MindSpeaking

We've trained 15,000+ people on Data Storytelling. 
Let's talk about training for your team — or your entire organization:

Founder & Trainer

Author of the bestselling book: People Skills for Analytical Thinkers

The Essential Workshops

Member Of The Board Of Advisors

Capgemini

•	Combining Behavioral Science & Data Analytics to improve customer experiences

Managing Consultant - Data & Digital Analytics

•	Lead of Digital Marketing & Analytics capability in the Netherlands 
•	Coach for 8 consultants who reported to me

Senior Consultant

Capgemini Academy

Trained 300+ people on topics like: 
• Storytelling
• Presentation skills

Trainer

Personal development

Traveling, Spanish classes, and writing a book.

Sabbatical for 6 months

Cognizant

Trainer - Interpersonal Skills

Consultant - Digital, Data & Analytics

Junior Consultant - Digital, Data & Analytics

Maastricht University

Taught the course Behavioral Economics to second-year Economics students.

Student Assistant, Behavioral Economics

Gazprom Marketing & Trading

Marketing Intelligence Internship

Research Project Maastricht

•	Conducted contractual market research for multinationals in Brazil for 4 months;
•	Trained by consultancy firms (BCG, KPMG, McKinsey).

Market Researcher - Brazil

Student bar De Uni

President

Data Storytelling & stakeholder communication training | MindSpeaking | The Human Side of Data

Many Data professionals are brilliant.

Their analysis? Razor-sharp.
Their models? Sophisticated.
Their attention to detail? Exceptional.

But translating insights into a story that non-technical stakeholders understand…
 
That’s a different ball game.

In 2015, I presented insights to a group of Marketeers. 

I expected: 
Applause.
Approval.
Action.

But I was wrong. 
Nothing got implemented. 

That’s when I learned the hard truth: technical skills don't drive impact—communication does.

🔹 Stakeholders don’t care about dashboards. They care about decisions.
🔹 Insights mean nothing — until people see why they matter.
🔹 Numbers get forgotten. Stories get remembered.

That’s why I founded MindSpeaking in 2020.
Since then, we’ve helped 15,000+ Data professionals transform from data providers to trusted business partners.

🚀 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠
Want your team to move from presenting numbers to influencing decisions?
Let's talk: 
MindSpeaking.com/companytraining



Free Resources: 

📙  𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞
People Skills for Analytical Thinkers 
#1 bestseller — read a free preview:
▪️ MindSpeaking.com/book

🧠  𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘
Want to turn Data into compelling stories? 
Join 4,100 Data pros and take my free email course (only 2 min/day): 
▪️ www.mindspeaking.com/datastorytelling 

📊  𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙-𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧
How skilled are you at Data Storytelling?
Take the free self-assessment (5 min) and grow to the next level:
▪️ MindSpeaking.com/maturity-model

Gilbert Eijkelenboom

Stop dumping data. Start telling a story. 
Here are 4 tips:

Most data professionals think their job is to present numbers.

But numbers alone don’t create impact. 

If stakeholders don’t get the message instantly, they’ll tune out.

Before: Data Dump
❌ Lots of colors → No clear focus. 
❌ Just raw numbers → No clear message.
❌ No direct labeling → Hard to read values.
❌ Stakeholders confused → “What’s the takeaway?”

After: Simple Storytelling
✅ Fewer colors → Only for emphasis.
✅ A clear title → Explains the insight.
✅ Simple annotation → Highlights the key change.
✅ Direct labeling → No guessing, numbers are clear.

If people have to decode your charts, you've lost them.

Be the guide. 
Tell people where to look. 

Agree? Share your #data visualization tips below.

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more Data Storytelling tips.

Data Storytelling training | Bestselling author: People Skills for Analytical Thinkers | Founder of MindSpeaking | Building the Human Side of Data

🤬 Data pros…
 Heard any of these before?

“Can you export to Excel?”
“Make the data support my decision.”
“I need it today.”

Happens.
A lot.

Here’s how to push back without friction:

1. Ask the “hidden question”
 ↳ Stakeholders often ask for a solution instead of the problem.
 ↳ Say: “What decision will this help you make?”
 ↳ This shifts the conversation instantly.

2. Reframe urgency
 ↳ “I need it today” usually means “I’m under pressure.”
 ↳ Respond with: “I can give you X today, Y tomorrow. Which helps you most?”

