Yesterday I started listening to a four-and-a-half hour long presentation titled, Best Life Ever. I did it because the guy speaking, Jim Rohn, has been billed, by no less an authority than genius marketer and influence expert Dan Kennedy, as being a master storyteller.
Dan says that Jim Rohn built his long and very successful career on zero practical content, great stories only.
So that’s what I expected to find. Fantastic fluff. Zero real substance.
And yet I was surprised. In the first twenty minutes, I already found the content genuinely insightful. I felt that Dan was underselling it. Take for example the following. With a smile, Rohn says:
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The day the Christian Church was started, a magnificent sermon was preached. A great presentation. And if you’re a student at all of good communication, it was one of the classic presentations of all time.
And this sermon, this presentation, was given to a multitude. Meaning a lot of people. But it was interesting.
The record says, when the sermon was finished, there was a variety of reaction to the same sermon. Isn’t that fascinating? I find that fascinating.
It said some that heard this presentation were perplexed.
Now I read the presentation. It sounded pretty straightforward to me. Why would somebody be perplexed with a good, sincere, straightforward presentation?
Best answer I’ve got: They are the perplexed. What other explanation is there? It doesn’t matter who’s preaching.
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Rohn’s point is that there are some mysteries of the mind.
Why are some people inspired to take action? Why do others never take action? Why are some people perplexed? Why do others mock and laugh?
You can try to figure it out. So did Rohn, once upon a time.
“I don’t do that any more,” he says in his talk. “I’ve got peace of mind now. I can sleep like a baby. Not trying to straighten any of this out any more.” It’s just mysteries of the mind.
Did you find that insightful?
I did. But maybe I’m just very easy to dupe into feeling like I’ve had an epiphany. Doesn’t matter who’s preaching.
Or who knows. Maybe Rohn is such a good storytellers that even in those first 20 minutes, he managed to prime me for being easily influenced.
In case you’re a student at all of good communication, this guy was one of the classic presenters of all time. To see why, watch a few minutes of the following: