At last …
Had my third meeting with the wonderful Raymond Davi today where we completed an elevator pitch/positioning statement that I actually love.
I cannot tell you the sense of relief this provides me with — SERIOUSLY.
For one thing, it relieves me of the burden of having to define myself afresh to strangers (and lets face it, strangers are scary enough to begin with.)
I got out of this perfectly at a dinner party last month where we had to go around and introduce ourselves. I just got to say, “Susan can introduce me so much better than I could” — and she did (FABULOUSLY, of course).
But when I went to my first networking meeting for THE TABLE in San Francisco and we had to stand up and introduce ourselves, Susan wasn’t there and Belle really did not step up to the plate verbally.
I have found myself getting mired in listing credits and projects –– and there are too many; UPWARD DOG’s release, and the novel being option for film, and MIRACLE touring six continents, not to mention the visual art, and when we start to get into the yoga … well, it’s an endless sea of impressive credits but without a handle.
And now we have that handle — or umbrella if you will — which is both accurate and intriguing.
I am
A Playful Provocateur
Who Creates Breakthrough Experiences
In Books, Body, and Soul.
I love that!
And the second part — my point of difference if you want to use marketing speak — is
I’m the artist who can make you laugh, cry, move your body, and transform your life –– all at the same time.
And then I can start telling you about the books and the films and the plays and the yoga and the paintings — that is if you’re interested (which I sincerely hope you will be.)
I really do think we found the right phrases to describe everything from YOGA IN BED to the novel to taking one of my yoga classes to the Dropback Canvases.
[Of course, the ultimate irony would be if/when I have a super-massive success and end up just being “he’s the guy who wrote those Harry Potter (2013) books.”]
If you’ve never been in this situation –– ie, you have a great, simple job description “I’m a brain surgeon at County General” for example –– you might not fully appreciate my sense of relief.
Yet it’s not just a marketing scheme that’s given me this satisfaction. It’s deeper than that.
Part of it, I realize, is that artists (and teachers) are motivated by the desire to communicate something (or a whole bunch of things) and by the satisfactions that offers.
Really, the best answer to the question for me of “what do you do?” is, “Why don’t you sit down in this room with my seven books, my two feature films, a stack of canvases, LLS will brilliantly perform MIRACLE IN RWANDA live, and oh yes, there’s this other large pile of in-progress work; I’ll come back and get you in a few days and then we can discuss it.”
Besides satisfying the desire to be understood, having a statement at the ready means that I can avoid my own internal dialogue about listing various things, wondering if it sounds scattered, and thus feeling compelled to list every single award and honor I’ve won in order to be taken seriously despite working in different media. [That’s because even though strangers are very scary, their opinions are EXTREMELY important it seems.]
Most importantly, though, it does somehow make you feel EMPOWERED to have a ready answer to define your complicated work.
Even though it may only be a presentational tool, somehow, like wearing your very best outfit or getting a haircut before a job interview or your shoes shined, having a positioning statement really does allow you feel at your very best.
OK — time to create some more playfully provocative breakthrough experiences in body, book, and soul.
Menu
