Steve Kayser's Riffs, Tiffs and What Ifs

Are You Still Relevant?

Steve Kayser — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:41:48 +0000

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler

I heard a couple of acquaintances talk about a person they work with that was "older" and no longer contributing to their business. This person apparently couldn't, or wouldn't, learn new skills. Or, for that matter, even keep up with the skill-set needed for the job. Age was mentioned, and not favorably. They thought this person should be "put out to pasture."

Building Yourself a Better Brain

Steve Kayser — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:09:36 +0000

An interview with Dr. Rick Hanson, neuropsychologist and author of the bestselling Buddha’ Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom. It has been translated to 21 languages and spent over 300 days on Amazon’s list of top 100 best-selling non-fiction books. Dr. Rick has a new book out called Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time. He has taught at Oxford, Stanford and Harvard and his work has been featured in BBC, NPR,, US News and World Report..

Best of STORY and Storyteller Interviews 2011

Steve Kayser — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:35:29 +0000

Robin Hood, Batman, Hoop Dreams, Zanskar, Bagger Vance - they're all here. Learn from best-selling authors, screenwriters, storytellers and movie-makers Steven Pressfield, Pen Densham, Michael Uslan, Frederick Marx and Robert McKee.

Good Intentions Gone Bad!

Steve Kayser — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:42:35 +0000

Featuring an interview with Lynne McTaggart, author of "The Intention Experiment." I fully intended to keep my 2012 New Year's resolutions. I knew it would be hard. But I had good intentions. I had good intentions. Really. I lasted ...

Son of a Pitch!

Steve Kayser — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:50:00 +0000

How could the absolute worst pitch of all-time lead to anything positive? This one did. It was a miracle and soulfully enriched beyond belief. It was meant to be passed on.

So This is Christmas

Steve Kayser — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:05:41 +0000

So fast. Another year past. 2011 gone. 2012 soon upon. How did you do? What did you do? What did you do that really mattered? Have you even thought about it that way? Or …

How to Really Achieve Your Childhood Dreams

Steve Kayser — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:51:46 +0000

If you had one last time to pass on all you had learned in this life – in a letter, video, speech or lecture – what would you say? How would you say it? Ever thought about it? Who would you say it to? Would you be maudlin or mirthful? Would you talk about achieving [...]

There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama … Does E Still =MC2?

Steve Kayser — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:52:22 +0000

I received an email from a Mr. Ger Corrigan in Ireland with the subject line, "There's No One As Irish as Barack Obama - Einstein and The Neutrino Song." I was getting ready to delete the email but I thought the subject line was so unique and interesting I'd open it up. Truthfully, I was expecting a male enhancement advertisement espousing supraluminal tumescent effects. I was wrong. What I found was a pot of gold.

Have CERN Physicists Found Einstein’s Big TOE?

Steve Kayser — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:38:46 +0000

Einstein had a dream A big TOE dream. Is it possible that Tesla's little-known dynamic theory on gravity that involves the absorption of ether by matter and CERN Physicists discovery of faster-than-light particles could fulfill Einstein's dream of grand unification?

Tesla vs. Einstein: Transcending the Speed of Light?

Steve Kayser — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:18:54 +0000

Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein. Geniuses both. One believed the speed of light unbreakable at 186,000 MPS.. One believed the speed of light barrier could be broken ... because he'd already done it. Guess what? Looks like Tesla was right.

The Way It Is – Marketing Fantasy vs Reality

Steve Kayser — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:27:33 +0000

Hubspot has published a helpful e-Book called "Marketing Fact vs. Marketing Fantasy." It's for Marketers, PR folks, Product Evangelists or any executive that really wants to understand the changing dynamics of business communications. Though marketing is in the title, it could have easily been named,"Business Development: Fact vs. Fantasy."

Say No to No … to Know

Steve Kayser — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:00:17 +0000

Too short. Too fat. Too dumb. No Imagination. No creativity. No skills. Face for radio. Voice for print. Too macho. Too Wimpy. Too lady-like. Too butch. Too bald. Too much fuzzy hair. Wrong color. Wrong race. Wrong sex. Out of his depth in a parking lot puddle. Neanderthal brain in a Cro-Magnon body. And … just who in the "H--E-doubLe-hockey-sticks” do you think you are?

The Management vs. Marketing War: Left-Brainers, Right-Brainers and the Ever-Present No-Brainers

Steve Kayser — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:18:58 +0000

There’s a war going on in American business. It’s a war that causes great ideas and products to vanish. To get lost in the clear fog of logical logic. A devastatingly destructive war that helps bad ideas take root and flourish (albeit briefly) justified by common sense and … logical logic. It’s Left-Brain Management vs. Right-Brain Marketing. What does that mean? How does it work? What to do about it? Find out in this interview with bestselling authors Al and Laura Ries.

How to Create Ideas to Revolutionize Your Business or Life

Steve Kayser — Sun, 29 May 2011 19:49:57 +0000

Is there a magic formula that can enable you to put your feet up in a chair, daydream and think of ideas that can change everything for you? In business and life? Yes, it's "4 I's > C2." Features interview with Joey Reiman, author of "Thinking for a Living."

For the Fallen – Memorial Day 2011

Steve Kayser — Sun, 29 May 2011 16:54:30 +0000

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them. - From “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon

The Greatest Presentation of All Time?

Steve Kayser — Sat, 28 May 2011 19:26:42 +0000

All great presentations have one thing in common. Do you know what it is? Here are 10 exceptional examples down through the ages. Can you see it? And what about the greatest presentation of all time? It had no PowerPoint. No video. But it had that one thing.

