“I could be like an agent for my customer instead of some VP of marketing,”

“If you can make your thoughts clear to yourself, then another part of your brain can take a closer look.”

If you play enough exhibition matches, you’ll start to see patterns in the feedback. Sometimes you’ll come to the realization that your entire pitch isn’t working. Instead of throwing away your dream, have the courage to reboot your style and begin again.

We tend to be more passionate when we’re advocating for someone or something other than ourselves.

Reid Hoffman

By the time I was backstage for my speech, I had practiced twenty-one times and was almost hoping for a mishap so that I could flex my newly built recovery muscles. I finally understood what it was like to feel bulletproof.

When you walk into a room to present your idea, the spotlight is on you. Your job is to turn that spotlight away from you and toward your message.

What moves people isn’t charisma, but conviction. Backable people earnestly believe in what they’re saying, and they simply let that belief shine through whatever style feels most natural.

great ideas typically stem from an “earned secret”—discovered by going out into the world and “learning something that not a lot of other people know.”