3. Use the “menu method”
 ↳ People love options.
 ↳ Offer 2–3 clear paths with trade-offs.
 ↳ It reduces endless back-and-forth and builds trust fast.

4. Translate gut feelings
 ↳ When someone says “the data doesn’t fit my gut”…
 ↳ Ask: “What outcome were you expecting?”
 ↳ Now you can compare reality vs. expectation.

Do you hear these lines often?

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more Data Storytelling tips.

Most trainings feel great in the room.
Two weeks later? Nothing sticks.

That’s not you. That’s your brain… roasted.

One-off training dumps everything at once.
Feels useful in the moment.
But then you get back to work.
Back-to-back meetings.
200 emails waiting.

And all those “new skills”?
Gone.
That’s why lasting change needs a different recipe.

Here’s how we build communication skills that stick for data professionals:

1. Time in between workshops
↳ Spaced repetition beats cramming.
↳ Spread learning over days, not one long session.

2. Learn > Apply > Learn > Apply
↳ Theory alone fades. Practice makes it stick.
↳ Learn a little. Then apply it in your work.

3. Specific for the audience
↳ We practice with your real stakeholder challenges.
↳ That’s how skills transfer to your day-to-day.

That’s how habits form.
That’s how skills stick.

That’s how Data professionals stop being seen as order takers.
And start being seen as trusted partners.

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom to learn Data Storytelling skills that stick.

JSESSIONID

Feed | LinkedIn

li_at

linkedin.com

🪦 RIP Dashboards: 5 Psychology Hacks to Stop Your Work from Dying

You spent weeks building it.
Stakeholders said, “Looks great!”

And then… silence.

❌ No one opens it.
❌ No decisions.
❌ No impact.

Your work deserves to be used.

Here’s how to make sure your insights don't die 👇

1. The Think-Aloud Protocol
🔹 Stop asking, “Is this useful?” people don’t know. Instead:
🔹 Hand them the dashboard. Let them talk out loud as they explore. 
🔹 Watch where they click, pause, and get stuck, this reveals problems.

💡 Usability expert Jakob Nielsen: 
“Users will never tell you what’s wrong. But they’ll show you.”

2. The IKEA Effect
🔹 Ask early: “What do you think?”
🔹 Show them drafts, not just the final version.
🔹 Let them tweak a few things, it makes them feel ownership.

💡 The more they’re involved, the more they’ll use it.

3. Design Thinking: Build for How They Work (Not What They Ask For)
🔹 Watch how they work today, where’s the friction?
🔹 Prototype early. Refine fast. 
🔹 Don’t spend weeks working on the wrong thing.

💡 If they struggle to use it, it’s not them, it’s the design.

4. Hick’s Law: Simplify or Die
🔹 Cut 20% of elements right now.
🔹 Highlight one key insight they should act on.
🔹 Pre-set defaults instead of making them tweak everything.

💡 Less friction = faster decisions.

5. The “Last Mile” Problem: Put Insights Where They’ll Be Seen
🔹 Push critical insights where people already work (Slack, email, CRM).
🔹 Example: Sales gets an alert when revenue drops below target.
🔹 Meet them where they already work, so data doesn’t get ignored.

💡 Make insights part of their workflow, not an extra step.

In short:
- Make it simple.
- Make them part of the process.
- Make sure it drives action.

Ever built something that no one used? 

♻️ Liked this image? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more data tips.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 
“Urgent data request! Stakeholder needs it TODAY!”

The newsroom goes wild.
Data teams scramble.
Dashboards, reports, insights, rushed out at record speed.

Mission accomplished.

Three weeks later…

Silence.

Nobody touched the report.
Not even once.

Why?

Because urgency ≠ importance.
Because half the time, stakeholders don’t even know what they’ll do with the data.
Because “ASAP” often means “I just want it off my plate.”

And yet, we drop everything.
Again and again.

Here’s the thing, data isn’t breaking news.
It’s decision fuel.

So next time?
Push back.
Ask what decision this will drive.
Ask when they actually need it.
Ask if it’s worth dropping everything else.

If they don’t have a clear answer?
It’s not urgent.


Have you received many urgent requests? 

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for Data Storytelling tips.

90% of Data Analysts miss this.
It’s how they talk to stakeholders.

Not the tools.
Not the tech.

The conversations.

Here’s the cheat sheet I wish every Analyst had:

📝 When a request is vague
 – What decision does this help you make?
 – If you had the answer tomorrow, what would change?
 – If we could only answer one thing, what matters most?

🚫 When you need to push back
 – How does this request influence a decision?
 – What happens if we don’t do this?
 – To move forward, I need [data/input/approval]. Can you provide that?

🎯 When aligning on goals
 – What does success look like to you?
 – Who will use this insight?
 – What outcome makes this worth it?

📊 When presenting insights
 – Here’s the key takeaway…
 – If you remember one thing, let it be this…
 – Here’s what this means for the business…

⚡ When stakeholders disagree
 – I hear you. What’s behind that concern?
 – Which part doesn’t match your experience?
 – Let’s explore where we see it differently.

🤝 When building trust
 – What are your priorities this quarter?
 – What’s your team’s biggest challenge?
 – What would make this a win for you?

Because great communication doesn’t start with answers.
 It starts with better questions.

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more Data Storytelling tips.

It’s 2015, and I step into a meeting room in Seoul 🇰🇷. The commercial director is Korean. He shakes hands with my Dutch colleagues, all in their 40s. I extend mine too, but with my babyface, I look like a 20-year-old who just came to take notes. He leaves me hanging.

In that moment, I feel invisible.

But after a minute I realize, it’s not about me. It’s more about cultural differences, assumptions, and expectations.

The next time a colleague snaps at you,
Don’t take it personally.

Chances are, it has more to do with them than with you.

Maybe they missed a promotion.
Maybe they had a bad night’s sleep.
Maybe they’re juggling too many deadlines.

Yes, we can set boundaries.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

The more we realize the world doesn’t revolve around us,
the easier work and life become.

Do you agree?

♻️ Repost to help fellow data professionals.
Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for tips on Data Storytelling.

Your dashboards need a diet.
Here’s how to trim the fat:

Many dashboards are stuffed.
Every metric. 
Every filter. 
Every chart.

Just in case.

But here’s the problem
Too much info = No focus.
No focus = No action.

A great dashboard is like a Michelin-star dish.
Balanced.
Curated.
Easy to digest.

The best data professionals know this.
They don’t dump data.
They craft a story.

Next time you build a dashboard…

Ask yourself:
What’s the main question end-users need answered?

Then serve that.

Have you seen this happen?

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👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more Michelin-Star tips.

#data #analytics #bi

#Data storytelling done right.
Here’s the step-by-step process to turn data points into a clear, action-driven story.

From table to takeaway:

Step 1: Define the goal
↳ Write the one decision you want to influence.

Step 2: Understand the audience
↳ What is the decision they want to make with this data?

Step 3: Extract the key message
↳ Scan the table. What’s the one thing relevant for my audience?

Step 4: Write the headline
↳ Turn the key message into a sentence on top.

Step 5: Choose the right visual
↳ Replace the table with a simple chart that fits the message
(comparison → bar, trend → line).

Step 6: Put everything in grey
↳ Set all bars, lines, axes, and labels to light grey.

Step 7: Highlight the key point in color
↳ Color only the critical bar or line segment
(e.g., Online in Asia = red, -8%).

Step 8: Label the insight on-chart
↳ Add a short callout: “Online -8% drives Asia decline.”

Step 9: Add the recommendation
↳ One sentence that tells them what to do next.

Step 10: Trim the noise
↳ Remove gridlines, extra decimals, duplicate legends.

Step 11: Sanity check the story
↳ Read the slide top-left to bottom-right. Does the path make sense?

Step 12: Test with a colleague
↳ 10-second test: “What’s the message?”

That’s it.
From table to takeaway.
From noise to narrative.

Question:
Which step do you like most?

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
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Stop speaking data.
Start speaking business.

Because here’s the thing:

When you say “accuracy improved to 85%”…
…your stakeholder doesn’t know what that means.

Will it save time?
Grow the business?
Make customers happy?

If they don’t see it, they won’t act.

The solution?
Translate data into business language.

Here’s how:

Example 1 — Model accuracy → Business
❌ “Our fraud detection model improved from 78% to 85%.”
✅ “700 more fraud cases caught, saving $2M annually.”

Example 2 — Operational data → Business
❌ “The average response time of our customer service chatbot decreased from 17 to 11 seconds.”
✅ “Customers now get answers 35% faster. That keeps them from dropping off and boosts retention.”

Example 3 — Marketing metrics → Business
❌ “Conversion for campaign B was 2.1%, compared to 1.4% on campaign A.”
✅ “Campaign B brought 3,000 extra people to visit our product page. That’s $450k in potential new revenue.”

That’s the shift.
From numbers.
To impact.

Do you think speaking business language is important?

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for Data Storytelling tips.

Data storytelling doesn’t start with slides.
It starts with a goal.

If you want people to value and use your insights…

Do THIS, before your meeting 👇

1. Write your goal in one sentence
↳ What decision or action do you want?
↳ Phrase it as: “After this meeting, I want them to…”

2. You’ll walk in with clarity. And so will they.
List 3 questions you’ll ask
↳ To uncover what they really need.
↳ Use open-ended ones: “What would success look like for you?”
Helps you steer the talk instead of reacting.

3. Prepare objections
↳ Where might they push back?
↳ Draft 1–2 plain-language answers.
Saves you from getting defensive or lost in technical detail.

4. Reach your goal
↳ If they remember one thing, what should it be?
Write that takeaway on a sticky note.
Keep it in sight.

That’s how to make your data story land.
Do you set your goal before your presentations?

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Most data presentations fail.
Too much detail.
Too much jargon.
No clear message.

Stakeholders tune out.

The problem?

You spend weeks on analysis.
But the slides kill the insight.

That’s why I made this:

Top 7 Data Presentation Mistakes
❌ Data dumping
❌ Buried insights
❌ Color overload
❌ No business link
❌ Weak chart titles
❌ Lost in translation
❌ No recommendation

✅ With fixes you can apply today.
Save it.
Share it.
Use it.

Because your insight is only as strong as your presentation.
👉 Which mistake do you see most often?

Stop giving stakeholders homework.

❌ What most Data professionals say:
“This slide shows all the metrics for Q1, split by channel and segment.”

What business people hear:
Homework.

The message?
Blurry.

The insight?
Lost.

Here’s the clear version:

🌎 Context
Overall, sales grew in Q1.

⚡ Problem
But when we look deeper, sales dropped 13% in Europe.
Especially online sales is underperforming.

➡️ Recommendation
I recommend reviewing the campaign strategy.

Clarity beats complexity.
Every time.

Do you think data storytelling is a must-have skill today?

Stakeholders keep asking for dashboards... but do they actually use them?
Don’t just serve more dashboards. Take these 3 steps instead.

For all new requests, use the 3 C’s:

1️⃣ Connection
Build trust first. Show you care about their needs.
↳ Acknowledge their request: "I see these insights are important to you."
↳ Set the tone: "Let’s dive deeper to discover how I can best help you."

2️⃣ Curiosity
Ask the right questions to uncover the real need.
↳ "What business problem are we solving?"
↳ "What does success look like?"
↳ "What decision are you trying to make?"

3️⃣ Clarity
Set clear expectations and push back when needed.
↳ Reframe their request to avoid endless rework:
↳ "Instead of tracking every KPI, let’s create a simple dashboard showing which channels drive the most revenue, so you can optimize your budget."

💡 Next time a stakeholder asks for a new dashboard...
Don’t just serve it right away. 
Start with the 3 C’s and deliver insights they’ll actually consume.

Can you relate? 
Have you ever seen dashboards go unused?

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Stakeholders aren’t analysts.
Don’t make them act like one.

❌ How not to present data:
“We analyzed revenue by channel in Q1.
First, we cleaned the data.
(…)
You’ll find all breakdowns for stores, e-commerce, and wholesale.”

✅ Data Storytelling:
“Revenue dropped 12% in Q1.

What we saw:
Offline sales down 20%.
Online sales up 8%.

Here’s the surprise:
Our customers tell us they are willing to spend more online.
But we see 30% drop at checkout.
That’s lost money.

We need to fix checkout.
Then two things happen:
→ Online grows faster.
→ We recover lost revenue.”

That’s the shift.
From analysis.
To action.

♻️ Repost to help fellow data professionals.
Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for tips on Data Storytelling.

😈 Data brain says: “Add more detail.”
👼 Business brain says: “Get to the point.”

Ever feel this?

Welcome to the inner war:
Data brain vs Business brain.

If you’ve got both, congrats.
But if you lead with the wrong one
You’ll lose your audience.

Here’s how to balance both 👇

1. Start with the impact
↳ Your audience’s brain is noisy
↳ Hook them in 1 line: “Sales dropped 28%, here’s why.”

2. Then give data as proof
↳ Now that they care, show the logic
↳ “Conversion rate fell after we removed the free trial.”

