Shortform Books

Customer Happiness: Once It’s Lost, It’s Gone Forever

Why is customer happiness so important? What are the dangers of failing to meet customers’ expectations? Ensuring customer happiness is the key to long-term success. Disappointed customers, on the other hand, can damage your business in various ways: eating into your bottom line, staining your reputation, and making you spend more on new customer acquisition. Keep reading to learn about the importance of customer happiness and what happens when it’s compromised.

What Is Rational Thought and When Did It Start?

What is rational thought? Where did the concept of rational thought come from? Black Box Thinking answers the question: what is rational thought? The book talks about rational thought and how the Greeks embraced mistakes as crucial to learning. Before this period, worldwide views came from the gods and weren’t challenged. Keep reading to answer the question: what is rational thought?

How to Pay Yourself as a Business Owner

How much of your company’s monthly profit should go into your salary? How much should you reinvest back into the business? As a business owner or entrepreneur, it’s difficult to know how much of your profits you should keep for yourself and how much should be reinvested into the business. Some owners splurge and go overboard while others pay company expenses with their income. Here’s how to pay yourself as a business owner, according to Mike Michalowicz.

Musk Says a Future Mindset Helps the Common Good

What is a future mindset? How does a future mindset help humanity as a whole rather than just the individual? Why does Elon Musk believe so strongly in this concept? A future mindset is when all of your goals and actions are motivated by the future. Elon Musk applies this mindset to just about everything he does. However, that’s not always a good thing. Keep reading to learn more about Elon Musk and his future mindset.

How to Prepare for a Speech: Stage Setup, Aids, & Tips

Does public speaking come naturally to you? What is the key to delivering an effective speech? Preparation is key to delivering an effective speech. If you aren’t an experienced speaker, consider using props. Props can be especially useful if you tend to get nervous when speaking in front of an audience as they can help you jog up your memory if nerves get in the way. Here are some tips on how to prepare for a speech, set up your stage, and keep your anxiety at bay.

How to Ensure Customer Satisfaction

How do you make sure your customers leave satisfied? What can you do to maximize your customers’ satisfaction with your products and services? Prioritizing customer satisfaction is essential to business success. According to Josh Kaufman, the author of The Personal MBA, the key to customer satisfaction is the efficiency of your operations. The more efficient your operations are, the more resources you can devote to improving your product. Here’s how to ensure customer satisfaction by optimizing your processes.

How to Use Visual Aids in Public Speaking

What exactly are “visual aids”? What are the benefits of using visual aids in public speaking? Visual aids are any visual elements that are used for the purpose of enhancing or clarifying the speaker’s message (e.g. graphs, charts, slides). Visual aids can also serve as anchors to help you streamline your speech. If you choose to use visuals in your presentation, keep the following dos and don’ts in mind.

Scapegoating at Work: It Changes the Whole Culture

What is a scapegoat? How does scapegoating at work create a culture of fear? A scapegoat is someone who throws you under the bus when things go wrong, often making you fear mistakes. According to the book Black Box Thinking, scapegoating at work can be avoided by coming up with proper punishments for making mistakes. Keep reading to learn why scapegoating at work is instinctive and how scapegoating at work creates a culture of fear.

Chris Anderson: Why Is Public Speaking So Scary?

Why is public speaking so scary? Why are so many people terrified of addressing a large audience? According to Chris Anderson, the head of TED and the author of TED Talks, the fear of public speaking is two-fold: There is the in-the-moment fear of temporary humiliation—stumbling over words, forgetting what to say, and so on. Then there is the long-term fear of a damaged reputation. Most people care deeply about what others think of them, and they worry that a public flop will change the way they’re viewed. Here’s why we are so terrified of public speaking and what to

How Did Elon Musk Start SpaceX With So Little Money?

How did Elon Musk start SpaceX? What set SpaceX apart from other companies in the space industry? Elon Musk started SpaceX because of his belief in the importance of space travel and his frustration with NASA. To do this, he set extremely high expectations and focused on building a rocket cheaply and quickly, which was a unique approach in the space industry. Keep reading to find out how Elon Musk started SpaceX.