The reason people tune out—and how to keep them listening


Run the Room

Start answering the right questions

Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack substance.
They struggle because their message doesn't land.

It sounds like this:
“I want to give you some context…”
“Let me walk you through what we did…”
“There’s a lot here, but…”

I say this with care: your listener doesn't :)

High-stakes listeners are tracking Crux. Change. Choice.

That’s it.

Three gaps to close—every time:

Noise → Crux
You share every interesting detail.
They’re scanning for the headline: What’s the point—and what’s at stake?

Narrative → Change
You describe what you do.
They need to hear the impact of it.

Neutrality → Choice
You stay descriptive.
They’re waiting for decisive: what you want them to do next.

Try this:
Before your next next meeting, talk, or pitch, force everything through three questions:

  1. Crux: What’s the headline? The point? At stake?
  2. Change: What transformation does your work bring about?
  3. Choice: What do you want this person to do next?

If it doesn’t clarify one of those, cut it.

🌿 Cut, cut, cut til' you crux, change, choice.

A story about influence:


Most high-performing experts struggle with being overlooked despite doing meaningful, rigorous work.


Because their value is buried in complexity, activities, and credentials instead of consequence.



When this happens, their work circulates in echo chambers and never reaches people who can act on it.



Until all of a sudden, funding, roles, and opportunities go elsewhere.


Make It Land is the most effective way to make expertise legible in 90 min or less.


You walk away with increased clarity, visibility, and inbound opportunities.


All of which allow you to stop chasing attention and start having the impact you want.

January's session is sold out.
And several seats for Feb are already gone.

If sharpening how you show up is on your 2026 radar, grab your seat now:


Weekly insights on building influence without authority—so you can run the room, shape outcomes, and move systems.

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Run the Room

Get in the room. Run it. Change what happens when you leave. That's the work I do with senior leaders moving standards from concept to institutional adoption. My work has been featured in The New York Times, TIME, The Lancet, and Foreign Policy. Each Saturday, one short note on making it easy to move decisions that matter—three minutes to read, used in next week's meeting.

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