Partnerships @ Nift | 3X Founder (8-figures, 7-figures, and a dud) | Investor. Advisor. Bourbon Lover | Exploring the tactics and stories from the best entrepreneurs on the planet

Daily insights on business building.

Sales & Marketing Leader with 10+ years selling high-value solutions as a player/coach to meet customer needs. 

Creative and curious mindset, with a track record of leveraging problem-solving skills to uncover new revenue opportunities and drive business growth. 

Unquestioned ethics and a strong commitment to doing what is right for customers, co-workers, and the company.

EQ > IQ

Some highlight from across my career:

- Responsible for more than $100M in advertising budgets

- Scaled startups $0 to 8-figures, then again from $0 to 7-figures

- Built an outsourced SDR Team that produced 11X ROI on net new logos

- Trained more than 50 sellers to systematically attain quota through repeatable process

- Sold into and built marketing programs for some of the best companies on the planet. 

I'm excited to create something amazing with you.

💪🏻 Let's work together

Mark Borum

Helping entrepreneurs use public speaking to build their brand | Public Speaking Coach | Author of Make It Count | Former COO and TEDxClapham Founder

Why is it, that some people get away with breaking every public speaking rule in the book, yet we still want to listen to what they’ve got to say? 

If there’s one thing I've learned working with some of the most successful leaders of our generation, it’s that there is a big difference between having an idea and being able to communicate it.

That is what turns big thinkers into thought leaders.

As a leader, speaking is an important part of your life. You’ve got to cast a vision, inspire your team, and influence stakeholders. Yet, so many have never paid any attention to the one tool that has the power to unlock even more. 

Your voice.

---

I've spent the last 10 years helping people like you unlock the true potential of your ideas so they get the credibility and respect they deserve.

Public speaking isn't something that's come naturally to me. I've had to hard work at it and have seen first-hand the power of being able to communicate ideas well. 

I've used public speaking to build a business from 4-250 people. Then I founded TEDxClapham and the talks I've worked on since have turned those who delivered them into the go-to people for their subject matter.

⚡️ 15 million views and counting 
⚡️ £310m+ raised  
⚡️ Government legislation changed

I'm brought in by organisations like Adobe, Bloomberg, WeTransfer, Mastercard and Amazon to do the same for them.

Your work is only as good as your ability to communicate it. The earlier you can start, the more impact you'll have.

---

Ways to work with me:   
🚀 Scale-up Founders (£20m+ valuation): Work with me 121
🎤 Solopreneurs, thought leaders and keynote speakers: Apply to join MicDrop
🧠 Organisations: Book me to deliver a workshop or keynote for your team

Enquire here: https://calendly.com/d/cp53-tkn-tm3

Alex Merry

Dex Hunter-Torricke said something that stopped me in my tracks this morning...👇

💬 'There's this terrible term, thought leadership. I hate it because it literally commoditises the idea about ideas.'

Coming from someone that write speeches and managed comms for Eric Schmidt, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk - it struck a nerve (mainly because he's probably going to hate my tagline 🤭).

But he's bang on 🎯.

It's being 'delegitimised and 'cheapened' by 'garbage content.' 
[Permission to pause and admire the language he used 👏]

---

There is a fundamental disconnect between what most people think thought leadership is and what it actually is.

Thought leadership is not:
❌ Sharing your story/private life  
❌ Telling people what we’ve done or achieved
❌ Seeking validation (from people or algorithms)

[There's a time and place for all of these things, but let's not mistake them for thought leadership]

---

In Dex's words, Thought leadership is about:
💬 "Advancing powerful ideas and getting them to resonate with people."

It requires you to:
✅ Have a clear point of view
✅ Challenge conventional wisdom
✅ Actively seek answers to important questions

It's the pursuit of furthering your field of expertise. Subject-first comms. And we have never needed it more.

Yesterday, he launched The Centre for Tomorrow, a non-profit aiming to create flourishing for societies in the age of AI.

I suspect he's going to be well worth a follow -> Dex Hunter-Torricke

--- 

Every variation of MicDrop's tagline (and there have been a few) has contained the term 'thought leader.'

It serves as a standard bearer for our members, all of whom are creating change in their respective fields.

We've got 4 places left for our March intake, head to my bio for more info.

P.s. Bravo Jimmy McLoughlin OBE on another great episode!

If you're giving a talk this week, remember... 👇


1. Less is more 🤐
2. Showing > telling 🪄
3. Embrace your quirks 🤪
4. It's not a memory test 🧠
5. Your time slot isn't a target ⏳
6. Be selective with your numbers 📈
7. Your personal story is not a requirement 💔
8. Lead with your words, not with your slides 🛝
9. Analogies will help you to simplify the complex 🤷
10. A title slide is a terrible first impression - remove it 🥱
11. Distil your presentation down to one single sentence ☝️
12. Start with a question that challenges your audience's beliefs 🤔
13. Allow for moments of spontaneity; they'll make it more memorable 😀
14. When you 'mess up,' you give your audience a glimpse into the real you 🫶
15. Your message is only as good as the examples and stories you use to drive them home ⚡️

You've got this 💪.

