
Resources
& Articles
Condensing vs. Clarifying: How Long Should Your Message Be?
In this week's article, let's figure out when and where to focus on brevity, clarity, or both.
3 Creative Ways To Leverage Your Core Message
In this week's article, we explore what a core message is, how it works, and I'll offer three creative ways to use it in your marketing, to quickly connect with prospects, collaborators, and even your own team.
How to Confidently Nail Any Interview (Without the Questions)
You’re about to be interviewed on a podcast. You know the general topic you'll be asked about, but you have no idea what questions will be thrown your way. Oh, and you only have eight minutes. Plus, it won't be edited.
In this week's article I'm breaking down how I used our Core Messaging system to be totally prepared without any rehearsing, and delivered a knockout interview.
Speaking in 2025: 7 Lessons from the Red Dot for the Rest of Us
In 2024, our team at Conquer the Red Dot® had the privilege of helping 7 students book their talks and 11 speakers to deliver the talk of their dreams at conferences including TEDxAlexanderPark, TEDxBocaRaton, TEDxWesternU, and TEDxBelltown Women.
They spoke on topics from finance to activism to mental health to the science of balance, racking up a combined 1,724,000 views and one Editor's Pick.
Why Audiences Stop Listening Even If You're Interesting
In this week's article, we're discussing how you can turn your audience's attention into true engagement so they'll stick around long enough to hear about your brilliant solutions.
How to Set New Year Goals, TED-style
Every December, we’re bombarded with the same advice: Set goals. Make resolutions. Be better, faster, stronger next year.
The problem isn’t you; it’s the way we’ve been taught to plan.
Resolutions are narrow. They focus on what you’re doing but rarely ask why.
Keynotes vs Workshops: How the Medium Shapes the Message
In this article, we're going to look at two common mediums, or vehicles, for speakers to deliver their content: keynotes and workshops.
What are they, what is their purpose, and what can we do to ensure our message is received in the best possible light?
A Better Way to Start a Speech
Learn the essential strategy for opening any talk, presentation, or pitch with impact. This guide explains why typical tactics—like starting with a story, statistic, or question—often fall short, and introduces the “Premise Principle” for engaging your audience from the first sentence with clarity and purpose.
How To Get Paid More Without Changing Your Work
I’m scrolling through my feed when I see it again: another 'professional' venting about clients expecting top-quality work for pennies—or worse, for free.
“Why don’t clients value our work?!” the post reads. “It’s like they think I should be grateful for exposure! I’ve spent years perfecting my craft, and they still ask me to work for next to nothing!”
I shake my head and start to scroll by, but I just can't let it go. This problem is SO easily solved, and it starts by asking yourself a simple question:
"Is there anyone else in my market doing similar work and getting paid more?"
How to Create the Conditions for Lasting Change (with Tamsen Webster)
Last week I had the incredible honor of sitting down for a livestream Q&A with my friend Tamsen Webster to discuss her latest book, Say What They Can't Unhear.
Tamsen is the idea strategist for the legacy conference TEDxCambridge, now TEDxNewEngland. She is also the author of modern classic Find Your Red Thread, and affectionately known to us in the industry as "The Idea Whisperer."
In this article I'm recapping some of the biggest insights from our conversation about how to create lasting change.
How To Thoughtfully Respond To Public Disagreement
Can we agree that "thought leadership" has lost a bit of its cache? It's also rather confusing. What IS thought leadership? I don't know, but I know all true thought leaders do three things: Make assertions, make judgments, and make predictions.
The problem? When I give this advice to my clients they often feel anxious. And when I inquire, they tell me the anxiety comes from a fear of being wrong... but that’s not it. The real fear? It’s the fear of being disagreed with. Publicly.
And that's totally understandable. Disagreement can feel like an attack on your credibility, your authority, or even your identity.
But here’s the thing: there's no leadership without disagreement.
How to Strengthen Your Brand with a Core Emotion
Learn how powerful branding works by pairing a core message with a core emotion. This article explores how intentional messaging creates emotional connections, using a personal anecdote to illustrate the impact of consistent, emotionally-driven communication that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.
