Biography: Richard ("Maxx") brings the skills he developed in his twenty-five-year career as a screen and television writer-producer to FirstVoice’s clients. In addition to his produced feature films and television series he has worked as a script doctor writing or rewriting scripts for all of the major Hollywood studios.

Presentation Title: Elements of Persuasion: The Language of Leadership

Abstract: It has been estimated that we each receive over 5000 messages a week. We are literally drowning in information. How do you, as a leader, make sure it is your story that is heard and acted upon? In their book The Elements of Persuasion, Richard Maxwell and Bob Dickman define story as “A fact, wrapped in an emotion that compels an action which transforms our world.” That fact might be an engineering breakthrough, a new training strategy or a business innovation. In this interactive workshop participants will learn to effectively use the five essential organizing principles of every successful story in order to motivate teams, increase organizational cohesion, clearly define obstacles as opportunities, rapidly disseminate knowledge, and create a transformative storytelling space that increases real wealth among multiple stakeholders. Howard Gardner, Harvard Professor of Cognitive Psychology said in Leading Mind “Every great leader is a great story teller.” This presentation gives you the why and the how.