---

♻️ Repost if you found this useful and follow Alex Merry for tips on how to communicate big ideas.

I used to think that product launch success = selling out in minutes...👇

Rarely does a day goes by without someone announcing a product launch success story on LinkedIn.

My problem with these posts is that they make it look deceptively easy and that can lure others into thinking that they're failing when they're not.

I can't help but think that a more interesting post would be to share the brutal reality.

---

We've opened MicDrop's doors to new members 5 times in the last 3 years and 'sold out' 4/5 times. 

Most recently with our March intake. 
We hit our goal with 3 days to spare. 

Not once has a launch been easy.

Every single one has required months of work, most of which you never see. 

---

I've personally spoken with 68 prospective members to fill our 20 spaces - that's 17 hours of conversations.

Demand that's come from:

✅ Member recommendations
↳ Word of mouth is always our most powerful lever. 

✅ 15 x newsletters 
↳ Each taking a couple of hours to write (with a subscriber base I've been building for 3 years)
 
✅ ~40 LinkedIn posts
↳ Each taking 1-2 hours to write (with a following I've been building for 5 years)

The North Star? Quality over quantity - we've never turned so many away.

---

Oh and then there's product development. 

The culmination of hours and hours of member interviews, reading feedback survey individually to understand what will make MicDrop their most valuable investment. 

It's why this year we're:

🎤 Running our first event at SXSW London
🎯 Curating a two day Stage at Ideas Fest
🤝 Launching hand-matched mastermind groups
📚 Rolling out a Speaker Foundations course
🤖 Investing £££££ in AI

Make no mistake about it, at times, it's been BRUTAL.

But we've hit our goal - and we've evolved more in the last 8 weeks than we have in the last 18 months.

---

So this morning, I'm trying to take a moment to appreciate how far we've come while signing books for our final three members - beautiful morning for it!

Tomorrow, we welcome our new members and our attention turns to giving them the best start to their member journey's possible.

Whenever I'm suffering from a lack of confidence before a talk, I watch this video...👇

Why? Because confidence is fickle. 

Some days we have it, 
Other days we don't. 

We don't get to choose when it shows up. 
Nor do we get to keep it when it does.

---

It would be easy to watch this video and think: 
"Look how confident he is."

But what I see is someone choosing courage. 
And there is a big difference.

---

Confidence is belief in your ability.
Courage is action despite doubt.

One is built through repetition and success.
[And is still extremely unreliable.]

The other shows up in uncertainty and risk.
And can unlock new levels of potential.

Put another way:
Confidence is a state.
Courage is a decision.

---

We can't manufacture confidence before high-stakes moments, but we can choose courage in them.

That's what Michael Pollack did.*
And this video is a little reminder that we can too. 

Footnote: 
He's since gone on to write music for Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Lizzo, Selena Gomez, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson.

---

♻️ Repost if you found this useful and follow Alex Merry for more content like this.

I'm taking to the stage at Ideas Fest Encore next Wednesday. The topic...?


Ideas that Land: Communication Secrets of the 1%. 

It's for anyone who's:
1. Fed up with speaking into the void 🔇
2. Realised their message has gone stale 🥱
3. Done with playing it safe 💡

I've spent the last decade studying communication outliers and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's a big difference between having a great idea and being able to communicate it. 

The 1%? 

They break every rule in the book.
It's why we can't stop listening.

In the session, I'll be sharing the fundamental principles that will change the way you communicate your ideas forever. So you can lead with: 

1. Original thinking 💡
2. Personality 🫶
3. Vision 🔮

The way you were always meant to.

---

MicDrop is hosting the Think Tank stage at Ideas Fest this year. 

This session is going to be the perfect warm up for some of the unbelievable thought leaders we'll be showcasing. 

The details: 
📆 Wednesday 18th March 11am-11pm
🗺️ Babel Beerhouse, King's Cross, London

If you haven't got your ticket yet (it's free), but you'd like to come along: https://lnkd.in/eCPdTiez

If you're already coming and would like to book into my session (I've been told spaces are already limited): https://lnkd.in/er3gSUBS

If you're a thought leader, what's the best way to get noticed by an event planner?

That was one of the questions I posed Lisa James in yesterday's MicDrop Masterclass. 

And she shared an extraordinary story...

---

Lisa was working on an event for a corporate client who thought they needed a motivational speaker.

