The Red Thread Podcast

The best topic for you is at the intersection of 4 things, and the concept of Ikigai can help. To figure this out for yourself, you can do an "Idea Ikigai" with four sheets of paper.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• An Easy Way to Find Pieces of Your Personal Red Thread – EP040
• Focus on the TRUTH: The Difference Between "Understandable" and "Inevitable" – EP055

We're renaming a piece of the Red Thread because the truth is it isn't working like it should. It can be easy to get mixed up between the idea behind your message or pitch and the Idea Statement that comprises a part of its Red Thread.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• EP055: Focus on the IDEA: The Difference Between "Understandable" and "Inevitable"

The narrower your focus with your message, the broader your reach with your target audience. If that sounds counterintuitive to you, you're not alone. However, this is often referred to as the universal paradox of messaging. The most effective messages feel like they were made just for you.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• EP060: Solving the One-to-Many Message Problem
• Simon Sinek TED Talk - "How Great Leaders Inspire Action"

There are 3 beliefs that your audience needs to have in order to make a change. First, that it's possible to achieve the goal they want with the change you're recommending. Second, that it's possible for them. And third, they need to believe that it's worth it.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• EP072: Turn Your Idea Into a Keynote Presentation
• The Red Thread Worksheet

When you're trying to clarify and simplify your big idea, the word "only" is extremely important. You need to make sure your audience gets only what they need in order to act. To do that, focus on the action that you're looking for.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• EP056: Focus on the CHANGE: Defining the Intent That Guides Action
• EP057: Focus on the ACTION: How to Make the Change Actually Happen
• EP071: How to Make a Change More Actionable
• The Red Thread Worksheet
• Actions List

To get an to audience make a change in a short presentation you need to know where they already are. Instead of focusing so much on the time slot, we need to focus on the amount of change that is possible in our audience, given the time slot.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• Ignite 5-minute Talks
• Joe Smith's "How to Use a Paper Towel" TED Talk
• Max Tegmark's 16-minute talk, "Consciousness is a mathematical pattern" for TEDxCambridge
• The Red Thread Worksheet

Making a great keynote presentation is about showmanship, but not quite in the way you might think. Yes, you need to engage the audience and be inspiring, but you also need to show them that you've answered three questions: Is this possible? Is this possible for me? And, is it worth it? The Red Thread gives you the tools to make that happen.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• EP058: Focus on the GOAL – Putting the "Feel" in "Think, Feel, Do"

Just because we understand something doesn't mean that we'll actually do it, which is a problem if we're trying to get someone to make a change or take an action. That means we need to design our messages to accomplish a specific mental outcome: we need to be specific about what we mean by "understanding." To help us, we can use the model of Bloom's taxonomy.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

• Bloom's Taxonomy
• The Red Thread Weekend
• The Red Thread Worksheet

Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks have very different audiences but, as big brands, they have something in common: constancy. Their entire experience revolves around where their Red Thread and their audience's Red Thread align. Both deliver coffee, but you'd never mistake one for the other because their customers have different Goals.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• Starbucks Vs. Dunkin': Business Models Compared
• Subscribe to Find the Red Thread on YouTube
• The Red Thread Weekend
• The Red Thread Worksheet

Anytime you're pitching your idea, there's one clear hurdle you need to get over in order to succeed: someone else needs to find your idea irresistible. The thing they're looking for when they listen to you is information, but it's a certain kind of information that will actually win them over: they're looking for a Curiosity Gap.

Find the Red Thread at TamsenWebster.com.

Resources

• Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
• "Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are" - TED Talk by Amy Cuddy
• The Red Thread Weekend