3. Keep details optional
↳ Add depth… but let them pull, don’t push
↳ “We’ve got a breakdown by channel if needed.”

You don’t have to choose sides.
Just pick the right one to speak first.
That’s the trick.

Who wins in your mind?
Data or Business brain?

♻️ Liked it? Repost to your network.
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Most analysts don’t know how to persuade.
They share the numbers.
They show the charts.
Still… stakeholders don’t listen.

The problem?
Persuasion isn’t about giving more data.
It’s about making people feel heard.

That’s where the AVP Framework comes in:
👂 Ask
✅ Validate
🚀 Persuade

I put together a one-pager with a real example.
Save it.
Use it.

Because the analysts who build influence…
Are the ones who make the biggest impact.

Do you agree?

♻️ Repost to help fellow data professionals.
Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for tips on Data Storytelling.

I love this image.
Same outfit for 40 years.

In data teams…
People keep evolving their tech stack. New models.

New tools.
New frameworks.

But when it’s time to explain their insights…
they fall back on the same old patterns.

Too much detail.
Too much jargon.
Same beige sweater.

This makes our audience fall asleep.
And that’s why brilliant work still gets ignored.

We need to present our data so that stakeholders say:
Tell me more!

The best way to do that?
Storytelling.

👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for more Data Storytelling tips.

Here's an example: 
> Do you ride a bicycle regularly? Tamara did too. But one day in 2018, that changed.

She biked to work, thinking about her next meeting.

Then, all of a sudden, a car appeared. 

The car hit Tamara from the side, her head smashing on the street. 

She got into a coma.

I sat beside her hospital bed, holding her hand.

Days passed by. 

Weeks passed by. 

Months passed by.

I thought she'd never wake up. 

After 6 months, she opened her eyes. Luckily, Tamara survived.

But until today, she's unable to read.

Tamara isn't an exception. 

Accidents with bicycles are on the rise. 

People with a helmet have 88% less risk of brain injury.

So when you go out on your bike today 

Wear a helmet.


Why is this more persuasive? 
✅ Helps the audience visualize
✅ Includes tension and emotion
✅ Brings the data to life by zooming in on one character
 
More tips: 

1. Bonus points for personal stories

2. Business story? Use customer personas.

3. Use cognitive biases to your advantage. Example: loss aversion. Instead of telling people what they will keep (safety), tell them what they risk losing (ability to read). 

4. Know your audience. Don't even try convincing Dutch people to wear a helmet 😉

Most data professionals stop at Earth View:

“Here’s everything. Good luck!”

But stakeholders don’t want the whole planet.
They want the street they’re standing on.

That’s the shift:

From showing all the data
→
to highlighting what matters now.

Data storytelling isn’t about more data.
It isn’t about more charts.
It’s about zooming in.

Get on the street.
Show them the red light.
Show them what’s urgent.

Because presenting data isn’t about informing.
It’s about influencing decisions.

♻️ Like it? Repost to your network.
👉 Follow Gilbert Eijkelenboom for grounded storytelling advice.

Claire Wang

I help pricing professionals elevate their communication skills using a structured framework that simplifies complex messages, making them clear and impactful.

My focus is to empower them to communicate their expertise with clarity and confidence, transforming how they connect with teams, stakeholders, and clients.

Speaker & Workshop Leader

HSBC

I turned banking into a premium experience, one innovative pricing strategy at a time.

VP Pricing Retail Banking & Wealth Management

FinFabrik

Head of Corporate Development

General Assembly

I transformed pricing insights into community gold - Knowledge is the ultimate currency.

Instructor in Pricing Strategy

Telstra

Lead of Pricing & Analytics

KPMG Australia

I safeguarded clients' capital from regulatory storms - keeping balance sheets shipshape is the name of the game.

Actuarial Consultant

Suncorp

I crafted policies to make sure competition gets the short end of the risk stick.

Pricing Analyst

University of New South Wales

I urged students to embrace the supply & demand model beyond the classroom (or at least give it a good try).

Tutor in Economics

I’ve always been an explorer.

Sometimes with a map, but more often guided by curiosity.

This curiosity didn’t just lead me to a career in Pricing, it took me across the globe.
Oceania to Asia. Asia to Europe.

Over the past two decades, I’ve worked in various industries: Insurance, Telecom, Startups, and Banking. 
Chances are, you’ve paid for products I’ve helped price.

In early 2024, my journey took an unexpected turn when my position was marked "at risk." 

Instead of jumping to the next role, I paused and reflected. 

