this new show is, we've all been through a lot, we went through this tough time and made it through to the other side. There's a sense that it galvanized people here. We stuck together. We kept our heads. We're here, so let's enjoy this. The thing I keep telling them is the only way we can screw this up is by not being bold enough. There is nothing to lose.
Let's just say if we think of it, and we think it's funny let's just try and make it happen.
Commentary:
I knew there was a reason why I find this guy my favorite comedian (along with Robin Williams).
He's a lifetime student. Love it.
Such a great reminder to prepare as much as possible.
Then let it fly.
Conan O'Brien opened up about how he works. He's an analytical guy. He thinks a lot about the creative process, how to turn a half-baked idea from a morning brainstorm into comedy gold (or a diamond--see below) by the 4:30 p.m. taping of his TBS late-night show. For all the preparation he does, the best material often comes from going off-script and reacting in the moment. Which is like surfing. We’ll let him explain.
These are his curated comments on creativity:
Creating a show is like playing the horses.
Creativity needs two ingredients, in comedy especially. It needs the sort of relaxing bull shitting, left-brain throwing ideas around where 99 percent of it is a waste of time. But then someone throws out a weird nugget or they're just riffing on something completely inconsequential and they come up with something great. And then the next day is about we're assembling them, we're putting it together. and you'll see rehearsal is really key, because rehearsal is where everything is put up… I can look at some things on paper and say it's going to be great. But you see it on its feet and you just know it's not there. … That's the thing I can't stress enough. In comedy, it's a little bit akin to the, there's the guy that goes down to the racetrack, looks at the horses, talks to the jockey, tastes the soil, measures the humidity. And he may do one percent better than the kooky old lady who shows up and says, "I like the color blue and I’m going to go for Blue Bottle in the fifth."
No, wait--it's really like making of a jewel.
It's almost like when you make a diamond. You need an incredible amount of pressure to turn carbon into a diamond, and I think as you get closer and closer to the show, the pressure increases, and you start running out of time and that's when more and more key decisions are made.
Prepare like crazy so you can wing it.
My formula has always been I'm big on preparing. Prepare like crazy. But then just as you're heading out, half an hour beforehand, forget all of it. It's there. It's in your reptile brain. Go out but feel loose enough to grab opportunities as they come up. Don't just stick to the plan if you see an opportunity. Now sometimes you go out there and the energy is such that you just stick to the plan and you do fine. But when you get out there and the energy is particularly good, I'm the first one to throw out things left and right and just go for it. The show is always best when it's just play. When you're playing, there's a tension, yin-yang tension between think beforehand and then just get out there, between preparation and improvisation. And that's been a lot of my career, finding the balance between those two.
Improvising is like surfing.
I'm very open to when things don't work. That becomes the fun. Obviously, Johnny Carson was really great at that. I've learned to really enjoy that. It's surfing. You don't know exactly how the wave is going to break. You get on it and then you improvise. And I think there's something, it's really inspiring actually, there's something in the human mind that knows when something is organic. That knows when something is happening in the moment. So the audience will laugh at our prepared stuff but whenever things go off the rails and I start shooting from the hip and then maybe going back and forth with Andy or a guest, and we're all shooting from the hip and we're making it up as we go along, the whole energy in the room changes. People know it. They know that this is the real thing. They know that these cookies are being made fresh right there in front of them. And it's exciting.
Creativity should be fun. Seriously.
I used to be very intense at rehearsals. I just found it wasn't helping. So I've tried to learn and say let's keep it light. Let's also not overcook things. Let's try and get things into rough shape. One of the qualities people like about what we're doing is that it can feel very loose. That's the biggest comment I get from everybody on this new show: You look like you've having so much fun. And the truth is you can't fake it. You can fake it a little bit, but you can't fake it day after day.
Fostering a collective comic sensibility is like cooking.
I do sympathize with how the batting average for writing good material is really tough, so at the very least I’m trying to create an atmosphere where failure is inevitable. And where everybody gets to make fun of everybody. Do you know what I mean? I like to screw around with them, try and make them laugh. One of my favorite things is to take out my iPhone and be pretending to read them reviews of the show we just did which all praise O'Brien's ability to rise above the writing. And all these different ways of insulting them. They know it's all a joke…I used to think I need people to marinate--this sounds disgusting--they need to marinate in the essence of Conan. So I make sure that I'm around a lot. I'm just here. I'm roaming the halls… So there's this sense that they can pick up on how I think. Now we've got so many people who have been with me for so long that some of them talk like me. But then there's also when someone comes up with something out of left field that's got a different energy and it's good. It's all of our excitement about that that sends the message that it's good to find those things.
What Conan has learned from CEOs.
The last year has been completely improvised from the time I sent out the ["People of Earth"] statement. And I think it's been one of my better years. I'm learning that not everything is in my control. I heard once years ago, they did a study and they found that really successful CEOs are good at knowing what's in their control and what's not in their control… And I have learned that there are new cycles that good for a show like mine. There are new cycles that bad for a show like mine. There are times when the guests, great guests are coming left and right. There are times when you're really in a flow, things come and go, your opportunities come and go. It rains. There's a drought. It rains. The show is not all coming from me. My job here is just to try and make the adjustments I can make, set a tone.
Conan’s pep talk to the staff.
My people tend to stick with me for a long time, and I tend to stick with them. What I try to tell them especially with this new show is, we've all been through a lot, we went through this tough time and made it through to the other side. There's a sense that it galvanized people here. We stuck together. We kept our heads. We're here, so let's enjoy this. The thing I keep telling them is the only way we can screw this up is by not being bold enough. There is nothing to lose.
Let's just say if we think of it, and we think it's funny let's just try and make it happen.
Commentary:
I knew there was a reason why I find this guy my favorite comedian (along with Robin Williams).
He's a lifetime student. Love it.
Such a great reminder to prepare as much as possible.
Then let it fly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)