Hi,

“Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold.” – Joseph Parry

It’s been a year since I have started sending these monthly emails. The purpose of which is as the title indicates, to stay connected. I am lucky enough to get to be a part of so many different journeys and meet so many people that have impacted me through the years. For this, I’m grateful.

I hope you continue finding these emails useful. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve them.

** For this month, here are some ideas, hacks, and mental models to think about:

TED Talks founder’s tips for a great presentation
The four types of people in a meeting
Write to clarify your thinking and clear your mind
What do you do?
Sleep, cytokines, and immunity

** TED Talks founder’s tips for a great presentation

Giving a speech or presentation via Zoom is far less intimidating than in a room of 500 people. However, it is far more difficult to keep the intention of the audience. Your audience is not captive, your presentation is one of a dozen open windows. I recently listened to a podcast with the founder of TED Talks, that gave some of his top tips for a great presentation:

1. It’s not about you

If your talk is about you or designed to make you look good, you have already failed. Think of your talk as a gift to others. You can literally rewire the brains of the people you are talking to.

2. Make a connection immediately

Use humor or an anecdote.

3. Show early on why this idea matters to the audience

When preparing your talk, ask yourself what is important to your audience.

4. Build your idea, starting where your audience is, not where you are

5. Address the potential objections head-on

Sir Ken Robbinson TED talk is a masterclass.

** The four types of people in a meeting

Controversial former GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt categorized four types of people in any meeting:

Switched on and focused
Those who talk too much but add little value
Quiet, yet insightful
Silent and Smoldering

Your role as a facilitator/leader is to recognize who's who and have strategies for all four types. Be careful not to typecast.

Harder yet is to understand which one you are in a meeting.

** Write to clarify your thinking and clear your mind

Writing has been an invaluable tool for me. The more I write the more I realize that I am the primary beneficiary. Writing helps me clarify and sharpen my thinking. Tim Ferriss has a great video on how to use writing to improve your thinking. Here is my favorite tip:

Morning Pages introduced by Julia Cameron - a freehand exercise, putting down anything, from 1-3 pages of stream-of-consciousness writing. This serves as an easy way to get into the practice of writing and being able to get thoughts down on paper. Two main benefits:

Takes the anxieties of your head and puts them down a on paper
Helps you see your own thoughts from a different perspective, to see which areas of your thinking are dull and which are sharp.

Watch the video

** What do you do?

I’m constantly being asked by folks, what do you do? It’s a question that has both become increasingly difficult to answer and one that bothers me. I finally found a better question by the CEO of Gallup, Jim Clifton:

“My big movement idea is to have people stop asking each other, "Where do you work?" or "What do you do?" and have them ask, "What are you building?"

** Sleep, cytokines, and immunity

The more I learn about sleep, the more I am protective of the high-quality sleep I'm getting. When you sleep, your immune system releases a protein called cytokines which fights infection, inflammation, and trauma.

One benefit of working from home is that I know I can take a daily nap. Recommend you give it a try.

Wishing you a sunny August!

Until next month,

Ahmad