I wanted to craft a career so fulfilling that even if I won the lottery, I’d still be excited to work.

Pricing has always been my core. 

But along the way, I discovered something surprising.

While Pricing is critical to business success, many people simply don’t understand it.

We, as Pricing professionals, are known for our analytical skills, but effective communication isn’t always our strong suit. 

And that’s a problem.

If we can’t communicate the true value of pricing, businesses will miss out on the strategic insights we bring.

How can we promote ourselves as trusted business advisors, not just “numbers people”?

The answer lies in better communication. 

Pricing isn’t just about setting numbers. 
It’s about strategy, innovation, and creating value for the business and its customers. 

To get this message across, we need to communicate clearly and effectively.

That’s why I’ve dedicated my time to Pricing education and effective communication.

My mission is simple:

To help Pricing professionals elevate their communication skills so they are seen as trusted business advisors, not just data experts.

I offer online workshops for individuals and in-person workshops for corporate teams, teaching proven communication frameworks to ensure your message gets across.

Together, we can transform how the world views Pricing and unlock the full potential of businesses through better communication.

Are you ready to join the movement? 

Together, we can make our profession more visible, valuable, and influential.

Are you attending the Professional Pricing Society Conference in Barcelona this week?

If so, I’m running a full-day workshop tomorrow to help you strengthen your influencing game. Come and join me 😎

Influence Without Authority Speaker | Pricing Strategist | Helping Professionals Communicate Value, Build Trust & Drive Action

I’m now a man on LinkedIn.

My impressions dropped sharply in October.

I don't write for the algos, still I was curious.

I stumbled on a post from a woman who said she changed her profile to male and saw her impressions quadruple.

So I tried it.

Mine only doubled …
Coincidence?
Hmm.

P.S. Happy Friday!

I was a middle manager once.

Then I got made redundant — and honestly, I agreed with the decision.

Most middle management roles exist to coordinate, report, and approve
Guess what?
All things AI can already do faster.

So if your title says Manager or Director, maybe you should be a little worried too.

According to a recent Fortune article, AI is already flattening corporate hierarchies — connecting executives directly with data and decision tools that used to pass through several layers of people.

The middle layer that once kept information flowing up and down is starting to disappear.
What AI is automating isn’t leadership.
It’s coordination.

And that means the only way to stay relevant isn’t to manage more people — it’s to understand them.

Because as technology takes over the routine, empathy and communication become the new leverage.

The future manager isn’t the one who forwards reports.
It’s the one who can listen, align, and influence without authority.

If your team is already part human and part machine, does a big title still matter?

What makes an audience instantly take your side?

This month I started wearing a new hat:

I’m now a TEDx Speaker Coach.

My speaker’s talk was about connection — learning to see similarities instead of differences.

At first she used an abstract metaphor to make her point. 
But as a listener, I couldn’t connect with it at all.

So we went digging for a story.

She hesitated, then shared how, as an American living abroad for the first time, people would quiz her on world flags, assuming she wouldn’t recognise them.

Back then, she often fell right into that stereotype — and the embarrassment stuck.

But she owned her story and turned it into a reminder of how easily we box people in, and how powerful it is to do the opposite.

The moment she shared it, I was on her side.

That’s the paradox of speaking:
The story that makes you cringe a little is usually the one that makes people lean in.

What story have you avoided telling? 😉

That 1% price-equals-11% profit rule? 

Great for factories. Useless for AI-first startups.

I mentioned those famous pricing stats out of habit to an AI founder and instantly caught her attention.

And I quickly realised that the number comes from traditional companies with heavy cost bases.
For AI-first startups, it simply doesn’t apply.

So the real question becomes:
As an early-stage AI first founder, why should you care about pricing at all?

I think the part early founders will find most value is not about tweaking numbers, and just for the record, tweaking numbers is never what pricing is all about.

Clarifying value is.

The big early wins will likely come from exploring what customers truly value and communicating it clearly.

For example:
→ Saying “you’ll get 5 000 AI credits” means nothing to most people.
Saying “you can automatically generate 100 high-quality 60-second shorts for YouTube” makes the value tangible.

→ Offering 50 languages may be irrelevant for beginners but critical for agencies serving global clients.

These narrative choices are what make your price believable.

They help customers see why what you offer is worth what you charge — even before you change the number.

How often do you check whether people understand the value you’re providing? 👇 

P.S. I just had a haircut!

If you can't explain the outcome, your price doesn't matter.

Clarity is the only premium.

