We needn’t be somber to be serious. Much of what Dr. Suess wrote...

We needn’t be somber to be serious. 

Much of what Dr. Suess wrote seems almost non-sensical… and yet we can’t forget it. Many of us can recite whole books from Dr.  Suess, after hearing them only a few times. We remember them decades after last hearing them. Why?

I think it is, at least in part, because they contain simple wisdom useful to us throughout our lives–but that’s not all. His particular style of writing, combining repetitive rhyme, rhythm and outrageous imagery creates a perfect situation for sparking the memory.

As presenters, advertisers and marketers, we all have much to learn from reading Dr. Suess. Do yourself a favor by taking a few minutes out to read one of the Suess books again. Then, perhaps, try your hand at writing something in his style. It’s a very serious exercise in improving your own ability to communicate–and it will be fun!

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Want a Lifetime of Better Brain Function? Science Says Stop Doing This (It's Not What You Think)

Want a Lifetime of Better Brain Function? Science Says Stop Doing This (It's Not What You Think):

Yes! Do something hard. Do something that scares you a bit. If you don’t continue to grow, you’ll slide… continued growth, continued improvement works for businesses, organizations, and individuals. If you commit to doing things that challenge you, you will continue to be vital and productive.

That’s a real wizard secret… delighted to see it repeated here in Inc. Magazine!

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Attending the Women’s March in Oakland last weekend was...

Attending the Women’s March in Oakland last weekend was inspirational… 60,000 true wizards changing the world with a positive outpouring of love and individuality. Do you have the courage to be your true self, to indulge your inner “unashamed mistfit?”

I hope so… I have to tell you, it’s kind of fun, and tremendously life-affirming!

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theritahaywortharchive:Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in You’ll...

This from one of the guys who figured out how to make the atom...

This from one of the guys who figured out how to make the atom bomb and use atomic energy. 

“How to use it” is up to each one of us. Given enough experience and reflection on that experience, you might develop the wisdom to use the various science, technology and other information available in ways that can benefit everyone. In this time of rapidly rising political turmoil and global change, we need more wise decisions every day. Don’t wait for our ostensible “leaders” to make them. It’s up to each one of us. True wizard-leaders do not need to be in “a position of power” to create positive change. Each one of us has that ability. That’s the true wizard’s secret!

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billtavis:wall of eyes remix In these times where we are all...

billtavis:

wall of eyes remix

In these times where we are all being observed, all the time, the art of directing attention, or misdirecting it, seems a more important skill to have. Want to learn more? Contact us at wizardventure.com. We can help.

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Going into it deeply enough–that’s the key! In...

Going into it deeply enough–that’s the key! In today’s “short attention span theater,” it grows harder and harder for us to focus on any one thing long enough to really think about it deeply. As a result, we’re in danger of becoming a society ruled by propagandistic slogans and advertising for things which have been made to sound good on the surface, but which, if we take a few moments to think just a bit more deeply, go against the very core of our beings.

This is not a simple issue, and applies to each of us, no matter what those core beliefs might be. “That sounds good,” or “looks fine to me,” should never be the basis on which we make major life decisions. But how do you find the time, the focus, to really think for yourself? We all believe we think for ourselves, but in fact, I fear most of us actually think the thoughts of others. “Sounds fine to me.”

The truth is, we each need to make time to think. If you fill all your time with social media, mass media (how many hours of TV did you watch yesterday?), or other forms of “busyness,” you’ll never manage the time to actually think your own thoughts. But if you consciously set aside time for thinking, perhaps for meditation, you’ll quickly find that time to be far more valuable than all the busyness or entertainment time you’ve been filling your days–and your mind– with. You have to make the conscious choice to do this, though.  There’s a whole world out there clamoring for your attention, and finding new ways to get it. Don’t let them win!

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There are many ways to get a different perspective on something....

There are many ways to get a different perspective on something. You can try and see it from someone else’s point of view. Or from a different physical angle. You can make yourself argue against a point of view you actually agree with… or you can simply give the thing you’re thinking about a different name. Sometimes you can find one that is actually a synonym. Here, I discuss how we might feel differently about the idea of political correctness if we call it something else. Maybe “civility,” or, better yet, “compassion.”

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Want to be an effective communicator? If your goal is to...

Want to be an effective communicator? If your goal is to transfix and transform audiences, you won’t get there by simply offering the “cold, hard facts.” A great story will certainly help. This is one of the keys they give to speakers at TED… wrap your message in a great story. However, anyone who has put together a magic show can attest to this: The best way to really rivet an audience’s attention, the best way to get them to “suspend their disbelief,” is to get them involved. Ask them to do something–to answer a question, to respond vocally or physically. Once an audience is involved, you’ve got them!

