Better to be credible in front of a small audience than to be negligent in front of millions.
A few weeks ago, the New York Times released an article entitled Vaccines Need Effective Messengers. Here’s journalist Shira Ovide:
“Getting the science right is only one element of having coronavirus vaccines be successful. People must also trust them, and that requires an effective communications mobilization.”
The word to focus on in that paragraph is not “science,” “vaccine” or even “communications.”
It’s “trust.”
36 days after Tomas Pueyo published a massively popular article about the coronavirus, he was quoted saying this in an interview:
“I have no training in epidemiology.
You should definitely not trust me.”
Pueyo echos the feeling…
They’ll probably improve yours too
The brain is designed to answer questions.
For most of the year, the question I asked was: “How could it get any worse??” I found answers to that. Then, I asked “what made this year good?” I also found answers to that.
My guess is that you could make a list just like this. You can steal some from my personal list of 50 things that improved my life in 2020.
50. Cutting out critically acclaimed films
After 18 months of watching off Best Picture-winning films, Kate and I have turn to a steady diet of Rom Coms this year. We even watched Emily in Paris…
How a single, random phone call changed my life forever
6 years ago, I agreed to take a phone call from a stranger.
I had no idea what to expect.
An interview? A business pitch? An article idea?
Was this guy normal?
I paced around my queen-sized mattress, trodding across the hopefully-clean hotel carpet. Big drifts of snow were plopped randomly across the parking lot outside the window like some half-done impressionist painting.
It’s funny how life works. If the call had been offered a week earlier or a week later, I would have never taken it. …
When the world floods you with the wrong advice, what do you do?
Generally speaking, the message we are told in order to find success is not “make your work as frictionless as possible.”
It’s “hustle your face off.”
This story dominates our culture. It seeps into every nook and cranny, every blurb, every billboard. You can’t scroll YouTube without seeing an homage to the god of grind.
(Even though you still need them)
After refusing to touch the platform for 12 months, I’ve spent 10 days in a row on LinkedIn.
It started as a challenge from my friend Tim Denning. We’re building a LinkedIn course together. I’m the on-screen student, asking questions, taking notes. He’s the expert.
During lesson 5, I saw a note that was particularly cringe-worthy.
What movies, magicians, and a legendary writer taught me about finding a clear path to success
Movie season is like Christmas in the Brison household.
Every year, we line up the best picture nominees, grab a pile of snacks, and sit down for waves of spine-tingling inspiration and gut-wrenching despair.
The Sound of Metal took both of those emotions to a new level. The story of a musician going deaf coupled with exquisite sound design made the movie hard to watch in the best possible way.
The story behind the story is even more fascinating.
Riz Ahmed’s — the film’s lead — wore custom inserts that emitted a constant high-frequency pitch. …
What happens if you actually treat your audience like geniuses?
If aliens came to earth, what television show would you make them watch to learn about us?
You could show them The Bachelor, but then they’d be wondering why our mating rituals include presenting a plant. The Queen’s Gambit could make them believe that all drugs leave you seeing game pieces on the ceiling. Two episodes of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist may have them on tenterhooks waiting for a spontaneous song and dance.
I’d show them Ted Lasso.
This choice has nothing to do with the actors, the concept, the sport, the characters, the cinematography, or the scenery. …
A cautionary tale
A persistent question of the writing process is this: How do you write a single good sentence?
Last week, I was struggling with that exact question while writing a piece about the transition to self-employment. I thought it might be helpful to show you my exact process for editing ONE SINGLE sentence.
Be warned, what you’re about to read is a live peek at a writer’s brain…
It is a dark and scary place.
I write this sentence:
The answer isn’t as simple as “keep going”
Last week, a new friend asked an important question:
#1 — Because it’s not 2012 anymore
I have taken upon myself the difficult task of convincing you of a wild idea — that writing well about what matters is more important and meaningful than writing lots about what is popular.
It’s a hard job.
Current common sense says the person who does the most wins. 3 Instagram posts. 10 stories. 12 Tweets. 6 LinkedIn Updates. 2 new blog posts. 1 YouTube video. According to certain gurus, though, this pace of content is supposed to occur daily. It’s supposed to be the “only way.”
I’ll admit that in 2012, you might have been able to get away…
