SPEAK LIKE A CEO

What's better than being listened to? Being remembered — and one of the best ways to be unforgettable is to speak in quotes. This episode shows you how to borrow the best lines from others without stealing them, and how to create your own quotes that stick using the three C's every memorable quote has in common. Get this right and one idea can follow you for years to come. Download Oliver’s 100 Ch...

Some leaders speak and the room leans in. For others, the audience tunes them out in seconds. In this episode, Oliver joins Mo Bunnell on his podcast Real Relationships Real Value to break down the seven psychological forces that decide whether people listen to you. You’ll hear how to build trust faster than most leaders think possible, why clarity beats complexity in every conversation, and the s...

It's not how good your idea is. It's how clear it is. This episode breaks down the Clarity Code — Oliver Aust's system that's helped 300+ CEOs communicate even the most complex ideas. You'll hear the three clarity killers most leaders unknowingly commit, the five techniques that make any idea 10x clearer, and the three tests that will instantly tell you whether your message will actually land. Get...

Twenty experts. Twenty answers. One question: what's your single best piece of communications advice? In this special episode, you'll hear from twenty of the world's top communicators — including Adam Galinsky, Nancy Duarte, Bill McGowan, Will Storr, Mark Victor Hansen, and Stephen M.R. Covey. Their advice will help you become someone people trust, follow, and never stop listening to. ⏰Timestamps...

What really motivates people? Most leaders think money or ambition, but it's something far more powerful: story and status. In this episode, bestselling author Will Storr (The Status Game, The Science of Storytelling) unpacks how stories quietly shape who we follow, what we buy, and who we trust. He shares why the most effective messages in history are only a few words long, the three-act structur...

Leadership isn't management. Management tells people what to do; leadership gets them to want to follow. Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, says the difference is a great story. In this episode, he shares the one thing every leader has to sell, how to fight the negativity bias that pulls most leaders under, and why the biggest goals are often the easiest to reach. You'll...

The science of persuasion has nothing to do with logic. Most people try to "win" with better arguments — and Joshua Bandoch, author of How to Get What You Want, says that's exactly why they fail. In this episode, he shares a three-step framework for moving people to action. He breaks down how to find the real barrier blocking any "yes," craft a story that persuades your audience, and the surprisin...

If your presentation goes well, your audience will forget 90% of what you said. So, the question is: what's the 1% you want them to remember? Andrea Pacini, author of Timeless Presenter, joins Oliver to ensure you become a confident presenter whose message isn’t forgotten by tomorrow.  They unpack why you don't want to start with an agenda or title slide, how to find your 1%, how to work with the...

What if the way you've been going after bigger opportunities is exactly what's making them harder to land? There are two approaches most leaders take, and they both leave opportunities on the table. Mo Bunnell, one of the world’s leading experts on business development and author of Give to Grow, teaches a third strategy that actually wins the work with less effort. This episode breaks down the di...

You’ve been trained to stay on message. The problem? “On message” is forgettable. Bill McGowan, author of Speak, Memorably and founder of Clarity Media Group, has spent 25 years coaching executives on how to be memorable, even working with clients like Kim Kardashian and Cookie Monster. In this episode, he breaks down the difference between speakers people remember and speakers people tune out. Fr...

Most leaders think their idea will win on merit. It won't. Even NASA could not get funding for a $100 million mission to measure air pollution from space. Not because of the science, but because not enough people believed in it. In this episode, NASA's former Chief Story Architect Paul Propster shares the persuasive framework NASA now uses to win funding for their missions. You'll learn the four-p...

Every platform eventually turns on the brands that built on it. The leaders winning now aren't begging algorithms for reach – they're owning their audience directly. Tyler Denk is doing exactly that. As CEO of beehiiv, he's built a $500K newsletter in five hours a week while running a $30M business with 110 employees across 15 countries. Before that, he was employee number two at famed newsletter...

Most leaders avoid AI entirely or let it do all their work. Both are destroying their credibility. In this episode, Oliver sits down with Allison Shapira, Harvard lecturer and author of AI for the Authentic Leader, to discuss why AI is actually making so many leaders worse communicators and leaders. She shares her frameworks and insights on how to write with AI without losing your voice, let it he...

