Joel Benge's Linkedin Analytics

She's just the best! I can't stop re-listening to this. And I was there! Thanks for signal boosting, John!

One of the best lessons a technical communicator can learn is that they don't have to know everything. But they'd sure as heck better be good at talking with those who do. I had an incredible time catching up with my old friend, Jeffrey Wheatman, former Gartner analyst and "Risk Evangelist" for this week's Nerds That Talk Good.

An awesome team that's crushing it!! 👏👏👏

At 12, AnnMaria De Mars  was a short, shy kid with thick glasses and no interest in sports. Then her mom pushed her out of the car at the local YMCA and told her, “Join something.” The only sport that allowed girls? Judo. The rest is history. Hear how AnnMaria turned a reluctant first step into a world championship, four tech and equity-focused companies, motherhood and grandmama hood—and a lifetime of fighting for what matters. #NerdsThatTalkGood #Judo #TechFounder #NerdOriginStory

Justin, thanks so much for sharing this, and for the great conversation at the DP Solutions event yesterday! Helping nerds talk good is a passion and one that I’m always excited to hear has helped folks. The full, published book will be coming soon!!

Computer or fleshy blob? When it comes down to thinking about the brain, you can keep operating with a 17th, 18th, or 19th Century clockwork, automator, or computer model. Or you can recognize that we aren't machines. Cultural Ecologist Rina Atienza and I go REALLY metaphysical in this week's Nerds That Talk Good. https://lnkd.in/ee5DNqvb

Have you heard of Thorndike's Law of Transfer? If you've seen Ronda Rousey's mat work, you've seen it in action! Hear from Dr. AnnMaria De Mars (her first coach and mom) about how an early love of statistics and math contributed to a fight (and life) philosophy that she passed down to her kids.

Do you think of yourself as a "slasher," or can you sum up what you do in a single word? Cultural Ecologist Regina Atienza makes an amazing case for "card divination" as her artform. Don't miss the full conversation at https://lnkd.in/en78KMj2

All I'm going to say after watching the #Severance finale is that the Lumon Industries "vending machine" influencer promos over the past week were...*chef's kiss* I coulda used that candle this week, though. #SmallBusinessOwner #TaxSeason #HelpMyOutie

From Oracle sales pro to standup-comedian: What better way to shake up a career than make zero money? Jon Selig shares his formula for connecting with prospects and defines what exactly he considers to be a "joke." This week's episode will make you laugh and help you learn to stop looking, sounding, and smelling like everyone else. https://lnkd.in/gi7xhaEA

There are five basic pitch pitfalls that I notice when attending demo days or mentoring startups: The “Feature Dump”: Listing product features without explaining why they matter to buyers. Jargon Overload: Using overly technical language that confuses instead of clarifies. Too Many Slides: Information overwhelm leads to disengagement. Weak Opening & Closing: Failing to grab attention at the start or leave a lasting impact. No Clear Ask: Failing to specify exactly what you need from investors. Each of these can completely overshadow what could otherwise be a good company. And each of these is fixable. The challenge is most folks look at building their pitch deck as a linear process. Check the boxes, include "all the stuff", put on a pretty cover page. When you break your fundamental messages down and evaluate them across how they affect the emotions (heart ❤️), logic (head 🧠), and credibility (gut 🍔*), you can put them together in a way the specifically scratches investor itches and makes them sit forward with check in hand. If you're interested in learning more, I've got some exciting things to announce soon. :) *If you're wondering why "credibility" is a burger, I would have put a stomach, but three organ emoji would have been a little too gross.

Did you know I offer message workshops for tech teams? No. You didn't. Because I suck at messaging. I've been told I'm pretty awesome at helping companies balance a message across emotion, logic, and credibility. I've had startups that I've mentored tell me that my pitch deck reviews have uncovered that certain "Big Idea" they needed to make their prospects sit upright and pay attention. People tell me my spectacles are pretty dang round.* People always say, "we should find a way to work with you!" And that's where I drop the ball. It's the final, crucial offer or "ask" that I'm not great at. Like so many other nerds and tech teams, I just want to do what I do well; not sell. It doesn't work! You have to make sure you always include an ask and offer, but you also can't be pushy about it. So here's my ask and offer: Bring me in for a one-on-one message therapy (not a typo) session with you or your team and you'll walk away with market messages that get noticed, get remembered, and get people to say, "yes!" My promise to you: We'll have a blast doing it and you'll uncover hidden messages that your whole team is thinking, but nobody's saying. * Probably doesn't have anything to do with this, but it's what people say.

It was an absolute treat to have you on, Regina! I just drove out to get a new eyeglasses prescription and re-listened to the whole episode on the way (yeah, I'm one of THOSE podcasters). Definitely the tops!

What is productivity but being very satisfied with your end product, even if it wasn't the thing you planned in doing today?

Do you listen to your podcasts on 1.75x speed like me, or are you normal?

Hey, you know that casual convention “friend” you see once or twice a year, but you’re really close with when you do hang out?
 Reach out and tell them you love them. Because they may not make it to convention season this year. 🥺

Do I love helping nerds talk good? Yeah. Do other people love it? Yeah. At least that's what they've told me. One of the best things about helping people nail their market messages or perfect their pitches is seeing how the rest of their comms and marketing come alive. Whether I'm mentoring a startup, doing a little "MessageTherapy" with an individual, or doing a group workshop, it's not what I say or do that matters. It's what they take away and say. Thanks Tanvi Gadamsetti, Madhav Aggarwal, Grant Sundbye, and Fernando Montenegro for sharing your feedback with me! ❤️ 🧠 🍔

If your brand slogan sounds like "Build. Transform. Lead." or "Create. Connect. Succeed.", I have some bad news… That’s just "Live. Laugh. Love." for the enterprise world. These three-verb taglines sound powerful, but they rarely say anything real. They’re placeholders. They're safe, familiar, and ... forgettable. Other offenders include: Disrupt. Evolve. Grow. Develop. Deploy. Dominate. Imagine. Execute. Scale. But here’s the good news: You’re not stuck with them. Your company has a real story, a true purpose, and a message that can actually stand out. You just need to dig a little deeper. Let’s break out of the cliché cycle. Drop a comment or DM me, and let’s uncover your real Big Ideas and Mantras.

Anyone else?

1-OO- listens in a single day! Y'all must really be loving Nerds That Talk Good! Or it's the Russians. Either way, I'll take it! 🤓