Maz Farrelly took the mic and the energy changed before she said a word. She has worked with renowned celebrities and public figures, and she has built shows for Netflix that had to earn every second of attention they got. None of that was mentioned to impress anyone.
It came out naturally, woven into the stories she told about the industry, and by the time she got to her first real point the room had already decided to trust her. I sat a little straighter as she began.
That is the first lesson, and she had not even started teaching it yet. Earn your stripes before you ask anyone to listen. Then let the work speak for itself.
Know What You Want
Nothing in this piece works if you skip this step. You cannot earn attention, build a reputation, or leave a mark if you have not decided what you are after. Hope is not a strategy. There is no such thing as luck. Every strong communicator in that room had already decided what they wanted someone to feel and do next, and they built everything else around that decision. Want something first. Everything else follows from there.
I’ve realised that the hard part is not wanting things. Most people want too many things at once, and most of those things are noise. The real work is narrowing down to the two or three that actually play to your strengths and move the needle. Everything else is a distraction dressed up as ambition.
Earn It, Don't Assume It
Maz's lines landed hard: "It's not my job to find you interesting. It's your job to be interesting," and “Nobody has ever bored anyone into buying anything.” The goal in every pitch, every meeting, every conversation is to get someone to say "that's interesting, tell me more." That is the only response worth chasing.
Test it before it matters. Take your pitch to someone who does not already like you. If they cannot repeat it back easily, it is not ready. A good idea survives a stranger. A weak one only survives a friend.
Wear the White Coat
Trust does not appear from nowhere. It comes from proof. Think about what you have done that gives you the right to say what you are about to say. Maz spent years producing shows that had to hold a room's attention or die in the ratings that night. That history is her white coat. It is the reason people listen before she has made her case.
Everyone has one, even if they have not noticed it yet. What have you done that would make a stranger trust you before you have said anything else?
Every Detail Is Doing a Job
Your Zoom background is doing a job. Your body language is doing a job. Your LinkedIn headline has exactly one job: make a stranger want to read the next line. If it fails at that job, nothing after it matters, because nobody gets there.
Ask the same question of a meeting. What is the job of this meeting? Most people walk in without answering that, and it shows within the first three seconds. Maz’s point was simple. Every choice you make about how you show up is working for you or against you. There is no neutral option.
The Netflix Ad Test
Here is the test that ties it all together. If your life had a trailer, would anyone watch it? What is your one line? What does someone remember about you after you have left the room?
Being liked is nice. Being remembered is better. Bring cake into the office if that is what it takes to leave a warm memory behind. That's what Maz did: when she first walked into a Netflix executive's office to pitch an idea, she brought cake with her. Her pitch had to be strong on its own, but the cake made sure the room remembered her walking in before she said a word. And then she brought cake every time she visited the offices. People do not remember the safe choice. They remember the one that felt different.
Maz said it plainly: "Stop trying to be better than everyone else. Be different." Sameness is forgettable, and forgettable is expensive.
Don't be dull. Nobody ever got remembered for being safe.