Riding the Alligator in the Complex Sale … Hollywood Style

Steve Kayser — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:45:31 +0000

To win at the complex sale, one must be a storyteller, strategist, master tactician, cajoler, evaluator, philosopher, psychologist, bean counter and often, magician. But what about a really complex sale? Like selling your story to Hollywood and getting it made into a film? Find out with Pen Densham whose films include; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, Moll Flanders, Rocky II and Houdini. The films and television series Pen Densham and his partner have produced have grossed over $1 billion.

Here it Is. I’m Dead. This is My Last Post

Steve Kayser — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:17:18 +0000

That opening ... "Here it is. I'm dead. This is my last post," showed up my Google Alerts. I thought, what a great opening line for a story. The person had to be a writer. A superb one. I had no idea the opening ... was really the ending.

Why Do Some Ideas Stick … and Others Stink?

Steve Kayser — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:53:51 +0000

Featuring an interview with Dan Heath, Co-Author of the New York Times Bestselling book, “Made to Stick.” Why do some ideas spread like wildfire while others sprout and die out? Why do some great ideas, with world-altering potential, die on the vine – never to grace us with their fruit?

It’s Complex to Write Simple These Days … But Hemingway’s Rules of Writing Can Still Work

Steve Kayser — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:36:00 +0000

Why can’t new Marketing and PR people write? Because it's It’s a skill and art that is complex, under-appreciated and, as far as I can tell, under-emphasized by schools. Or—if you have the teeth-pulling, Novocain-less pleasure of reading many press releases—companies, for that matter. Why is that? One of the main reasons is …

No Arms, No Legs … No Worries

Steve Kayser — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:13:44 +0000

Our times our piled high with difficulty and uncertainty. Stress and anxiety. Problems too big to get your arms around, Too high to climb. Unless ... you don't have legs or arms.

Project RECOVERING JERKAHOLIC

Steve Kayser — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:16:17 +0000

It sneaks up on you. Subtly. Like the floor after your 4th shot of tequila. Next thing you know? Prevaricating, blasphemous, smellfungus ninnyhammer all-foam no-beer mooncalfs are calling you a jerk. Quickly followed by a public JERK INTERVENTION. I know. It happened to me. Don't let it happen to you.

The Seven “New Rules” of Business Presentations I Wish I’d Been Taught in Kindergarten

Steve Kayser — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:28:27 +0000

Having seen hundreds of business presentations and given a stinky few myself, there are a few things I wish someone would have taught me in kindergarten. Seven things or “New Rules” of business presentations to be precise. I pass these on to anyone new to the dreaded gauntlet of the business presentation or any grizzled veterans who want to walk on the wild side and shake things up. Avoid lying-flying "Stink-o-potamus" presentation status. Use the principle of "Creative Limitation."

One Take on Enchantment

Steve Kayser — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:43:22 +0000

The word enchantment, in my mind, evokes a mystical musical imagery. Like a smooth jazz tune. Alluring, mellifluous, melodious, harmonious … almost magical. So I played one last rip-tripping riff on the keys. A simple reverie – an out-take. One take. No thinking. Just riffing. Thought it sounded like a knuckle-dragging nose-honker when I played it. I was going to dump it - until I heard the playback.

Social Media That Matters—for Families and Disasters

Steve Kayser — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:29:14 +0000

Forget the incessant cacophony about social-media use in business for one nanosecond. This is about family, friends and loved ones. Find a way today to get them connected to a social-media network of some type, because when disaster or terrorist attacks strike ...

A Simple Timeless Tale: Lessons Learned from Legendary Hollywood STORY Guru Robert McKee

Steve Kayser — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:19:25 +0000

I interviewed Robert McKee, the best-selling author of “STORY” and legendary guru of Hollywood storytelling, several years ago. The premise of the interview was simple - can the principles of his classic book "STORY" be used in the complex sales process?

Through a Glass Darkly – Ode to a Warrior

Steve Kayser — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:33:00 +0000

He was charming. Reckless. Brilliant. Rash. Kind and callous. Vicious and violent. Yet gentle and a gentleman. Prayed on his knees but cussed like a sailor. His men called him “Old Blood and Guts." But a writer, a poet ... a soul of old too?

A Second Chance at Life

Steve Kayser — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:21:55 +0000

He was 32 years old, earning $1,000,000 per year and 3rd in line to take over leadership of a $70 billion dollar company. Three years later he was sitting in prison making 12 cents an hour. Then ... something amazing happened. The sublime beauty and redemptive cleansing of a second chance.

Portraits of the Fallen: Compassion on Canvas

Steve Kayser — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:19:18 +0000

Kaziah Hancock paints portraits of fallen soldiers free of charge for their families as part of Project Compassion. A modern-day heroine, Kaziah's paintings soothe the wounded hearts of American families who have lost to war - their children. Those wounds, although soothed, never heal. What a wonderful, selfless woman. LOOK and SEE true compassion ...

How NOT to Stand Out in Any Crowd

Steve Kayser — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:24:58 +0000

You, your product, your service, your company, is good … maybe great. It’s different, unique, totally rad, awesomeroo and bloggerific. It even (occasionally) delivers real business value; makes an authentic difference in business or life. But … no one has heard of you. You haven't even heard of you! Here's how to get your message out - or not. Featuring an interview with Sam Horn, author of “POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd.”