Meetings, emails, conversations – the reason they all break down is the same: we get the first minute wrong. Chris Fenning, author of The First Minute, literally wrote the book on how to get that first minute right. His frameworks are simple, but they fix the problems most leaders deal with every single day. In this episode, you'll learn how to lead better meetings, write emails that actually get...

Boards are now asking one question about every CEO candidate: are they coachable? Scott Osman and Jacquelyn Lane, leaders of 100 Coaches, pull back the curtain on how elite coaching actually works: what makes someone coachable, what questions to ask, why coaching (almost) always justifies the price tag, and how long it takes to see results. In this episode, they share why the best leaders are coac...

Get the Presentation Planner: https://eo-ipso-comms.kit.com/presentation-planner Most leaders spend hours preparing presentations that get mediocre results. They stare at PowerPoint, fill slides with bullet points, and still struggle to connect with their audience. This comprehensive course reveals the exact system Oliver uses with CEOs and founders to cut preparation time in half while doubling i...

Here's a hard truth: the people you think are idiots think the exact same thing about you. In this episode, Thomas Erikson, bestselling author of Surrounded by Idiots, helps us answer the question: are we really surrounded by idiots or are we simply failing to communicate? He breaks down the four personality types that shape how every person around you behaves and explains exactly how each one thi...

Beliefs can limit us – or liberate us. And most of us are still carrying a few that stop us short of reaching our goals.  Our guest Nir Eyal helps us identify and overcome the limiting beliefs that hold us back. Nir is the bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable. He spent the last six years researching the science of motivation for his brand new book Beyond Belief  – and what he found expl...

The communication “rules” most workplaces follow weren’t built for every brain. In this episode, Andy J. Pizza explores how ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence shape the way people think, speak and lead. You’ll hear why entrepreneurship attracts so many neurodivergent thinkers, how to turn these traits into a storytelling advantage, and what leaders can do to support neurodivergent teams so ev...

30 seconds. That’s all you have to win the room – or lose your audience. Oliver Aust is joined by Nancy Duarte. Calling Nancy a guru wouldn’t do her justice. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. She has written six bestselling books including Resonate and DataStory, and has advised some of the highest-performing bra...

Same sentence. Different gestures. Totally different message. Your body and the subconscious signals it sends decide whether people find you credible – and it happens in just 10 seconds. In this episode, Mark Bowden, ranked the World’s #1 Communication Keynote Speaker and Body Language Professional, explains the body language rules that shape how the world sees you. You'll learn how to use your ha...

Micromanager or “easy” boss. Most leaders I meet feel stuck in the middle – they are trying not to be controlling, but also don’t want to be that nice boss people don’t respect.   As a result, team communication feels messy and exhausting. Ashley Herd, author of The Manager Method and a former HR boss at McKinsey and Yum Brands, says the solution is cozy joggers leadership – where leaders set clea...

When you’re a leader, your words don’t stop with the room. Compliment someone in a meeting? Their partner hears about it that night. Express concern about a deadline? It travels through the team as “we’re in trouble.” Get visibly angry? People are still talking about it weeks later. Adam Galinsky calls this the Leader Amplification Effect, and it helps explain why some leaders inspire while others...

Download your copy of the 21 Storytelling Frameworks (https://eo-ipso-comms.kit.com/21-storytelling-frameworks-with-oliver) guide: https://eo-ipso-comms.kit.com/21-storytelling-frameworks-with-oliver AI isn't going to run your company – but not for the reason you think. Business thrives on innovation and adaptability, which requires more than logic. That's where storytelling comes in. Angus Fletch...

Download your copy of the 21 Storytelling Frameworks guide:https://eo-ipso-comms.kit.com/21-storytelling-frameworks-with-oliverHave you ever been told to "fake it till you make it" or “just be yourself"? It's no surprise this common advice doesn't work – it focuses on acting confident instead of becoming confident. This episode breaks down Oliver’s three-step method that helps you build true confi...