A Phil Svitek Podcast - A Series From Your 360 Creative Coach

Peter Drucker, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation, famously said, "What gets measured gets managed." This is the notion I explore in this episode and also offer you a practical way to measure the right KPIs for yourself. The platform I highlight is http://cyfe.com so check them out. If/when you do, please share your thoughts...

Welcome to my vlog! This episode is a deep dive of creative projects and life in general. I open up with my #PitMad experience from last week which leads to the discussion of cultivating a group of friends that support you and that you can support in return. Part of how you get there is realizing and defining your priorities so you know what to say no to. For more on this notion check out the Mari...

Here's a challenge for you: START CREATING ASSETS. I know right now especially it may be tough to do creative work. But complaining about things is certainly not the solution. You can only display your talent by doing something. Doing something creates assets and that's what grows your career. Stop waiting for someone to give you permission to express your passions creatively. I don't care if you'...

Stephen King, whether you've read his work or not, is known worldwide. And for good reason. He is a writer who loves the process of writing. In this episode I share his "rules for writer" ( https://www.dorrancepublishing.com/authors-rules-writing-stephen-king/ ) and contextualize them in the ways I apply them to my work. By doing this, my aim is for you to see the ways you too can apply these rule...

Often I find that whenever I'm faced with a problem or feel stuck, I look for answers in expected places. Meaning if I have a business problem, I read a business book. This works some of the time but generally the real, deep problems we face require more. They require us to look in new places. It is unconventional wisdom and atypical thinking that will provide the true answers we need. This princi...

Firstly, this is NOT an ad. I personally love http://99designs.com and use it a lot and so I wanted to share it with you. It's a platform where you can have designs of all kinds made, for both print and digital. Whether it's a logo, thumbnail, poster, brochure, flyer, website, book cover, etc., 99Designs can help. There's two ways to go about it: either as a contest or you hire a designer outright...

My vlog is a chance for me to share my creative journey and life with you. Not to boast or brag, but to extract the lessons and hardships I face. Truthfully, last week was a tough week emotionally given the hurricane, more Black killings, politics and Chadwick Boseman's death. However, I found a way to dig myself out. I talk about what I did and how you can apply those same things to your life. Cr...

Having been a member of the podcasting community for a decade, one of the consistencies that is discussed is metrics. Specifically what is a download and how to best define it so it can be standardized for everyone. The reason this is important is so advertisers know how to value the space and thus podcasters can earn revenue from their shows. The IAB's definition of the download has now become th...

Jay Shetty says that "I am" are the two most powerful words because whatever you say after them has such a profound effect on who you are as a person. As such, I have a creative challenge which on the surface might not seem like such a creative challenge. But what I can promise you is if you do this challenge for at least seven days, it will help you in life AND your creative pursuits. This idea c...

Maybe you're like me and that whenever you sit down in front of a computer to start writing (be it a script, novel, report, essay, etc) you get writer's block—the blinking cursor on the blank page is just too intimidating! Because I've battled this demon far too often, I've come up with a method I employ that overcomes this obstacle quite well and accelerates my writing. This is what I share with...

Good communication is ultra important in today's day and age—whether it's verbal or written form. Too often I find, our message get confused because we don't spend enough time crafting the message. Because of this, we repeat ourselves which dilutes the message and creates "listener fatigue". That's not the outcome we want. We want people to hear our message and be enthusiastic about it. In this le...

I break this vlog into two parts: my creative pursuits and life in general. On the creative spectrum I talk about knowing my value when approached to do a job for a company and how you can too. I discuss progress on my script called In Search of Sunrise, finalizing the edit of my trailer and updating my novel's query letter. For the broad strokes of life, I talk about how to often we treat the sym...

As citizens, we're supposed to trust the news. It's supposed to be unbiased and accurate. But regardless of your politics, it feels like more and more that isn't the case. Why is this? How does one stay informed and well rounded? It's questions like these that Michael Clouse (@TheOnlyMC) and I explore in our conversation. We deep dive the landscape of modern news—how we got here AND why we got her...

