Okay, out of all the corporate world advice I've shared so far, this might be the most important. I'm giving a big presentation to tech founders this upcoming weekend in San Francisco and it reminded me that over the course of my last job, I have changed completely the way that I talk to people in positions of power and I'm gonna show you exactly how. And I'll even transform into the work version of myself so you can see some examples of what I mean. Once you get to a certain level in your career, people are paying you not just for your expertise, but also to be confident about your expertise. And this is what it looks like. People who are in positions of power and are paying you a lot of money, they don't want you to be wishy-washy. They hate that. They want you to tell them exactly what your perspective is and stick to it. So here's what that looks like. Instead of taking a long time to get you're warming up, you're saying things like, so in the last couple years, something I've learned, you have to just go directly to what you want to say. So say they ask your opinion on when should we post this video? In the past, I would have been like, um, there's been a couple different theories on this. And what I would say, no, they do not want you to do that. They want you to look at them and say, Friday at 9:00 AM. They would literally rather you be wrong than waste their time and do a wind up and be wishy-washy. They're even gonna test you on your perspectives about things at times. Don't take the bait. Double down on what you said originally. So here's what that looks like. They might say, a buddy of mine actually told me that the best engagement time is this. The old version of me would have been like, oh, that's very interesting. Let me look into that. No. You're gonna just lock in and say, that hasn't been my experience. So now I'm gonna give you a before and after of the presentation that I'm doing. So three years ago, I would have been like, hey guys, we're here to talk about social media. I'm so excited to tell you everything that I've learned. Absolutely no. I have changed the tone entirely. So basically what I'm gonna say to these founders is these things on social media are in. In 2025, this is what we're doing. These things on social media are out. Don't do them, they won't work. Stop trying to make them work. Even if I'm essentially giving the same advice in both forms of that presentation, which I'm not a different person. I have the same level of expertise in both versions. You're gonna hire the second person. You're not gonna hire the first person and you're probably gonna think they don't know what they're talking about. We worked a little bit with a social media consultant, a YouTube consultant specifically, and watching her handle questions from these important stakeholders was a master class for me because she was so direct. And people loved it. Like, there were times where I was like, oh my gosh, she's like a little spicy, like, are they gonna be offended? Or they gonna be like, uh, I'll give you an example. They'd be like, I think this thumbnail is better. And she'd be like, it's not. That one's not good. This one's good. And instead of people being like, I don't really like her, they were actually like, wow, she's a fantastic consultant. Let's work with her and also recommend her to other people. Take a page out of my own book. I'm ending this video with a directive, which is stand 10 toes down. Say what you think confidently with your full chest. Don't let anyone throw you off from it. And I guarantee you that you'll be seen as more of an expert than if you had been like, let's talk about every possible option.
