Enhancing Creative Flow

Rick Rubin went on stage in Helsinki the day after my talk. Someone asked how he resolves creative differences with artists. His answer was simple: change the conversation from "I disagree" to "let's build it." Then he shared a story: An artist played him a song. The transition didn't work. Rubin told him so. The artist said, "We'll just cut that part in half." Rubin thought to himself: What a dumb idea. But he didn't say that. He said, "Let's try it." The artist played it. It worked. Rubin is a legend. He's produced everyone from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z. Instead, he bit his tongue and let the artist prove him wrong. The principle: when you make an idea tangible, it stops being the person's idea. It becomes something you can both look at objectively and improve together. Once you build it, the truth is obvious. Here's what this looks like in practice: Your designer wants to change the entire homepage layout. You think it's too risky. Instead of three meetings debating it, you say: "Let's build a prototype and test it with 50 users this week." Your sales team wants to restructure the pricing page. Instead of blocking it because you're worried about conversions, you say: "Let's run it as an A/B test on 20% of traffic for two weeks." Your engineer wants to rebuild a core feature from scratch. You think it's overengineered. But instead of killing it in the planning phase, you say: "Spike it out in three days and show me if the performance gain is real." You're not saying yes to everything. You're saying, "Let's find out." Rubin also said something that stuck with me: "If there's disagreement, I always side with the artist's vision. Because to them, it's their career. To me, it's just one piece of my portfolio." Most leaders think backing down makes them look weak. Rubin knows that siding with the person who has the most at stake makes better work happen. Your job isn't to be right. It's to create the conditions where the best idea wins. Stop debating. Start building. P.S. This insight is from this week's newsletter where I break down why Yamaha dominates while Steinway got sold to private equity: https://lnkd.in/efSqP_9K P.P.S. Access additional research links, the podcast, and the full archive in the first comment 👇 Thank you to Nordic Business Forum!

I have been an Instagram and LinkedIn creator for 7 years now. Several videos and posts of mine have gotten over a million views. And, that’s not all. I get 10-20 inbound leads daily without a single cold dm/mail. My students and clients often ask me - “Saheli, how do you get such creative ideas?” With the growing creator economy, there is an increasing misconception around this topic. You may think that creativity comes naturally to these creators, but you cannot be farther from the truth! Creativity isn’t inherent. You need to use your creative muscles enough times to truly hone the skill. Yes, it’s a skill and not a trait. How do I do it?, you may ask. I look for inspiration outside these social media platforms. Here are the Top 5 things that gets me going- - Books - Essays - Writing - Movies - Movement This helps me connect dots, and produce high quality outputs for my personal brand and clients. As freelancers and entrepreneurs, we always have to keep our creative hats on. However, it does get exhausting after a point. ➝ Here’s how you can train your brain to be more creative- Doing these 3 things regularly will help you come up with novel ideas every now and then- 1. Movement Block time for walks, cycling,or gym so that those endorphins come into play. 2. Indulge in new experiences New experiences trigger your creative thinking. It forces you to think in a different direction altogether. 3. Journal in Third Person POV It is an incredibly powerful technique, which means you will have a bird's-eye view into your own brain. I understand that it can be difficult to get out of your head sometimes. It happens to the best of us, don’t worry. P.S - How do you get over your creative blocks? Tell me in the comments below?

The worst marketing meeting is the ad-hoc brainstorm. It looks like this: Everyone joins a Zoom call. They exchange pleasantries. Then someone opens a blank document or a spreadsheet and says, "Let's hammer this out right now." The extroverts on the call spout off ideas with ease. They add 30 ideas to the list. The quiet creatives' brows furrow. You see them trying to will their minds to squeeze out at least one exceptional idea. It rarely works. Breakthrough creative can't be forced. You can't time box your next great campaign idea into a 30-minute list-making exercise. Instead, let their ideas marinate. Keep that call on the calendar, but keep it to 15 minutes. Outline the job that needs to be done by when and why. Then tell your creatives to go do something else. Take a walk. Do a collage. Build LEGOs. Journal. Allow their thoughts to simmer and bubble up and fully cook in their minds. Let them come back to the table with solid ideas one or two days later. I promise those ideas will be better than what you can list on a Zoom call.

Even the most famous creators have had their bad days. And if you feel that you are the only one struggling to find your next creative idea or just not feeling the vibe then you are wrong. Several others like you have had those days and they have accepted that creativity is not something that comes to you 24x7. This is what I do on such days and even you can do it too:  → Trying something out of your comfort zone is not a bad idea. It is okay to try new formats and storytelling techniques and see how that turns out. → Trying keeping some time aside for meditation or just a walk in your daily routine. This boosts creativity helping you work on content with more energy and clarity. → Sometimes, you just need to sit with yourself and observe, be it people, nature, or art. Initially, it might not make sense but it will inspire you with fresh content ideas. → Working all the time will not make you look cool or make things easy. So step back and give your brain the time and space to breathe and recharge. Being in the creative industry requires a lot of focus and you need to learn how to deal with those creative blocks. It is honestly not as difficult as most people make it. What strategy do you use to deal with those hard days? #creativeblock #contentcreator

A neuroscientist in Norway spent 20 years testing what your grandmother already knew. Audrey van der Meer, a professor at NTNU in Trondheim, put 256-electrode EEG caps on students and gave them a simple task: Write words by hand. Then type the same words on a keyboard. The brain did not respond the same way. Handwriting set off a coordinated burst across the brain. Memory, touch, movement, and visual areas worked together. Theta and alpha rhythms rose across parietal and central regions, the kind of activity linked to learning. Then the students typed. Much of that network went quiet. Typing relies on repeated, identical keystrokes. The brain has less to map, less to track, less to remember. Other research points the same way: ↳ Princeton found that students who took notes by hand did better on tests of conceptual understanding ↳ Laptop users captured more words, but processed less ↳ Adults recalled calendar events about 25% faster when they wrote them by hand ↳ Print and cursive both worked. The varied hand movements mattered most We gave students keyboards because they were faster. But faster input can mean thinner thinking. The brain does not treat every movement the same. Forming a letter by hand is a small spatial act. Pressing a key is not. Some U.S. states are bringing handwriting back into schools. Van der Meer's team is also urging educators to protect handwriting in early education before tablets take over. One answer to modern learning may not be another app. It may be a pen. What do you still prefer to do by hand? Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld, for ideas on thriving as AI rises and leaders stay human. Source: van der Meer, A. L. H., & van der Weel, F. R. R. (2024). Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1219945. milamarksonoffice

A ceramics teacher split her class into two groups. To one group, she gave a simple instruction: “Make as many pots as you can. You’ll be graded on quantity.” To the other, she said: “Make just one pot. But make it perfect. You’ll be graded on quality.” At the end of the week, something unexpected happened. The quantity group, in their rush to produce, iterated constantly. They tried new shapes. They learned from cracked handles and warped lids. Each failure taught them something. By the end, they had made not only the most pots — but also the best ones. The quality group? They spent most of their time theorizing. Planning. Sketching. Worrying. Their pot, though done, was far from perfect. This story plays out in plenty of situations and initiatives, big or small. When building products, don’t wait for perfection. Start building. Ship. Learn. Repeat. Iteration is how excellence emerges. Doing is how you find direction. Especially in today’s AI-fueled world, where the ground is shifting fast — the teams that move, learn, and ship quickly will beat the ones that wait for perfect specs. So the next time you find yourself overthinking, remember the pottery class. Just make another pot.

After analyzing hundreds of the world's most iconic speeches and presentations, I discovered a presentation framework that changed my life... I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in my office mapping this presentation framework over famous speeches like Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and Steve Jobs’s presentation of the first iPhone. Over and over, these iconic presentations DIRECTLY aligned with this framework. It was so startling that I actually cried (a little). This discovery changed everything for Duarte and led to the creation of a framework that’s at the core of our business. We call it the Presentation Sparkline™. Whether you’re launching a new product, you’re trying to close a big contract, or you’re giving a keynote, this framework delivers results. …and it has for (literally) hundreds of years. Here’s how you can begin using it for your next high-stakes presentation: 1. Start by acknowledging your audience's current reality (make THEM the hero). Begin your presentation by describing specific challenges your audience faces, using their language and perspective. Interview stakeholders beforehand to understand their frustrations, concerns, and goals so you can reflect these accurately. This demonstrates you understand their world before attempting to change it. 2. Create a stark contrast between this status quo ("what is") and the future they desire ("what could be"). Paint a vivid picture of what success looks like after implementing your idea or solution, focusing on concrete benefits and outcomes. Use sensory language that helps your audience feel, see, and experience the transformation you're proposing. Make this future state emotionally compelling, not just logically sound. 3. Toggle between these states throughout your presentation to create the BIGGEST possible gap between them. Deliberately alternate between describing pain points and their corresponding solutions throughout your presentation, rather than grouping all problems at the beginning and solutions at the end. This helps create tension and builds up your audience’s desire for the future you’re painting. 4. End with a clear choice: remain in the status quo or take action toward transformation. Conclude by framing a specific decision point that puts the power in your audience's hands. Make the call-to-action concrete and immediate - something they can do within the next 24-48 hours to start moving toward the "what could be" state. Remind them what's at stake if they choose inaction. Remember: Your presentation is only as effective as the action it inspires. And I’ve seen this framework deliver time and time again. P.S. I have a YouTube video where I break this framework down in far greater detail. I left a link in the comments. #BusinessStorytelling #CommunicationSkills #PresentationSkills

I stared at the blank screen, desperate.  Nothing but a blinking cursor.  Every sentence I typed, I deleted. I had no post I could create.  Every idea felt stale. And the longer I sat there, the worse it got.  Maybe I’ve said everything worth saying.   Maybe I’m just not in the right mind.   Maybe I should just skip this one.  And then it hit me.  Writer’s block isn’t a lack of ideas.   It’s a lack of permission.  The person who started writing the post?   He was trying to be perfect before being real.  He was over-editing instead of digesting.   Ideas were deleted before they could breathe.  Great posts don't come from thinking harder.   They come from writing messier.  Want better ideas?  Say the bad ones out loud.    Want to grow your business?  Launch before you feel ready.    Want to improve at anything?  Let yourself be bad at it first.  Perfection doesn’t create progress. Momentum does. 

261 hours per year on PowerPoint. That’s how much time the average person spends working on their slides. That’s a staggering amount of time. What’s worse? Most of it is wasted on formatting! People often ask me how I prepare my PowerPoint presentations. My answer surprises them: “I don’t think in slides. I think in concepts and stories.” For me, slides are not the starting point—they’re the final step. Instead of being constrained by Slide 1, Slide 2…Chart 1, Chart 2, I focus on crafting a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. My way: Story 1st, Slides 2nd This mindset shift happened years ago, and it transformed how I present. Here’s my simple 3-step framework for building impactful presentations: 1️⃣ Set the plot Start by painting a vivid picture of a problem or situation. Create a gap that sparks curiosity and propels your audience out of complacency. Think about why so many stories begin with, “Once upon a time…” It’s an invitation to a journey. 2️⃣ Add the twist Introduce contrast. Show the audience the gap between what is and what could be. Guide them through a transformation. As you alternate between the present and the envisioned future, make the latter irresistibly appealing. 3️⃣ Call to action End on a high note. Inspire your audience with a compelling vision of what’s possible if they embrace your ideas. Give them a clear, actionable next step. Once I’ve nailed the story structure, the data, charts, and slides naturally fall into place. PowerPoint: a tool, not a hindrance With this approach, I’m not constrained by slide sequences or formats. I can adapt to audience questions, improvise, and make the presentation more engaging and memorable. The story drives the presentation, and PowerPoint simply becomes the tool that enhances it. What about you? The next time you start a presentation, take a step back. Are you designing slides—or are you telling a story? Shift your focus. Start with the story, not the slides. And watch your presentations transform from forgettable to unforgettable. If you found this helpful, try this approach in your next presentation, and let me know how it goes!

I have a confession to make. I have been guilty of putting people to sleep during my presentations. Unfortunately, not once, but many times. I could blame it on the complexities of tech topics or the dryness of the subject. I could always console myself by saying that at least it's not as sleep-inducing as financial presentations (sorry, my friends in Finance). Deep down, though, I knew that even the most complicated and dry topics could come alive. As with anything, it's a skill and can be improved upon. Thus, I turned to my friend Christopher Chin, Communication Coach for Tech Professionals, for some much-needed advice. He shared these 5 presentation tips guaranteed to leave a lasting impression: 1/ Speak to Their Needs, Not Your Wants Don’t just say what you like talking about or what your audience wants to hear. Say what your audience needs to hear based on their current priorities and pain points: that sets your presentation up to be maximally engaging 2/ Slides Support, You Lead Slides are not the presentation. You are the presentation. Your slides should support your story and act as visual reinforcement rather than as the main star of the show.  Consider holding off on making slides until you have your story clear. That way, you don’t end up making more slides than you need or making slides more verbose than you need 3/ Start with a Bang, Not a Whisper The beginning of a presentation is one of the most nerve-wracking parts for you as the speaker and one of the most attention-critical parts for your audience. If you don’t nail the beginning, there’s a good chance you lose the majority of people. Consider starting with something that intrigues your audience, surprises them, concerns them, or makes them want to learn more. 4/ Think Conversation, Not Presentation One-way presentations where the speaker just talks “at” the audience lead to dips in attention and poorer reception of the material. Consider integrating interactive elements like polls and Q&A throughout a presentation (rather than just at the very end) to make it feel more like a conversation. 5/ Finish Strong with a Clear CTA We go through all the effort of preparing, creating, and delivering a presentation to cause some change in behavior. End with a powerful call to action that reminds your audience why they were in attendance and what they should do as soon as they leave the room. By integrating these, you won't just present; you'll captivate. Say goodbye to snoozing attendees and hello to a gripped audience. 😴 Repost if you've ever accidentally put someone to sleep with a presentation. We've all been there!