War on Boring
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A New (and Better) Way to Craft Your Elevator Pitch

  • By Siôn Owen

Many years ago I worked for a short while in the commercial real estate industry as an assistant to a successful broker. He would send letters and leave voicemails using what he called the “blood in the water” technique. Like…

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  • Messaging Pitching
  • Tagged: business pitch easy pitch creator elevator pitch nonprofit pitch pitch builder product messaging startup pitch

How to Take Your Cover Letter from Boring to Brilliant

  • By Siôn Owen

“I am writing to apply for the Marketing Manager position you have posted on your website. I have 5 years of experience in campaign management and 3 years of experience in content strategy. I also excel at working with others…

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  • Career Advice Creativity
  • Tagged: application career cover letter hiring job search personal branding pitch resume

What the Heck is a Pitch, Anyway?

  • By Siôn Owen

The word “pitch” used to be viewed negatively, provoking images of an overly-aggressive salesman backing you into a corner and hammering you with his spiel until you either bought his product or curled up on the floor in a pool…

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  • Career Advice Pitching
  • Tagged: conversation message pitch sales salesy story

What’s Your Story? The Growing Importance of Passion Projects in the Tech Job Hunt

  • By Siôn Owen

“So…tell me about yourself.” Interviews often start out with this rather ambiguous prompt. How do you tackle it? One approach is to launch into a verbal resume, spouting your past experiences and degrees earned. But a better approach is to…

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  • Career Advice Creativity
  • Tagged: career extracurricular interview job hunt leadership learning passion story

What’s Your One-Sentence Product Hook?

  • By Siôn Owen

Something that’s often missing in sales and marketing is “the hook.” People launch into their spiel about all the great things their company offers, but they forget to warm up the audience first. Think of a good movie you saw…

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  • Messaging Pitching
  • Tagged: elevator pitch hook message pitch product product marketing

5 Ugly PowerPoint Slides to Avoid at All Costs

  • By Siôn Owen

Before the presenter had barely uttered a word, your mind had already checked out. You were no longer present in that meeting room – you were prancing playfully across a white sand beach, the fruity flavors of your boozy cocktail…

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  • Communication Style Pitching
  • Tagged: bad boring powerpoint slides ugly visual aids

How Product Marketing is Like a Road Trip

  • By Siôn Owen

After college my best friend and I drove across the country to live in San Diego, California. It was quite a road trip. A 3-day road trip, in fact. We battled a horrendous ice storm in Amarillo, Texas that nearly…

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  • Messaging
  • Tagged: content message messaging positioning product marketing story

Creativity at Work Comes from Everywhere but Work

  • By Siôn Owen

One Sunday morning I was searching around online for something interesting to do that day. I came across a website listing local classes in various topics – yoga, sushi-making, scrapbooking, blogging, and more. Suddenly my eye came across one that…

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  • Career Advice Creativity
  • Tagged: creativity inspiration lessons work

Is Over-Branding Killing Your Authenticity?

  • By Siôn Owen

There I stood at the check-out counter, waiting patiently as the cashier scanned my items. After the initial inquiry about my status as a Walgreens card holder, all conversation came to a screeching halt. I glanced lustfully at the bottle…

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  • Creativity Messaging
  • Tagged: authenticity branding consistency human messaging natural

Preposterous Pitches: The Best of Magic Hat

  • By Siôn Owen

Many of you know about Magic Hat. The lucky ones among you have had a chance to play it. But for the uninitiated, Magic Hat is my signature improvised, and comedic, pitch game that makes an appearance at almost all…

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  • Creativity Pitching
  • Tagged: business ideas funny pitch humor icebreaker improv improvised magic hat pitch pitch game
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