What Lisa helped them realise was that they actually needed an expert on finding your flow state. 

So she set out to find someone 🕵️‍♀️.

And struggled until she remembered she had a book on flow sitting on her self!

She then reached out to the author on LinkedIn who: 
a) Wasn't a speaker 
b) Lived in Asia 

They got on a chemistry call and ultimately convinced them to change their plans and fly over to the UK and deliver this talk.

---

There are so many gems in this story (and from the session in general):

𝟭. 𝗔𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 🧩
↳ Speakers are often just one small piece of a very large puzzle.  

𝟮. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 + 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗶𝘁 > 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 🧠
↳ Thought leaders would do well to spend more time showcasing their expertise than constantly reminding everyone that they're a speaker and hoping enquiries come their way.

𝟯. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 ✨
↳ When an event planner puts a speaker forward for a talk, they're putting their reputation on the line (so make it easy for them - see point 4)

𝟰. 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 '𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗻' 🧑‍🌾
↳ That's insider lingo for session outline - bonus points for including energy state and transition moments. (If you'd like to see one of mine, comment 'Straw man' below).

𝟱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 😮
↳ Event planners love it when speakers say: "You know what could make this even better..."

𝟲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 🧲
↳ In this example, it was a book. She also mentioned finding speakers through LinkedIn, newsletter articles, meeting people at events and of course, recommendation.

But perhaps most important of all was the through line from our conversation. 

---

Everything we talked about was about creating magical experiences. She spoke about this at The DO Lectures last year. 

And like all good speakers, she pinned it down to a single idea: 
Collective Effervescence 🪄

Well worth a watch: https://lnkd.in/epjEx7TQ

Thanks Lisa :-)

---

P.s. MicDrop members the replay is officially live... 🍿 (as are your Speaker One Pager and Straw Man templates)!

We're down to our final 3 places, so Livvy and I have started placing bets...👇

At the time of writing, we have:

5 offers on the table,
4 prospective member calls this afternoon,
5 more next week,

So the big question is... 
Who are those final spots going to?! 🥁

---

What stops most people is a niggling question in the back of their mind:
What if I don't make the most of it?

Our happiest members (the ones getting outsized results): 

1. Get the foundations in place 🧱
↳ A few hours work

2. Drop in and out 💧
↳ When they need to.

Prioritising the one or two things that have an outsized impact on their goals: 

✅ Getting direct support from me
✅ Joining a Mastermind for accountability
✅ Attending one of our live sessions to (contribute/learn) 
✅ Applying to speak at MicDrop shorts or our SXSW event

You can do that in a community. 
You can't on a course. 

---

There's a weight to unmade decisions. 

You always feel lighter when you've made one,
Whether it's a yes or a no. 

But wait too long, 
And someone else will have made it for you.

Our next wave is shaping up to be rather special.

To those who've already made the decision, only 11 days to go!

The Overton Window is what separates 1% communicators from everyone else...👇 

It's used by politicians to gauge how well an idea might land with the public.

Ideas that fall inside the window are considered normal and expected 🥱.
Ideas that fall outside it range from radical to unthinkable 🤯.

Simple enough.

---

Imagine a family that's never owned a pet.

Inside the window: A safe, forgettable goldfish 🐠 
Outside the window (at either end): A cat 🐈‍⬛ and a dog 🐕 

What end of the spectrum they sit on is down to personal taste 🤭.

The point is, it's all relative.

---
Any time we want to land an idea, our job is to take our audience:

1. From Expected: "I already know this."
2. To Radical/Unthinkable: "I've never thought about it that way before." 

The greater the gap between these two points, the more chance you have of breaking through the Window. 

The problem is most people play it safe. 
And it's forgettable.

Audiences want to be challenged - we'd do well to remember this.

---

When your ideas aren't landing, you have two options: 

1. Make the idea more extreme 😱
2. Find better examples to land them 🎯

One leads to outrage.
The other leads to breakthroughs. 

Unfortunately, most people resort to the former when they're fed up of being ignored. Polarisation has a lot to answer for.

---

1% communicators realise that the right example can change everything.

When they've pinned down an idea they believe in, they don't just stop at the first way of landing it (usually your personal story).

They look further: 
History 📜 | Science 🧪 | Culture 🌎 | Nature 🐅 | Technology 💾 | Data 📊 | Art 🖼️ | People 👥

Testing the same idea multiple ways 🧪.
Until they find one that gains traction 🚀.

That's how idea outliers are created.

---

This is the everyday work inside MicDrop, my community for thought leaders who speak.  

We've got 4 places left before we close our doors, head to my bio for more info.

taplio

The Battle

Mark Borum

Alex Merry

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The Battle

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Alex Merry

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Engagements

Likes

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);}Alex Merry's LinkedIn Performance

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