That’s the wizard’s secret of the day. Want to learn more? Contact us to set up a workshop or one-on-one consult.

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If you want to communicate effectively, tell a story. Here,...

If you want to communicate effectively, tell a story. Here, Marco Tempest demonstrates something that is actually new in the realm of storytelling. Enjoy!

And, if you want to find out more about just why stories engage us so thoroughly, and actually sometimes get us to change our minds, perhaps you want to have a look at my Wizard’s Way to Powerful Presentations!

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Here’s an old video we created to introduce the McBride Magic...

Here’s an old video we created to introduce the McBride Magic & Mystery School. Much of what we learned by creating magical events and workshops for magicians has now been translated into the talks and workshops we provide to entrepreneurs through The Wizard Venture.

We’re all dissatisfied with something. Everyone has situations they would love to change. But change is hard. Sometimes it’s hard to even see what you need to change. We can help. Using techniques from actor training, magic, hypnotherapy and more, we create effective transformative experiences. We can probably help you… just let us know what you’re unhappy with, or what you already know you need to change.

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So true! Yet change is hard.The need to create, accept and...

So true! Yet change is hard.

The need to create, accept and facilitate change, and to do so with wisdom, was the reason I created The Wizard’s Way books in the first place. True leaders inspire others to change–and it is not an easy task. But it is also not an impossible one, unless you insist on trying to use the same thinking that got you to where you are, that caused the problems you’re experiencing, to try and change them. 

Living means becoming someone new every day. Being a wizard means that you choose who will you become, instead of letting the vagaries of life choose for you. Who will you be today?

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It’s not enough to have a “big idea” to succeed. Much of success...

It’s not enough to have a “big idea” to succeed. Much of success lies in the details, and, if your project involves interacting with other humans, this is a great “secret technique” for making things go better.

It’s one of the things I teach in my new book on Marketing and Management for Independent Performers and Speakers, due out in just another couple of months.

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This seems to be almost a mantra of our fast-moving technology...

This seems to be almost a mantra of our fast-moving technology startups of today. I’ll bet most of those who repeat it today aren’t aware that it comes from Grace Hopper, creator of the COBOL language back in the 1960′s! The quote comes from the U.S. Navy’s Chips Ahoy magazine (July 1986).

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What do you believe to be impossible? Let’s learn to do “the...

What do you believe to be impossible? Let’s learn to do “the impossible” together. Once you’ve mastered one small impossibility, you’ll be ready to take on something bigger, and then something bigger than that. Soon, you’ll be taking on bigger and bigger “impossible” challenges, and those around you may start referring to you as a wizard!

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Do you remember a time when you felt a total and complete...

Do you remember a time when you felt a total and complete failure? Those times can be a gift, since they force you to start over and rethink everything you thought you knew. It worked well for Steve Jobs… may it work as well for the rest of us when we’re confronted with what feels like a huge life failure!

I’ve been there, and I’ll bet you have, as well. Take comfort in the company, and in knowing that so many others have come through even worse times. Then celebrate the chance to experience “beginners mind” all over again!

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cracked:20 Ways Your Perception Gets Screwed Up By Your...

cracked:

20 Ways Your Perception Gets Screwed Up By Your Brain

Here’s a bit of amusement for your mind on this rainy Sunday… hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I LOVE illusions like this.

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Here’s your Monday Motivation: Grace Hopper. Not only an amazing...

Here’s your Monday Motivation: Grace Hopper. Not only an amazing innovator who created one of the first (was it THE first?) computer languages, enabling all the great coders who came after here–she also set a great example for what it means to lead. Leaders inspire others to create great and lasting change, and our “Wizard Brand” of leadership means every team member can step up to lead and create meangingful change in the world.

Change yourself, change your world. What will you challenge yourself to change this week?

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“I don’t know” might be the most magical phrase in our language....

“I don’t know” might be the most magical phrase in our language. It is the basis for all science, all exploration of any sort, indeed, the basis for progress itself.

So take a few moments, consider some things that you’ve believed you know absolutely. Could you be wrong about them? How? If you examine them from different points of view, does your understanding of them change? Do they seem the same to you when you are very, very close to them as they do from far, far away? What assumptions have you made along the way to achieving that certainty that you know this thing you’ve decided that you know. Might some of those assumptions be false?

There is an interesting analog to this mental exercise which magicians go through regularly when attempting to create a new illusion. “What do I know, for certain, to be impossible?” 