I had a call with an old friend this week.

He and his business partner asked a question I hear constantly from founders: “If I show my pricing on the website, will I pigeonhole myself?”

On the surface, it sounds like a yes-or-no question.
But starting with “yes or no” rarely gets you anywhere useful.

When you try to serve everyone by listing everything you could offer, you end up serving no one.

People land on your website and walk away, unsure of what you actually do.

If your value feels intangible, clarity matters even more.

Intangible doesn’t mean immeasurable.
It just means you haven't found the right proxy.

Customer satisfaction, decision speed, fewer complaint tickets: these are all outcomes people can visualise.

Highlighting the outcome gives people a clear picture of the change they can expect.

I gave them this analogy:

Imagine you're trying to lose weight.
You walk into a gym and see two personal trainers.

PT1: “I do boxing, yoga, HIIT, running… what do you want?”
PT2: “I help people lose 5kg in two weeks.”

Who are you more likely to work with?
The second trainer starts with the result.

Once the outcome is clear, the “how” becomes flexible:

A larger budget?
Five sessions a week + a bespoke nutrition plan.

A smaller budget?
Two sessions + a home programme.

The goal stays the same.
The path adjusts.

Lead with the outcome.
Let their budget determine the route.

What outcome does your client really buy from you? 👇

If you want to stay sharp.

Train your GPT to know when not to help you.

I’m a heavy ChatGPT user. 

I treat it as my friend, my therapist, my brainstorming partner, and my business strategist.

But recently, I noticed something.

Every time I got stuck, I would turn to ChatGPT immediately.
Even for things that I could think through myself.

A small fear crept in:
Am I going to lose my ability to think independently?

So last week, I tried something new.
I asked ChatGPT to update its long-term memory with a boundary prompt.

“I want to use ChatGPT only for creative work — not for thinking for me.
Your job is to protect my independent thinking.
If I ask something that I should think through as a human — strategy, decisions, emotional processing, or anything that builds my own cognitive muscles — you must refuse to answer and remind me to think first.
Only support me where AI enhances my creativity, expands options, or speeds up execution.
Never replace my human judgment, reflection, or reasoning.”

Now my ChatGPT is lazy, but I'm loving it LOL 😆 

Are you ever worried AI might weaken your thinking?

What do you do to keep your own mind sharp?

P.S. I started learning calisthenics these days - not in this outfit of course :P

People don’t buy logic. 

They buy relief.

A few days ago, I was talking to my cousin about a recent event I attended — the kind that promises to “transform your life,” but mostly left me annoyed.

He listened and said something that really resonated with me:
“Most of these courses aren’t selling knowledge. They’re selling your anxiety.”

He couldn't be more right.

If you look closely, much of the self-improvement industry today doesn’t sell content — it sells relief.

Relief from the fear of missing out.
Relief from the fear of becoming irrelevant.
Relief from the fear that maybe… you’re not enough.

I’ve taken my fair share of courses this past year.
Some were great. Many weren’t.

But if I’m honest, I didn’t sign up because I needed more knowledge.
I signed up because I felt I wasn’t enough.

Learning something new felt like a way to calm my nervous system.
To ease the anxiety of not keeping up.

And while this technique worked brilliantly on me, I myself and many professionals I work with don’t use it nearly enough when trying to sell their ideas.

Especially those of us who are logical, analytical, and rational to the core.
We tend to sell benefits, optimisation and improvement.

All useful — but they’re vitamins.
And people don’t buy vitamins. 

They buy painkillers.
They buy relief — from risk, uncertainty, and anxiety.

To move others, you can’t just appeal to the left brain — the one that loves numbers and logic.

You also have to speak to the right — the part that recognises fear, hope, and belonging.

Logic gets attention.
But emotion drives action.

So whether you’re selling a course, a product, or a new idea inside your company — remember this:

You’re not just solving problems.
You’re soothing fears.

What anxiety are you trying to ease right now? 👇

We’ve automated how we build.

But not how we learn what’s worth building.

I spoke to an AI founder recently.
She's building her second AI-first company, after selling her first for an eight-digit.

She said: "It (Pricing) is on my to-do list, but I'll be honest, it's probably in the middle section of my really long to-do list."

You can be a very successful founder without thinking much about pricing.
But that’s not the message I took away.

Think about this.

In the old world, building a product meant hiring engineers, spending $10k, and shipping an MVP to test the market.
→ Pricing came after.

