This might just be the most important book you read this year.
In fact, it's the best book on communication I've read since Carmine Gallo's, Talk like TED.
I’ve been lucky enough to follow Alice Driscoll and Louise Van Haarst’s journey through MicDrop for a few years now.
They’re the hottest authors and speakers in town, and for good reason.
Not only does every single page have something both valuable AND practical - which as every author reading this knows, is no mean feat.
It is also a masterclass in positioning.
In fact, all the ingredients of world-class positioning can be found on that beautifully designed front cover.
Let’s break it down…
‘Smart Conflict’: The power of an own-able word or phrase 🧠
You say 'Alice and Louise,' I say 'Smart Conflict!' Notice how:The phrase itself makes the topic clear (unlike my own book, Make it Count - which while catchy, without the subtitle, could be about anything).
Notice how the oxymoron prevents it from sounding too negative?
The best bit? Easy to remember = Easy to Recommend = Virality‘Hard Conversations…’: Problem-first positioning 🚦
SO many people fall into the trap of passion-first positioning. E.g. “How to have better conversations at work” or worse yet, “How to have better conversations.” Passion first positioning makes your topic:More aspirational/inspirational, and therefore
Less tangible and harder to sell
Worse still? You become nice to have, not need to have.‘… at work’: Trigger events
The exact moment something becomes urgent for your audience. When you position your products, services, talks, or workshops around these, your topic goes from “interesting” to “essential.”
In this case? Hard conversations at work.Every company has them every day
Every team has them every week
Being able to handle hard conversations at work is what we might publicly want (public goals), but the real reason we’ll read this book is because of the impact it will have on the our conversations outside of work (our selfish desires).
This stuff really matters.
Alex
This is the kind of work we focus on inside MicDrop, my community for founders using talks, workshops and podcasts to grow their businesses. Find out more
