Riffs, Tiffs and What Ifs

To win at business or life, adversity has to be encountered, faced, fought and defeated. There is no other way. No options. You either beat it, or it beats you. Win, or you lose. Simple. Right? No. Lessons and Blessings It's never black and white. Never win or lose. Something always bleeds over. Always. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. Sometimes a little of both. But hopefully each experience brings with it lessons and blessings - even if you don't know it at the time. This is one such story ... but I didn't know it at the time. Another Winning Loser Several years ago I was turned down for the CEO position at a well-known hosiery company. Now granted, I didn’t have much (any) experience in the creation, production, marketing, sales or distribution supply chain of the hosiery industry, but being of the gender I am, I was quite certain I could articulate the benefits and unique selling proposition (USP) of the product in a compelling and pro...

By Steve Kayser, Squareballs Entertainment One particular day, after receiving a rejection letter (the first among many that I’ve never acknowledged) I got a little ticked. I mean, c'mon, I just spent three months banging out 120 pages of the best screenplay America has never seen . A classic. A beaut. Super SWEEEEEEEEET! I mean Robert McKee would actually be nice to me if he read it. He'd call Acceptance Bridge " a symphonic unity in which structure, setting, character, genre, and idea meld seamlessly ." Ok. probably not. But R obert McKee has been nice to me before. Did a story with me. Mentioned something about being charitable to any mentally challenged screenwriters in Cincinnati. AHHHHHH Acceptance Bridge. It has the heart of “Rocky,” the cherubic innocence of “Forrest Gump” and the underlying spirituality of “Gandhi.” (You are now getting very, very sleepy ... think “ Acceptance Bridge ,” and get your checkbook out.) A quick sale for sure. I'll be fair and...

I'm asked a lot about the Kilt I wear. Do I really wear one? If so, why? And why don't I shave my legs? Good questions, all. To be completely honest I started wearing the kilt after I lost a bet. One I was sure I would win. In fact, I stacked the odds so I would win. So much for my mathematical pretensions. The "bet" started while writing an in-depth article with legendary creative impresario Ken Sutherland. It was about marketing and advertising stupidities, hilarities and some surprising successes encountered through the years in his career. Ken has won numerous awards for marketing, advertising, and music, including: four Clios, more than 300 Gold Addys, two Gold Camera Awards, three Cine Golden Eagle Awards, two IBC Awards, and the London International Advertising Award. He’s also been voted to Ad Week Magazine’s All-Star Creative Team. The article with Ken was fun. Educational, informative, lots of lessons learned from being burned. And some real scary, death-...

Dare You Try to Solve … Decipher the Da Donkey Code and win a “Shoot the Donkey” ball cap! High-Fashion Object of Desire That’s right, you’ll be on the cutting-edge of the elite fashion vanguard, considered the eclectic gravitas of chic, the future rage of out-of-vogue, and … you’ll be able to proudly, pompously, March to Your Own Donkey in a radical reinterpretation of cool … your high-fashion object of desire … the ball cap. Just fill in the blanks (if you can … it’s Byzantium tough though). Enter: The Da Donkey Code A S _ _ _ _ (5 letters) murder during b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( 8 letters) h _ _ _ _ (5 letters) at the L _ _ _ _ (5 letters) museum is discovered by the "Honorable First Donkey" of the complex sale, S _ _ _ (4 letters) P _ _ _ _ (5 letters) . It reveals a sinister plot to hide b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (8 letters) v _ _ _ _ (5 letters) behind a non-clandestine use of c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (9 letters) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ k (12 letters) . The vi...

We've moved to a new site - WritingRiffs.com Appreciate you checking this article out at WritingRiffs.com . We'll be deleting all the content on this site over the next few weeks. Thanks! Steve I recently received an e-mail from a reader espousing the benefits and yes, even absolute necessity, of using PowerPoint slides during sales presentations (see see below). "Steve! No way you can give a sales presentation without PowerPoint. Business people expect it ... demand it! You must be a marketing bonehead!" Obviously the reader doesn’t know me. Do I look like a marketing bonehead? But, the vehemence and hard-core fanaticism of the reader’s comments (which I do not include here due to my civil nature) made me rethink my position. That’s right. I might quite possibly have been wrong. As hard as that is for me to admit, it’s true. I’m flip-flop...

We've moved to a new site - WritingRiffs.com Appreciate you checking this article out at WritingRiffs.com . We'll be deleting all the content on this site over the next few weeks. Thanks! Steve Listen and Find Your Way to Freedom Mosha was once a dark-haired beauty. But now, a black hollowness surrounded her eyes. And she was death-camp, stick-figure thin. She was death-camp, stick-figure thin because that's where she was. Her face was swollen and bruised. Beatings were her daily bread. Mosha was a classical piano teacher. Loved Beethoven. Mosha had been teaching a student Moonlight Sonata when they came for her. They shot and killed her student but kept her alive. One needs classical music such as Beethoven’s, to uplift the soul and keep spirits soaring when working in a death camp. So they kept her alive. The Nazi officers asked her to play for them. She refused. They asked her. She refused. Music was not for a death camp. And Beethoven was sacred. So they placed both...

We've moved to a new site - WritingRiffs.com Appreciate you checking this article out at WritingRiffs.com . We'll be deleting all the content on this site over the next few weeks. Thanks! Steve Steve Kayser interviews Robert McKee, legendary guru of Hollywood storytelling and the best-selling author of "STORY." Competitive Advantage in the Complex Sale. Everyone wants it. Challengers need it. Losers whine about it. Winners have it . How do you get it? And ... What’s love got to do with it? Read on my friends … What follows is an innovative approach to the Complex Sale following the Shoot the Donkey format and incorporating the key Shoot the Donkey principle of: "Taking decisive action to remove all obstacles to success." Robert McKee, the best-selling author of " STORY " and legendary guru of Hollywood storytelling, is going to concisely explain in an earthy, easy-to-understand interview, how Story principles ...