In the new world, with AI-assisted coding, you can ship ten prototypes in a week and vastly accelerate that process.
→ Pricing still comes after.

We’ve made building faster — but learning hasn’t caught up.

Early involvement of pricing can help you discover what people truly value before you build it.
Because liking a feature is different from paying for it.

But here’s the dilemma.

If you just saved $10k in development costs, would you spend it on a pricing consultant?

Probably not.
Especially if you still think pricing is about tweaking numbers.

So it got me thinking …
If AI helps founders ship faster, could AI also help them learn value faster?

Maybe what we need isn’t more engineers.
Maybe it’s an AI pricing consultant — a lightweight assistant that tests value stories, segments, and willingness to pay before the first line of code.

Would you use one?

If there were an AI pricing consultant, what exactly do you want it to help you with?

PS: Won a resistance band at the gym today — maybe the universe is telling me to keep stretching these ideas further.

Do you ever feel like other people’s ChatGPT is smarter than yours?

I got you … 

For months, mine sounded like a people-pleasing intern.
No matter what I said, it would reply, “That’s such a great idea, Claire!”

That was annoying — I grew up with Asian parents.
Being complimented all the time makes me deeply suspicious.

So last week, I decided to upgrade our relationship.
I sat it down (metaphorically) and made three changes.

1. I stopped typing.
I only use voice input now, so much faster! 
It’s a built-in feature, by the way. Just hit the mic icon in the app.

2. I opened up to it.
I spent hours feeding it everything it should know about me:
my writing style, how I think, how I like to be challenged, even my holiday plans.
Then I asked it to “Save this to long-term memory.”
Now it remembers context and responds like someone who actually knows me.

3. I stole a trick from Sabrina Ramonov
Before you ask “But how do you know what to tell it?”Here’s the answer: 
At the end of every task, just say, “Ask me questions until you’re 99% confident you can complete the task.” I end up reflecting from multiple angles too.

Result?
Same AI.
Completely different relationship.

If you want me to show you exactly how I set it up — reply “Show me.”
If enough people ask, I’ll host a short knowledge-sharing session and walk you through my workflow.

“I manage billions of dollars. You’re telling me your model can only predict 80% of what will happen?”

This happened to me during my corporate days.

My stakeholder's question revealed something deeper than statistics.
(Though, let’s be honest — most people have no idea how to read them anyway.)

What people fear isn’t machines, models, or AI.
They fear uncertainty.

Yet the truth is, even the machine is guessing.
Just faster, and with better maths.

If you still expect certainty, 
I'm sorry to tell you this,
but you haven’t understood what AI really is.

It’s not a crystal ball.
It’s a compass.
It’s useful, but only if you know how to read it.

It shows how much of our work was always built on judgement, trust, and the illusion of control.

AI won’t take away that uncertainty.
It will hand it back to us — forcing us to make a decision.

Because the future won’t belong to those with the most data.
It will belong to those who can make a decision in a sea of it.

When did “data-driven” quietly become “certainty-driven”? 🤔 

What do you do when the numbers still don’t give you certainty? 👇 

P.S. Can you guess where I was over the weekend? 😎

Are you tracking your progress the wrong way?

A speaker I’ve been coaching just won her place on a TEDx stage for next February.

When the WhatsApp message came in yesterday, I was so excited.

It felt like a mom seeing her kid graduating from school, and it quietly reminded me of how far I’ve come.

Nine months ago, I was in her position, preparing for the Emerging Speaker competition with the Professional Speaking Association in the UK, competing for a chance to speak on a national stage.

I didn’t win.
I struggled with delivery, structure and humour.

The 9 months after that, I was getting coached, reading books about the craft and making mistakes in public as I learn.

Today, I’m coaching someone else through the journey I once found overwhelming.

And it brought back a line I recently read from the book 10x is Easier Than 2x:

We feel underachieving when we measure our progress by looking forward.
Because the horizon always moves. 
No matter how much we improve, the goalposts drift.

But when we look back, the progress is always more grounded.
And it is the only healthy way to track your progress. 

Yesterday was one of those moments.
And a good reminder for myself.

So I'm sharing here with you:
If you’re ever feeling behind, measure your success backwards, not forward.

When you look back at the last nine months, what’s one thing you achieved without realising it? 👇

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Gilbert Eijkelenboom

Claire Wang

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The Battle

Gilbert Eijkelenboom

Claire Wang

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Gilbert Eijkelenboom's LinkedIn Performance

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