The perfect length for promotional video and other delusions from CONCURED
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The perfect length for promotional video and other delusions from CONCURED

According to CONCURED, an artificial intelligence platform, the perfect length for promotional video is 3 minutes and 54 seconds. This may be the silliest “fact” I’ve read this month. CONCURED, which calls itself “The world’s first AI-powered Content Strategy Platform,” issued a press release about its new insights. Here’s the whole thing: Artificial Intelligence Names…

9 reasons why thought leaders must embrace their competitors
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9 reasons why thought leaders must embrace their competitors

It’s a nasty, noisy world out there. It’s easy for your own ideas to get lost in the cacophony. I’m here to tell you what you don’t want to hear: make friends with your competitors, quote them, and give them credit for their great ideas. I came to this realization after collaborating with people who…

Will I see you at CM World Cleveland or INBOUND 2018 Boston?
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Will I see you at CM World Cleveland or INBOUND 2018 Boston?

This is a busy week of speaking for me, with two speeches about Truth and Influence. I’ll show you how to think clearly and promote your ideas without losing your integrity. If you’re in Cleveland at Content Marketing World, see me at 10:15 am tomorrow, Wednesday 5 September. The topic is “How to Think Like…

The Milo Yiannopoulos whine is the endpoint of a troll’s lifecycle
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The Milo Yiannopoulos whine is the endpoint of a troll’s lifecycle

Milo Yiannopolous is a provocateur. A British national stirring up American politics, a gay icon of the alt-right, he takes hateful positions on race and politics that have earned him wrath and protests wherever he appears. He advocated for sex with 13-year-olds. He cheered on Gamergate’s harassment of women. As a result, now, his life…

Why does everyone admire John McCain? Because he was a leader who knew how to argue.
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Why does everyone admire John McCain? Because he was a leader who knew how to argue.

I have been struck by the overwhelmingly positive and admiring comments about John McCain from people at all points on the political spectrum, including not just Republicans but the likes of Bernie Sanders, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.There’s a lesson here in leadership for today’s politicians, on how to argue on principle. You…

Facebook is secretly rating your trustworthiness. Excellent!
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Facebook is secretly rating your trustworthiness. Excellent!

According to the Washington Post, Facebook is rating your trustworthiness on a zero-to-one scale. Not only that, they won’t tell you how they rate people. Here’s why that’s a necessary first step in squashing the spread of fake news. First, let’s get this out of the way. Facebook is biased. All social media and search…

Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, and the risks of analytical optimism
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Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, and the risks of analytical optimism

True analysts cannot afford optimism. To make an accurate prediction, you cannot let what you want to happen color what is likely to happen. But that’s exactly what I’ve seen in the wake of the conviction of Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the guilty plea from his former lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump-haters are…

How trolls divide America and what you can do about it
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How trolls divide America and what you can do about it

It’s clear that Russians interfered in our elections. But their objective was not primarily to elect Donald Trump — it was to make us hate each other. And they’re succeeding. New information on Russian troll activity is now available, including a corpus of 3 million tweets from Russian trolls who were part of a foreign…