THIS MOMENT COUNTS · 18 As I said last week, I’m still on vacation. I thought that I’d gift you an essay from the premium “What the Best Leaders Say” series. It explains the difference between a talk that makes sense and one that actually changes things. Here it is:→ Read “A Talk that actually changes things” If you ever doubted whether facts still count for anything, this issue is for you. Facts count. They’re just not doing the job you think they're doing. And if you enjoyed that piece,...
5 days ago • 1 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · 17 I’m on vacation this week and next week, hiking with my family in the Czech mountains. That’s why there’s no new content today. But I thought I’d point you to some free resources you might have missed: 1. The Best Talk of Your Life – The one they can’t stop talking about I’ve seen brilliant ideas fail in good talks. Delivered well, rigorously argued, someone even said “nice talk.” But afterwards this nagging feeling: “I could have given that more.” This concise guide...
12 days ago • 1 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · 16 Look closely enough at the audience you’re about to speak to and it’s no longer one audience. It becomes groups. The ones who already agree and the ones who need convincing. The people who were in the last meeting and the people who weren’t. The ones who want detail and the ones who want direction. And the closer the talk gets, the more of these you see. More often than not that’s a distraction. Because what happens when you’ve identified the groups? You’ll try to...
19 days ago • 1 min read
What the Best Leaders Say Issue 19 It’s the night before an important talk. You know your talk is good. It’s basically done. But then … this nagging feeling. Maybe I’ll add this one slide to make things more complete. And let’s add this chart to proactively handle an objection. It’s a small fix anyway. So, you do put it in. Question: Did the talk get better? Or just longer? I’ve seen countless versions of this with leaders I’ve worked with over the years and the answer was almost always...
23 days ago • 9 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · ISSUE 15 Think of one your better talks. Can you say, in max 2 sentences, what the point was? Not the topic, the point. Most people can’t. Believe me, I’ve tried it more often than I can count. Almost everyone can tell me what their talk was about. But then? What was the point? What shall I do with it? My goodness. Sooner or later I have to stop them. It’s too vague, too confusing, or simply too long. I mean, I wasn’t interested in a playback of the whole talk. I wanted...
26 days ago • 1 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · ISSUE 14 The Bay Effect Wednesday, July 22, 2026 · by Dr. Michael Gerharz Let’s talk about nerves. In 2014, director Michael Bay experienced the worst nightmare of any speaker with a disastrous performance on a big stage. At a Samsung press conference he completely lost it. It was heartbreaking to watch. He lost it so thoroughly that his lizard brain kicked in with a flight response. He literally fled the stage after about a minute into his appearance. What had happened?...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
What the Best Leaders Say Issue 18 There’s a particular kind of defeat that only happens to people who did their homework. When the sloppy pitch gets dismissed, everyone understands why. But the rigorous one, the one where every number checks out and every box is ticked, sometimes gets dismissed too, and that one hits us differently. If it’s ever made you doubt whether facts still count for anything, this issue is for you. Facts count. They’re just not doing the job you think they're doing....
about 1 month ago • 9 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · ISSUE 13 How much are we talking about? Wednesday, July 15, 2026 · by Dr. Michael Gerharz There’s a comforting story we tell about unclear communication of complex ideas, and it goes like this: the expert knows so much that she struggles to translate it. Her thinking is crystalline; only the transmission is fuzzy. Psychologists even gave this a flattering name, the Curse of Knowledge, which implies the problem is an excess of understanding. I’d like to propose the...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
THIS MOMENT COUNTS · ISSUE 12 Out Now: The Best Talk of Your Life Wednesday, July 8, 2026 · by Dr. Michael Gerharz Somewhere right now, someone is giving a talk. They are saying all the right things, their slides are clean, the delivery is confident. And the audience? Fine with it. In the most devastating sense of the word. A few warm handshakes, someone says “great talk,” and there’s even a bit of applause. But of course, applause is just the politest form of dismissal. It means: thank you,...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read