Todd Henry

Developing your voice is a lifelong journey. You never fully “arrive”. However, if you don’t have a clear sense of where you’re going, you’ll likely drift through your days until you one day realize that you’ve allowed the pressures and unremitting sameness of daily life to cause you to settle into a mold you never chose. To continue to grow, you need to embrace a few natural principles that I talk about in chapter nine of Louder Than Words.

In today’s marketplace, no one works in a vacuum. We all have to do our work in the company of others, and for many of us, we also have to lead others in doing great work every day. The leader is the chief “dot connector” for the team. This means that you are constantly looking for patterns and helping everyone else see the opportunities in front of them, even before they can see them on their own.

You have to help everyone around you develop their collective voice as a team. That’s what we’re going to talk about today, as we cover chapter eight of Louder Than Words.

It’s not what you know that makes a difference in your life, it’s what you do about it. You can have all of the understanding in the world of a topic, but if you don’t put it into action, you won’t see change. That’s why it’s important – if you want to find your sweet spot and make your ideas resonate with others – to have some daily practices that help you do so. In this episode, we’ll talk about some of those practices as we cover chapter seven of Louder Than Words.

Throughout the course of this series I’m giving away a copy of my four hour video course Everyday Brilliance to one commenter on the site. To enter, just go to Bookcast.net and leave a comment on this episode. This week’s question is this: What one practice will you implement this week to help you develop identity, vision, or mastery? Leave a comment below to enter.

You can have a great sense of who you are and what you’re doing in the world, and a sharp sense of vision, but if you lack mastery of the skills necessary to bring that vision into the world, you will not be effective. No one will listen to you, because you will lack credibility. If you want others to listen to you, and better yet, to act on your ideas or respond to your work, then you need to achieve mastery of a few key things: timing, and skills. That’s what we’re going to talk about on today’s episode of the bookcast, with insights from Chapter Six of Louder Than Words.

You don’t do your work in a vacuum. Whatever kind of work you do, you probably have to collaborate with others, serve customers, and regularly explain why your idea is the best one in the bunch. But in order to do that effectively, you have to have a vision for the outcome you’re trying to achieve. In today’s episode of the bookcast, we discuss how to define your Intended Audience, and how to make your idea precise and consonant.

As I’ve mentioned, each week I’m giving away a copy of my 4 hour video course called Everyday Brilliance. It distills the practical applications from my first three books into 40 video modules and worksheets. To enter, just answer the following question in the comments:

Think of some work that you’re doing right now, or an idea that you’re trying to get adoption for. Who is your intended audience for your work? If you’re a writer, think of a person. If you work for a CPG company, you might have to think a little harder, but you still need to do the exercise if you want clarity around what you’re doing and you want your ideas to resonate.

This week, we begin our discussion about the three drivers of the “voice engine” by diving into Identity. Do you know what really drives you? Better yet, do other people? If you want to be respected by others, and you want your work to stand out, people have to know where you stand. However, many people simply don’t know how to discern what matters and what doesn’t, or they settle into the fold in order to not make waves. In this episode, I introduce some practical questions to help you uncover what truly drives you and bring it to your work every day.

Download a worksheet to help you apply the notables.

Each week I’m giving away a free copy of my 4 hour Udemy course to help you organize and unleash your best work every day. To participate, just leave a response to this week’s question in the comments below. We’ll choose one commenter each week to win the course.

This week’s question: What do you think the through-line is in your best work? What seems to be a common theme between the times when you are most effective and most alive?

In any endeavor, there will always be a gap between how great we want to be, and how great we truly are at the moment. This is the aspiration gap, and it plagues many creative pros. However, there is a specific process we can follow to close it, and in this episode (and chapter of Louder Than Words) I explain how.

In this episode of the Louder Than Words Bookcast, we talk about the three common hurdles that we all encounter as we strive to do great, unique work, and what we can do about them.

Each week I’m giving away a free copy of my 4 hour Udemy course to help you organize and unleash your best work every day. To participate, just leave a response to this week’s question in the comments below. We’ll choose one commenter each week to win the course.

This week’s question: Which of the hurdles do you experience the most in your work?

In this episode of the Louder Than Words Bookcast, I introduce the concept of the Voice Engine, and the three core drivers that every resonant, compelling voice exhibits.

Each week I’m giving away a free copy of my 4 hour Udemy course to help you organize and unleash your best work every day. To participate, just leave a response to this week’s question in the comments below. We’ll choose one commenter each week to win the course.

This week’s question: Which of the three drivers of the Voice Engine do you think you need to work on the most?

Welcome to the Louder Than Words Bookcast, designed to help you develop your voice and go to the next level in your work.