Fill in the blank: It would be impossible that ______. OK… I agree. Now, how can I give you (the audience) an experience of that thing we both absolutely to be impossible? I know many magicians with whole libraries full of interesting answers to just that question–and others who simply create the answers themselves. If you’ve been reading this blog regularly, you’ve already met some of them. You might want to browse back and have a look…

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Reading words is a particular way of having an experience. I’m...

Reading words is a particular way of having an experience. I’m sure you’ve experienced that moment as a great work of fiction ends, and you must leave the imaginary world in which it had you immersed, and you wished for “just a bit more time there.” Perhaps you’re lucky, and the author has created a sequel, or maybe you just go back and reread your favorite sections. 

Those words changed you! I’m not just referring to the idea that they changed you on a psychological basis, or that you they’ve planted new memories in your brain. No–in fact, as you were reading and experiencing that new world, considering those new ways of thinking and being that the author had her characters experiencing–your brain was growing new neurons, making new connections. Your body was responding in very subtle but real ways–neurotransmitters were sending impulses to your whole body and you were actually mimicking, in your own body, the experiences you were only reading about. Those words were actually changing you!

I don’t know about you, but I’m extremely grateful for the ways in which words have changed my life. It was through words that I was introduced to the world of acting, performance art and magic–three pursuits that have hugely enriched my own experience of being human. It was through words that I got to experience the worlds of Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and all those amazing worlds created by Dr. Suess. Those worlds are a part of me and my “real” universe. The lessons their characters learned through experience are lessons I have learned, just as surely as they did.

But words and their power can be used just as surely to teach lessons of oppression and bigotry. Just as they can uplift, educate and enlighten, so can they be used to generate hate and darkness. Without the ability to think critically, to assess the intention behind the words we come into contact with, we open ourselves to having words used against us. So please: pay attention to all the words you encounter. Who is saying or writing them, and to what end? Are their facts real, and their logic true? Or are they simply attempting to use the emotional response those words might generate to influence you, or worse, take away your freedoms.

Remember: Real wizards questions everything. Especially the words of others.

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Let’s think about all those “resolutions” you may have made a...

Let’s think about all those “resolutions” you may have made a few days ago. What’s stopping you from getting 100% with the program. You know… the one you insisted you were going to get going with? Some of you started out, and have dropped it already. Others never started. A few DID begin their “new life path,” but thins just got in the way. Even fewer are still with it, moving on towards achieving the new life they want for themselves. Which are you?

And here’s the big question: What’s standing in your way? Not enough time? Not enough money? Too many distractions? 

I’m betting Emerson had it right… if you’re honest, you can trace all of those things standing in your way back to yourself. Had to go off the diet because you were “out to dinner with a friend?” Perhaps you could have just ordered the salad. It was only YOU who made the different choice. Failed to get to the gym because you “were running late?” So, who stopped you from getting up 20 minutes earlier, or engaging in whatever distraction “made you” run late? Could that have been YOU? 

We all make excuses. It’s only human. But if you want to transcend being the human you were yesterday, you need to get out of your own way and start being the human you want to be tomorrow.

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2017 is the Year of the Wizard, in which we re-launch the...

2017 is the Year of the Wizard, in which we re-launch the Wizard’s Way books with a clearer emphasis on using the Wizard Principles to re-make and energize the leadership, communication and innovation efforts for your business or organization.

We are pleased to introduce one of our prime-mover Wizard Associates, the amazing Jeff McBride. Jeff has performed around the world and on every major TV network. He is one of the most widely awarded magicians of our time, having been named Magician of the Year by Hollowood’s famed Magic Castle, set 3 Guinness World Records, and been a 3-time award winner at the International Grand Prix of Magic in Monte Carlo.

More importantly for our efforts, McBride is founder of the McBride Magic & Mystery School, “the world’s most prestigious school for magicians,” according to the BBC. He and his team are the creators of countless transformational events, not just for performers, but for individuals and organizations from all walks of life. An accomplished author, teacher, performer and facilitator, McBride joins us in bringing the unique sensibilities gained from a life in show business and personal transformation to the world of business and more effective social organizations.

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Few things are more important when communicating than that you...

Few things are more important when communicating than that you control your listeners’ attention. Even a moment or two when attention wanders can bring about failure. Don’t believe it? Try the exercise in the video and see how you do. If you get it right the first time, you’re unusual. But go back and watch again… once your attention is redirected, you’ll find it hard to believe you missed the thing you missed the first time! But if you were the speaker delivering a talk and your audience’s attention wandered to the wrong thing, even for a few moments… they will completely miss the point you want them to get!

At the Wizard Venture, one of the primary things we help our clients with is making sure attention gets directed properly within their presentations. It’s not enough just to create a logical and persuasive argument or a great story. To create an effective presentation, you must also control your audiences’ attention!

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