Motivation, Hollywood style

Lots of my favorite movies illustrate motivation principles. Runaway Jury, A Civil Action, The Insider, The Rainmaker, Quiz Show. Documentaries that fail at motivation include An Inconvenient Truth and Sicko.

How to motivate with video 2: Six ways to inform the mind

Here are 6 tips on keeping our content informative … without preaching: Talk like you’ve been listening. Today we need the audience’s permission to present our movie.  So approach them with a listening attitude — a perceptible sensitivity to why they may be troubled, baffled, or bored. Acknowledge the barriers, their questions. This is really [...]

Inspiration – III

Enjoying some personal recharge time in San Diego, I met a couple of committed walkers who taught me some great insights into authenticity as a personal and institutional lifestyle. I was climbing Cowles Mountain, the highest spot in San Diego county. It’s a great spot to enjoy the sunrise — an hour up, 15 minutes [...]

Humor as perpetual emotion

An open letter to Andy Beedle… I’m an Andy Beedle fan. Love your sense of humor, admire your ability to assemble a creative staff and deliver a measurable marketing success to college clients. I share your commitment to the college market, and share your perspectives on many issues related to marketing to Millennials, including the [...]

Making them weep

One of the goals I’ve always had in a fundraising video is to “make them weep”. An article in the Washington Post explores the reasons why the media is so effective at stimulating tears. Desson Thomson compares the findings of two scientific studies that use movies to stimulate weeping. William Frey and Muriel Lanseth published [...]