This week promises two exciting events I want to share with you here.
The Pop-Up Pitch: The Two-Hour Creative Sprint to the Most Persuasive Presentation of Your Life
Dan Roam, author of “Back of the Napkin” and several other modern classics of visual thinking & communication, releases his new book today after a year’s preparation.
I’ve written about Dan in this blog before as one of the folks whose work I follow. Dan runs a subscription service called the Napkin Academy for people interested in learning how to use these principles of visual thinking and communication more effectively and I’ve been a member for several years now.
Dan decided to share the process of writing his new book with Napkin Academy associates like myself through his monthly webinars, so I’ve had a ringside seat now for months. It’s been fascinating and informative to watch Dan develop his concepts, content, and visuals, and then bring them together into the final form of the published book.
And today is pay-off day.
In The Pop-Up Pitch, Dan shows how to use simple visual thinking tools to craft a powerfully persuasive pitch within two hours:
I built the book around a simple, practical, and tactical storytelling template that will help you quickly craft the most memorable, compelling, and persuasive presentation of your life.
In the book, Dan demonstrates how to use the Visual Decoder and his 10-page Pitch Template (free for download here — because he knows you will want to know more!).
By sharing his process for writing and publishing the book, he has also encouraged other people to follow his lead and start writing their own books Several Napkin Academy associates, both previously published authors and not-yet-published ones, have joined in the monthly webinars to share their thoughts and progress via Dan’s “homework assignments” he’d give us.
It’s always magical to see how Dan works, and watching him develop this book over the last year has been awe-inspiring. No, I have not been writing “my book” all along. But I do have some ideas that I think I could shape into a book using this process, so I am looking forward to seeing the final manifestation.
My copy arrives tomorrow. Order yours today — The Pop-Up Pitch: The Two-Hour Creative Sprint to the Most Persuasive Presentation of Your Life”
“The Heartbreak Handbook” (Kickstarter)
Performing musicians — the only musicians actually earning a living from their music in this age of streaming services — took a huge financial hit during pandemic lockdowns. Some created new sources of revenue like livestreams, but most still needed more money to make up for lost performance fees — and had more time for writing and recording new music.
Ben Jones is half of our favorite Austin musical duo, Beat Root Revival. Both he and his partner, Andrea Magee, released their own solo CDs during the pandemic, and are happy to be once again performing live and in-person.
Now, Ben is asking for crowdfunding support via a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to prepare, produce, and promote a double-CD, “The Heart Break Handbook.”
Lockdown was hard on us all, in different ways, and we all had to find our own pathways through it. I was fortunate enough to have the time to write the songs that will make up this new album, a project I’ve had in my head for the longest time; to have enough thematic songs to justify making a double album; and, as Elton John and Bernie Taupin said, ’Sad songs say so much…’
To help promote the Kickstarter campaign, Ben will be hosting a special livestream event on his Facebook page this Thursday, November 11 at 5pm CST. Please drop in to listen to Ben’s pitch for support in making this album, whether or not you wish to help fund his efforts.
Click here to support Ben’s CD, “The Heartbreak Handbook”
So, I’ll be enjoying Dan Roam’s new book and Ben Jones’ new music this week. I recommend you do the same.
Buller's back porch 