LEARNABILITY 23 March

Welcome to my monthly newsletter with nuggets for growth and development.

I don't know what it's like where you are, but here in Barcelona, spring has sprung and the weather is lovely.

So whether you enjoying the good weather or not, let's get on to those LEARNABILITY nuggets:

?? Entrepreneurs

The 15-Second Pitch

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to run a Pitch Perfect event by entrepreneur Jamil Nahra . Attendees could practise and get feedback to improve their ability to get their idea across as effectively as possible. One factor discussed was the importance of time. How much time does it take to capture someone's interest?

3 minutes?

1 minute?

30 seconds?

How about 15 seconds?

The 15-second pitch is a defined concept and works like this...

1. One Simple Message: Start with a concise and attention-grabbing message that summarises what you are offering. This message should be expressed in 10 words or less. It serves as the hook that captures your audience's interest.

2. Three Key Details: Support your message with three key details (or features). These details should be easy to grasp, impactful, and relevant to your audience's needs.

3. Focus on the Audience: Tailor your pitch to focus on how your product or service will improve the lives of your audience. Underline how choosing you will benefit them and address their pain points directly.

4. Keep it Simple and Focussed: Stick to one big idea. What barrier they can overcome? What promise are you making? Avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information too soon.

5. Practice and Improve: Practice your pitch regularly to make sure you can give it confidently, naturally, and effectively.

Thus my 15-second pitch would be something like...

"Make real, measurable career progress by joining my accelerator program. It's tailor-made, tried and tested, and gets results where other methods fail. Beat procrastination and become a better version of yourself by starting today."

There's always room for improvement, but it gives you the idea.

By using this structure, you can create a pitch that resonates with your audience in just 15 seconds.

Try it.

?? HR

Try Doing This For 1 Week

This idea was inspired by the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k, Mark Manson . If you can convince your team to do this, it can transform your work environment overnight.

The idea is simple - stop being negative for one week.

No complaining.

No criticising.

No moaning.

No sarcasm.

No swearing.

It’s not easy, but it's worth trying. You could even have a negativity jar - when someone says something that's not nice, they put a pound/euro/dollar/piece of jewelry in the jar. (WTF?!?!)

Start with the people in your office and see how it goes.

How could you make this work?

?? Learning Clubs

Diversity Rules

As you may already know, I run development accelerators called Learning Clubs.

But I also encourage organisations to set up their own Learning Clubs.

The ideal number of members for a Learning Club is 4 people.?

Why?

Well, that's for another newsletter.

But once you accept that, your first decision is who should you invite to join. Who are ideal Learning Club members?

An ideal Learning Club member

• Has a clear personal development need
• Is open to trying a new way of learning
• Understands how a Learning Club works
• Can attend all meetings?
• Contributes to a psychologically safe space

While it’s tempting to form a Learning Club with a few friends or colleagues from the same department, these people tend to come with preconceived ideas and biases.?

A group formed by people from different teams, departments, levels, or even unofficial social groups is of more value due to the diverse range of its members. Having a variety of generations, genders, cultures, and backgrounds can prove to be a highly valuable asset to the group.

So if you're interested in setting up your own LC, start thinking about the most diverse team of 4 people you can put together.

I'm sure my friend and fellow Learning Club ambassador David Rigby would agree.

?? Lifelong Learners

Perplexity

Imagine you have to select one person to fill a job vacancy from 100 applications.

You have 2 assistants.

One brings you the pile 100 applications, each in a separate file with a cover letter, application form, CV, and other relevant documents.

Your other assistant has already analised the 100 applications and has selected the top 5, explaining why they have been singled out, plus a recommendation for the best candidate overall.

Which assistant would you most value?

I ask, because this is the difference (at the moment) between Google and the AI app Perplexity.

Google gives you a long list - including sponsored sites - for you to wade through.

Perplexity gives you a summarised answer synthesised from the content of various pages, all referenced.

It makes finding the relevant information you are looking for much easier.

It's lovely, and I fell in love with it the first time I tried it.

Thank you, Brooks Cole , for recommending it.

www.perplexity.ai

?? Speakers and Event Planners

Talkadot

This isn't an AI app, but it's still worth being mentioned here.

I used this at my last speaking event at BPM Barcelona run by APMP and it's already proved it's worth.

Talkadot is a tool designed for professional speakers to enhance their presentations and get valuable feedback.

It offers features like collecting testimonials, capturing leads, generating new speaking opportunities, and providing actionable insights to improve talks.

It's a simple but effective idea that's easy to incorporate into your next presentation.

The Co-founder, Arel Moodie , has a host of videos on Youtube to make learning how to use Talkadot even easier.

Thank you, Francisco Mahfuz , for recommending it.

www.talkadot.com

What I'm Doing This Month

• It was great to be part of BPM Barcelona conference and speak about LEARNABILITY. Thank you, Chelsea MacKenzie , for your support.
• Speaker's reel: After speaking at BPM, I've realised my speaker's reel?is 4 years old and well out of date, so this month I'll be getting a new one made.
• Coaching 4Voices: I've been assigned my coachee for 4Voices next month's final held in CosmoCaixa on 27th April. More info - www.4-Voices.com
• PSAUK Impact: I'm also immensely looking forwards to being part of PSAUK Spring Conference on 13th April where I've been invited to be one of the experts on their 'Ask the Experts' panel along with my good friend Tulia Lopes .
• RIP The Learnability Show - for the moment: The sad news is I'm taking a break from my Podcast The LEARNABILITY Show. I enjoy doing it, but as the number of Learning Clubs increases, the hours in a day don't. So, for the moment, my podcasting is having a break.
• Reaching Out: Following some valuable advice, I'm making an effort to reach out to event organisers and focus on getting more speaking gigs, which I've realised I enjoy very much (it's just the selling myself which I find painful).

?? If you're interested in setting up a Learning Club accelerator in your organisation, contact me here on LinkedIn.

?? If you are organising an event and would like your attendees to triple the value they get from it, invite me to lead with my keynote on Learnability.

?? If you are interested in selling me your services on website design, marketing or lead generation, please don't. I already have people who are doing it and I'm very happy with them, so stop spamming me... pretty please.

In the meantime, have a great month, and keep learning ??