SPEAK LIKE A CEO

Sophie Chung is back on the podcast! She is the founder & CEO of Qunomedical where she is building a much-needed CRM for hospitals to improve patient care. A force of nature, Sophie was our guest on Episode #9, “No Bullshit”, and she still lives by that mantra - now more than ever. Sophie and Oliver discuss how especially in tough times, “No BS” really counts. But you often see the opposite, argues Sophie. “You just know they are bullshitting.” “It’s misleading, it’s not helpful. I’m trying to be different. Whenever I say something, I want to be genuine, truthful, value-adding. Not saying something you have heard a hundred times before.” People who are listening to you are not stupid, they want true leadership. Sophie & Oliver also dive into Qunomedical’s shift in focus from a B2C service for patients to a B2B software suite for hospitals. With patients, digital marketing & SEO ruled. That’s different for a B2B software product. “No one googles patient relationship management software.” Now it’s about bringing the content to the people who are interested. “Talk about the cause, the why. This is where you can start a conversation.” This can happen on LinkedIn or at events.

“We knew that if we didn’t jump, we’d regret it for the rest of our lives.” It was a leap into the unknown that paid off. Jochen Engert is the founder and former long-time CEO of Flix, a German startup best known for Flixbus that has grown into a global tech and transportation company with more than 60m passengers per year - a journey he describes as “absolutely crazy”. Jochen led Flix for 11 years, from knowing little about trains and buses to expanding globally and taking over the iconic Greyhound brand. He is now a member of the supervisory board and an active investor. Jochen and the founder team executed a highly effective communications, branding and marketing strategy centred around a core idea of ‘being the perfect host’ and a brand purpose of allowing people to travel sustainably. As a leader, Jochen is clear that “crisis is nothing you can delegate”, and that “authenticity is the basis for credibility. That’s the most important thing you have as a leader.”

Storytelling is bloody difficult. It is only easy if you don’t know how it is done. Fortunately, Communications Designer Jeremy Connell-Waite breaks it down for us. He leads IBM’s "Wild Ducks" industrial storytelling programme, where he coaches partners to create compelling pitches and presentations. Stories are how you move people to action as a leader. But not random ones. Effective stories and speeches have structure. Following the structure gets you to into the top 20% of communicators. But structure doesn’t move people to action. Emotions do. And the one emotion that can change people’s minds and get them to act is surprise. So ask yourself: How can I surprise this audience? “We need to become students of emotions. If the purpose of a great communicator is to let the audience feel something, the only way to get really good at communicating is to learn how emotions work.” Only emotions move people to action, and the key emotion is surprise. More about Jeremy: https://jeremy.earth Take a look at his one pagers: https://issuu.com/jeremycw/docs/the_art_of_the_one_pager_isuuv2 

“The role of the CEO is to tell stories and make sure that they become true.” Josef, who has two nine figure exists under his belt, is a serial founder, successful entrepreneur, and investor. But success didn’t come easy. Starting out at the age of 16, he dropped out of school to build his first company which he sold only two years later to buy his parents a house. Since then, Josef, who loves to spend his weekends hiking in the alps, has climbed many entrepreneurial mountains. Among others, he is the founder of JouleX, which was acquired by Cisco, and relayr, which was acquired by MunichRE. Recently, he was instrumental in a funding round for StartUpInsider. In his book “Follow the Pain”, he describes his entrepreneurial journey. In today’s episode, Josef gives us insights into the thinking of an exceptional entrepreneur who considers communications and storytelling as fundamental to what great CEOs do. Tune in, and find out: 💊 Why pain is a great driver to success. 🎹 How to scale mentoring 📈 How to distinguish transformations from trends ⚫️ The beauty of simplicity 📣 How to approach thought leadership 🖖 Why personal relationships and trust matter in investing We don’t run ads on Speak Like a CEO, but would appreciate if you support the podcast by sharing it with a founder who may benefit from it or by posting a review on Apple Podcasts.

Hybrid working is here to stay. What’s harder to figure out is how CEOs and founders can lead, communicate and make an impact in this brave new work. Top international executive coach Bettina Hausmann and Oliver Aust both see opportunities in communicating in a hybrid world - if done right. In this episode, they give leaders the roadmap to be more impactful and avoid the spectre of mediocre communications that no organisation can afford in a rapidly changing world. Tune in a find out: 🎨 How to draw up a hybrid plan for your organisation in 3 minutes 🌵 The pitfalls of leading in a hybrid environment 📖 How to tell stories and present with impact now We don’t run ads on Speak Like a CEO but would appreciate if you support the podcast by sharing it with a founder who may benefit from it or by posting a review on Apple Podcasts. Podcast Oliver mentions: School of Hiring. Staying Hybrid or Back to the Office. Konstanty Sliwowski With Jessica Kafka: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/staying-hybrid-or-back-to-the-office-and-the/id1546484127?i=1000596532545

“There is no day without communication.” In his new book “Helden werden in der Krise geboren” (Heroes are born in crisis), Holger G. Weiss dissects the archetypical, existential crises many founders encounter - from product to founders to investor crisis - and how they avoid meltdown and instead emerge stronger. As German Autolabs founder and CEO Holger knows, communication is a central part of your life as a CEO, especially when your startup encounters a crisis. Holger's book provides tangible solutions—supplemented by valuable experiences of founders of successful start-ups such as Sofatutor, Idealo, door2door, XbyX, Women in Balance, Signavio and others. More often than not, the issue can be averted by great communication. Holger has 20+ years of experience building technology-driven companies with innovative business models in the future mobility sector. In this time, he has seen and mastered more than one crisis. . Tune in and find out: 🤸🏽‍♂️ How to pivot your product from b2b to b2c without plunging your business into crisis 👸🏻 Why your investor is not your “agony aunt” 📣 What do founders often get wrong when communicating with the team We have nothing to sell you on Speak Like a CEO and don’'t run ads. We would however appreciate if you support the podcast by sharing it with a founder who may benefit from it or by posting a review on Apple Podcasts. Find Oliver and Jags newest book on Start-up Communications: "Message Machine. How Communication Will Make You An Unstoppable Founder." - here: https://hub.messagemachine.io 

Life's a pitch and you need to nail this skill for basically everything you do in life, says Bryony Cooper. Her life story is both unusual and impressive: She stepped up to the mic early as a professional singer, which gave her the communications skills and stage presence to successfully pitch her first tech startup. After building several startups, she became a VC and currently is the Managing Partner at Arkley Brinc VC. In her experience, pitching and communications are superpowers that founders need to master. Rather than just focusing on the financial aspects of building businesses, Bryony is on mission to help early-stage startup founders to navigate the many challenges that come with building and growing a business. