Ten Words

"Happiness and confidence are the prettiest things you can wear".

After a short break Ten Words returns with an epic 80 minute episode on one of the world's most influential women (TIME) and a singer who many (including Rolling Stone Magazine) also call, one of the greatest song writers of all time.

In this episode we look at the attitude that made her famous, why her fans love her SO much, how she writes her songs and why she is the queen of the one-note melody. There is also a bonus section at the end where I deliver a short marketing lesson!

SHOW NOTES

• Why does Taylor write so many one note melodies?
• Taylor Swift biography
• The Greatest Living Songwriter?
• Joe Sabia - The guy behind 73 questions
• Delicate by Taylor Swift (hat tip to Fat Boy Slim & Christopher Walken)

VOGUE'S 73 QUESTIONS

1. What's your favorite movie? 2. Favorite movie in the past five years? 3. Favorite Hitchcock film? 4. A book you plan on reading? 5. A book that you read in school that positively shaped you? 6. Favorite TV show that's currently on? 7. On a scale of one to ten how excited are you about life right now? 8. iPhone or Android? 9. Twitter or Instagram? 10. Who should EVERYONE be following right now? 11. What's your favorite food? 12. Least favorite food? 13. What do you love on your pizza? 14. Favorite drink? 15. Favorite dessert? 16. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate? 17. Coffee or tea? 18. What's the hardest part about being a mum? 19. What's your favorite band? 20. Favorite solo artist? 21. Favorite song? 22. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be? 23. If you could master one instrument, what would it be? 24. If you had a tattoo, where would it be? 25. To be or not to be? 26. Dogs or cats? 27. Bird-watching or whale-watching? 28. Best gift you've ever received? 29. Best gift you've ever given? 30. Last gift you gave a friend? 31. What's your favorite board game? 32. What's your favorite country to visit? 33. What's the last country you visited? 34. What country do you wish to visit? 35. What's your favorite color? 36. Least favorite color? 37. Diamonds or pearls? 38. Heels or flats? 39. Pilates or yoga? 40. Jogging or swimming? 41. Best way to de-stress? 42. If you had one superpower, what would it be? 43. What's the weirdest word in the English language? 44. What's your favorite flower? 45. When was the last time you cried? 46. Do you like your handwriting? 47. Do you bake? 48. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? 49. What is your most favorite thing about yourself? 50. Who do you miss most? 51. What are you listening to right now? 52. Favorite smell? 53. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? 54. Who was the last person you sent a text to? 55. A sport you wish you could play? 56. Hair color? 57. Eye color? 58. Scary film or happy endings? 59. Favorite season? 60. Three people alive or dead that you would like to have dinner with? 61. Hugs or kisses? 62. Rolling Stones or the Beatles? 63. Where were you born? 64. What is the farthest you have been from home? 65. Sweet or savory? 66. Lipstick or lip gloss? 67. What book have you read again and again? 68. Favorite bedtime story? 69. What would be the title of your autobiography? 70. Favorite sound? 71. Favorite animal? 72. Who is your girl crush? 73. Last photograph you took?

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends".

Containing just 272 words, the Gettysburg Address packs more greatness into two minutes than any other speech ever given. (Including MLK's I have a dream speech IMHO). What was it that made this ten sentence speech so powerful? What exactly did America's 16th President Abraham Lincoln say on 19th November 1863 and why did he say it?

In this episode I look behind the scenes at this iconic speech, and search for inspiration that can help us all tell our own stories better. And what better place to do that than the Gettysburg Address, a speech famous for containing big ideas in small words and short sentences.

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

• Video (featuring Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Steven Spielberg and Taylor Swift)
• Transcripts of the Gettysburg Address

LINKS

• Learn the Address (2013 Campaign celebrating the 150th anniversary of the address)
• Analysis of the Gettysburg Address (context)
• Analysis of the Gettysburg Address (rhetoric)
• Emancipation Proclamation background
• Aristotle's Poetics
• Barack Obama reading the Gettysburg Address (read the comments)
• 10 Facts about Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address
• The Greatest 250 Word Speech Ever Written
• The Gettysburg Address (Speech analysis)
• Lincoln by Steven Spielberg (Trailer)

THE ONLY PHOTOGRAPH OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

MY TEN WORDS PREP NOTES

"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch".

He is obsessed with cinema and loves plundering the history of film like some kind of pirate director. He's a big believer that good artists copy but great artists steal and thinks that the comic book violence in his films has no real connection to reality. It's not like he hasn't thought that through either. He has an IQ of 160! Sharper than a Hanzo sword and more satisfying than a Big Kahuna Burger… it's Quentin Jerome Tarantino.

"Only mediocrity is safe from ridicule. Dare to be different".

She's "The Queen of Burlesque", an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, entrepreneur, singer and actress. She's a 'glamour evangelist' and repopularized burlesque performance after creating a persona modeled on Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Page. She has no problem with being "objectified" and challenges the misconception that "it's what's on the inside that counts". With Dita, it's very much what's on the outside that counts.

It's a perspective I really struggled to understand until I looked deeper into her ten words. This show is as much a personal journey into my understanding of what makes her tick, as much as it is a show about a truly remarkable, unique and complex woman.

Is packaging everything? Is she real? Fake? Or does the self-created persona she loves so deeply really have a deeper purpose?

Let's find out...

"I've learned that I still have a lot to learn".

Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, writer, poet, performer and responsible for some of the most famous quotes you've ever heard. In this episode I dig into her past to try and discover what made her such a prolific writer and despite her traumatic childhood, how did she manage to inspire so many people? This episode has laughs, love, literature, prose and power. I hope you enjoy listening to it anywhere near as much as I enjoyed recording it.

SHOW NOTES

• Still I Rise
• How Maya Angelou writes
• More on Maya's writing process
• I know why the caged bird sings
• How to write a poem
• Maya's advice for Writers
• Maya Angelou on "The Art of Fiction"

There are SO many great clips of Maya speaking, performing and giving advice on YouTube that I engourage you to find a quiet corner with your notebook and a nice pen (and maybe a bourbon infused coffee?!) and search them for yourself. I would start with any conversations she's had with Oprah.

This was such a wonderful episode to enjoy. Thank you for listening. x

"Good".

He's an ex-NAVY S.E.A.L. and one of the scariest people you're likely to come across. His mindset and his attitude towards getting things done has now been turned to the business world and he's shaking things up as much inside companies, as he did on the battlefield.

He's Jocko Willink and he doesn't need ten words. He only needs one. So in this special episode, I curate three of my favourite Jocko stories and explain why he has such a huge impact on my life, and could do on yours as well.

Hooyah!

SHOW NOTES

• "Good" by Jocko Willink
• Jocko's Podcast [LISTEN]
• Jocko's YouTube Channel [INSTANT Motivation]
• Jocko's TED Talk "Extreme Ownership"
• Follow @JockWillink on Twitter
• Jocko Willink's legendary podcast with Tim Ferris
• 8 Lessons from Navy SEALS (Linkedin)
• "Discipline = Freedom" Post by Tim Ferris
• Tools of Titans [BOOK] Full of people like Jocko and curated by Tim Ferris
• Way of the SEAL by Mark Divine

"Growth. Love. Happiness. Fun. Belief. Enjoy your life (it's short)".

She's a worldwide sensation – and it's not without good reason. Her music is bouncy and uplifting, her looks are stunning, she is worth over $350M but the most intoxicating aspect about Queen Bey is her empowering stance on life. She wasn't handed her position as one of the most powerful women in the world, she worked REALLY HARD for it, and along the way she's modeled a few lessons we should all learn.

LINKS

• Beyonce's wikipedia
• Lessons we can learn from Beyonce
• 15 Success Secrets from Beyonce
• Beyonce's Career Advice
• What motivates Beyonce?
• Beyonce + Harvard Business School
• The Business of Being Beyonce (Harvard)
• How to Unleash Your Inner Beyonce
• Beyonce's 2013 Super Bowl Half-Time Show
• What Inspires Beyonce?
• Beyonce Facts
• You Don't Have The Same Hours in the Day as Beyonce
• Beyonce Interview on Sixty Minutes
• IBM's 1995 Ten Word Annual Report
• Management in Ten Words by Sir Terry Leahy

"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason".

In this episode we dive into the mind of a comedy legend in order to see what makes him tick and discover his secrets to successful storytelling. We also hear some surprising insights into his about work-life balance.

He's a writer, comedian, actor, director and producer who is worth over $670M. He made a show about nothing (which still brings him over $60M each year) making him the most successful comedian the world has ever seen. He's Jerry Seinfeld and you're going to love what he has to tell you.

** Jerry's comedy sets are 70-75 minutes, so I thought it only fair that we devoted a similar amount of time to Ten Words! **

LINKS

• Jerry's website
• Follow Jerry on Twitter
• Comedians in Cars on Netflix
• Interesting facts about Jerry from Rolling Stone
• The commercial success of Seinfeld
• Jerry's interview with Bob Roth about Transcendental Meditation
• Talking Funny with Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Louis CK
• Dissecting Jerry's PopTart joke
• Seinfeld's theme played by Anna Sentina

SHOW NOTES

This week I tried a different format and placed all my audio clips as post-it notes (instead of my usual Duarte notebook method) - matched to the mixing desk in BossJock Studio. I thought it worked out pretty well. Let me know what you think.

"The stories that we love will live in us forever".

In this raw and 'unpolished' episode of the Ten Words Podcast I go on a personal and professional journey with J.K. Rowling to uncover what drove her success, how she coped through the darker days and what inspired her to be a writer. I talk about her commercial success and the demons she's struggled with along the way and look at why she chose to mention the word "failure" thirteen times during her epic Harvard University Commencement speech in 2008.

J.K. Rowling is an incredibly impressive woman who held on to her vision as she turned down by the first twelve publishers who she approached with the Harry Potter manuscripts. And when her book was finally accepted, she was told not to give up her day job and write under the name of J.K. (instead of Joanne) because "boys won't read wizard books that are written by a woman"! But as with all magical fairytales, this one turned out beautifully and has a gorgeous ending that can inspire us all.

This show is also slightly more emotional than usual, given that J.K. Rowling inspired me to write shortly after I became bankrupt and lost my house, car, savings and marriage, and also dealt with failure and depression. I hope the sentiment of this show is OK and my personal feelings don't get in the way of you being inspired by J.K. Rowling yourself. We all have huge challenges and wonderful opportunities which we may or may not choose to chase and embrace.

"You can change the world just by sharing your story".

It is my wish that this podcast, in some small and tiny way, helps people to tell their story a little bit better, by listening to other people tell theirs.

SHOW LINKS

• Transcript for J.K. Rowling's 2008 Harvard Commencement speech
• J.K. Rowling Harvard Commencement 2008
• Speech analysis tool powered by IBM Watson
• J.K. Rowling tweeting writing advice
• Evan Carmichael's 10 Rules of Success for J.K. Rowling
• J.K. Rowling HATES My Video
• J.K. Rowling & Oprah
• "Harry Potter & Me" J.K. Rowling BBC Interview
• Mind UK The Mental Health Charity for anyone struggling with depression or wanting to help someone else who is.

MY SHOW NOTES

"A good human plus a machine is the best combination".

Garry Kasparov is a former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist. He is widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all time, but it was his famous matches against the IBM super-computer Deep Blue in 1996-97 where he wrote his name into history and brought conversations around artificial intelligence, and chess, into the mainstream. Garry is a 'beautiful mind' who believes that we should make decisions with our hearts and that normal people, using good tools, can achieve remarkable things.

"If you don't take risks you don't drink champagne".

In this episode we look deeper into Garry's 'ten words' by analysing one of his greatest presentations ~ his TED Talk from April 2017. By looking at the way that he structures his talk, we can begin to understand what makes him so unique, not just as a chess player, but as a storyteller. Doing something I've not done before, I hope you enjoy this "live" behind the scenes look at his presentation, as we look together at what makes a great story. I hope you enjoy his deep-dive into Garry's mind (from my point of view) as much as I enjoyed putting this episode together.

"We ask too much of technology and not enough of ourselves".

** See BONUS CONTENT for a special analysis of Kasparov's keynote from professional speaking coach Martin Brooks @Impacttologist **

MY SHOW NOTES

SHOW LINKS

• Garry Kasparov's TED Talk (Transcript in 23 languages)
• Garry's Masterclass
• Garry's "official" bio
• Alpha Go 'Official Trailer' featuring Google' Deep Mind
• The (Best) Jobs of the [near] future will be AI Trainers (Bloomberg)
• AI-Spy from The Economist
• "Your strategy needs a strategy" by Jeremy Waite (Linkedin)
• IBM Watson 'Personality Insights". FREE DEMO (Try on YOUR keynote or next presentation script)
• Current Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen
• Magus Trailer (Well worth watching)
• Human + Machine (Great article in WSJ)
• How Life Imitates Chess 'Making the right moves from the board to the boardroom' by Garry Kasparov (GREAT book)
• Garry Kasparov's Wikipedia page
• "Into the night". Fabulous FREE documentary as a 'day in the life' with Garry and Peter Thiel
• Business Insider Interview with Garry talking about "Man and Machine"
• FT Retrospective on when Garry met Deep Blue
• '5 Epic Fights Between Man and AI'. Great piece from New Scientist
• Follow Garry on Twitter

GARRY KASPAROV'S TED TALK

As analysed by IBM Watson

Note: The most successful companies are the ones who invest more in people than technology. "Organic intelligence" over "Artificial Intelligence". According to analyse firm Gartner:

Through 2019, every $1 enterprises invest in innovation will require an additional $7 in core execution – Gartner predicts that by 2018, IT service providers' modernization engagements to support digital innovation deployments will increase by at least 30% over 2016 spending levels.