Launch Youniversity

Turning Good Intentions into Reality in Your Career, Business and Life

meetings

How to Win Meetings + Influence People

by Leave a Comment

Have you ever been in a meeting that could have been an email? How about a post-lunch, Friday afternoon meeting where it was clear that nobody felt like being there? What about a meeting where one person dominated the conversation with negativity?

Check, check, check.

Challenging meetings are a part of business. They’ve always been around; and until the day when Amazon robots start running the show (joking, kind of), they always will be. But what if we told you there’s one way you could make any meeting a productive one? Yes, any meeting! [Read more…] about How to Win Meetings + Influence People

061: Communication Is Multiplication

by Leave a Comment

Communicating is key to a successful pitch or presentation via the launch youniversity podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
061: Communication Is Multiplication
Loading
/

SUMMARY:

In this week’s episode, Launch Youniversity members Jeff Henderson and Kevin Jennings discuss communicating new ideas. Launchers tend to believe that their idea alone is magic, but Jeff and Kevin explain why communication, messaging and phrases are key to true impact. When pitching an idea, it’s not about information, it’s about buy in.

Welcome to Episode 61 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

HELPFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES:

Free eBook Launch Loop text LAUNCHPAD to 345345

Elevator Pitch

How I Built This Podcast: Sarah Blakely of SPANX

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1.  Messaging Matters

Launchers struggle with communicating new ideas. They tend to think the idea is so great that it sells itself. While the idea may be great, communicating it to others is what really makes it come to life. Gone are the days of slide decks and power points.

Most launchers may think, “The more information I have the better I’m going to communicate.” But this isn’t always true. You won’t get buy in of your idea by immediately spouting facts, numbers and details. Finding the right message to showcase your idea is important and can be difficult; but, just because it’s difficult to find the right messaging doesn’t mean you aren’t on the right track with your idea. Don’t be discouraged if it takes time to find the perfect fit.

2.  Process. Prepare. Practice.

Jeff is a preacher’s son. As a boy, he remembers feeling amazed that his father’s words had the ability to impact people’s lives in such a strong way. This inspired Jeff to study other communicators to determine what made them successful. He noticed each communicator had a process that he or she followed, similar to the Launch Loop. He also noticed great communicators prepare and practice before presenting to their audience. Ask trusted mentors, coworkers or family to listen to your presentation. Ask for their honest feedback. If you aren’t able to gather anyone to watch, video yourself instead. Both options may feel awkward, but it’s key to being prepared.

3. A Phrase that Pays

When communicating an idea to a friend or colleague, you may see the interaction as simple addition. But to really get traction on your idea, consider it more like multiplication.

Think of it like this: You not only want to impact the person you’re talking to, but you want to impact five people down the line from him or her. You want them to understand your idea so well that they tells others (who will tell others, who will tell others, and so on).  Remember, think multiplication if you want your idea to spread with you. Bonus tip: If you want to test whether your idea stuck, ask your colleague to repeat it back to you in the attempt to sell you on your own idea. If you get a blank stare, you know you have more work to do.

052: Get More Done: Time Management Tips You Need Today with David and Shane

by Leave a Comment

This podcast originally aired in May 2017

SUMMARY:

Welcome back to another episode of the Launch Youniversity Podcast!

Today, Shane and David are talking about the techniques they use to manage their day, take care of their to-do lists and achieve their goals. If you’ve ever thought about all the things you want to accomplish and thought “How will I ever get this done?” then this episode is for you.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Calendar plan once per week. 

Sundays are known as meal prep days for a lot of people, but what about calendar planning? Often, we look at our big picture goals, but we don’t do the work to break them down into realistic small goals. The way David combats this is with a weekly calendar planning ritual.

First, he looks at his goals for the quarter. Then. he breaks them down by week. Then, each Sunday, he sees what he needs to accomplish over the week and breaks it down into days. He puts those tasks on his calendar and blocks out the time to do it.

2. Do what only you can do. 

Shane calls this “finding your genius.” It’s the place where passion and skill collide. For Shane, he wants to be the one in his family who takes care of the finances, but over time he’s found that he doesn’t really like doing it and that his wife is better at it. Instead, Shane’s gifting is goal-setting and encouragement, so that’s what he puts his focus on. When you’re operating in your genius and doing what only you can do, you’ll not only find personal fulfillment but it’s where you’ll make the biggest contributions to those around you.

3. Get rid of low payback activities. 

Evaluate the activities in your life that offer little payback on getting you closer to the things you want to accomplish and either eliminate them or put boundaries on them. Social media is a prime example of how easy it is to get carried away in a low payback activity. There’s a bunch of apps you can download that help you track your social media time and put parameters on it. Or, you can choose 1 or 2 times a day where you give yourself a specific amount of time to check updates.

047: Make Your Idea Happen: Lessons and Best Practices From the Team

by Leave a Comment

SUMMARY:

Having the right ideas is the fun (and easy!) part. Putting those into action is where the hard work starts. David, Jeff and Kevin are on the podcast today talking about the lessons and best practices that have helped them move their ideas and dreams into plans, and those plans into action.

Welcome to episode 47 of the podcast.

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. You calendar can be more than your list of obligations. Let it be your plan.

Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and thought “I don’t even know what I did today?” Not because you weren’t busy, but because you didn’t have a plan. And because you didn’t have a plan, you went from obligation to obligation without being able to check anything meaningful off of your to-do list.

To solve this problem, every four weeks David does a deep-dive into his calendar. Yes, he blocks out things like vacation time and meetings, but what about the things that often get pushed aside when you get busy? Like working out, cooking dinner, or even spending time with your kids or spouse. When you make a plan for how you’re going to spend your time and schedule it, you have instant accountability to know what you need to be doing and when. It helps you prioritize the things you care about, see any gaps of free time and feel like you’re actually  accomplishing what you want to.

2. Still no time? Determine where you’re overcommitting. 

Make it mathematical. If you’re trying to base it on projects or causes you care about, you’ll always be overcommitted. Figure out how many hours you want to ideally be spending with family, on work, and in recreation. Then, based on those numbers, figure out how many extra hours of free time you have. If you find that you have 8 hours of free time per month, but are involved in your local chamber of commerce that eats up 25 hours a month… something has to give. Lay everything out on the table, make it mathematical, and then cut back.

3. Strategic Relationships

When we’re busy taking care of action steps, we can forget about the people. Who are the strategic people you need to focus on when you’re planning out our week or month? Spouse, child, co-worker, peer networking? Don’t forget about the people.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky

Basecamp

Tommy Newberry’s Weekly Focus