I find that a lot of people in my life talk about doing something but then never actually do it. This is sad to me because I know they're talented so I want to see their talents showcased. (As a side note, talent is a process, not a skill IMO - https://philsvitek.com/talent-is-not-a-skill-its-a-process/ ). And it makes me wonder, whose permission are they waiting for? Especially now with the pande...

As content creators, we should all have a website that houses all of our projects and such. Today it's easier than ever to have one thanks to content management systems like Squarespace, Wix and WordPress. For a breakdown of each, go to https://philsvitek.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress-vs-wix-podcasters-guide-to-website-development/ . Instead of discussing the pros and cons of each, this video aims...

Danny Royce (@IAmDannyRoyce) is a multifaceted artist. I first got to know him as a host while I was working at AfterBuzz TV. He was a part of many shows before getting to host Black Hollywood Live's Inside the Black Actor's Studio ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsewtEOygG8s_nFYCVynhByUihGlilhYx ). As I got to know him, I learned he was into Yoga and also an actor. It was the latter info...

Each of us have to give directions to somebody in our lives. But more and more I've noticed we try to do shorthand. Often times, the other person doesn't understand our shorthand. This leads to confusion, seemingly lack of effort and bad results. One of the important lessons one of my mentors, Keven Undergaro, taught me, is to always explain and to be clear. This is the lesson I wish to impart on...

In this vlog I discuss how pleased I am with the outline for my latest script and how writing a draft of the screenplay is easy with it. I also share some writing tips. Then I talk about a revelation I had about collaboration and how I utilize it best. Perhaps it'll help you or at least get you to reflect upon yourself. While on the surface there's not much news, the various insights and tips I sh...

It's not hyperbolic to say that books saved my life when I was depressed. Books have power to transport us, make us empathetic, teach us and so much more. This applies to both fiction and nonfiction. It is this perspective I reflect upon in this episode in hopes to inspire you to read more. So join me for and afterwards share some of your favorite books so we can create an unofficial digital readi...

I'm not sure what it is, but a lot of creatives I know and hear about are sloppy. Perhaps it's the notion that if they're more organized it'll lower their creativity. This is false. And I know my friend @JamesLottJr (The Super Organizer) agrees with me because him and I have conversations about this all the time. Having your workspace be organized (both physically AND digitally) sets you directly...

While I was at AfterBuzz TV, I employed a technique I'd learned online to teach the hosts to remove filler words from their speech patterns. Filler words are ones such as um, like, you know, etc. This is a simple yet effective method and not only helps hosts, but public speakers of all kinds. In fact, ANYONE can benefit from this. Next time you're in a meeting, you'll be much more articulate and t...

My friend @LaurenLoGrasso asked her social media community if self control had a positive or negative connotation. Most that responded said negative. And so did I. That got me thinking and made me want to do this lesson about the need to redefine self control in order for all of us to actually achieve our desired outcome. Join me as I deep dive this topic and afterwards share the ways you'll recon...

My vlog is a place for me to share my creative journey with you and highlight the obstacles, lessons and victories along the way. This past week had a lot of victories! Not only did Idyll ( http://philsvitek.com/idyll ) win the Lift Off Global Network First Time Filmmakers Session ( https://youtu.be/_7csU0r0dAc?t=102 ) but I finished what hopefully is the last pass of my novel Elan, Elan. Plus my...

Many storytellers (authors, scriptwriters, etc), especially when starting out, consider plot and character to be two distinct parts of storytelling. They are not. (Thankfully I learned this lesson early on from Robert McKee—you can too by reading his book STORY). The reason I know they are not different is because of YouTube channels like Screen Rant's Pitch Meetings ( https://www.youtube.com/play...

Far too often we put and emphasis on being first to do something. We use it as a means of comparison. For example, "my kid learned to read before yours." Who cares? If the other child learned to read then that's all that matters. Life can't be measured the same way as a 100 meter dash. There being first does matter. But if you're running a business, being first often matters little. It's about sta...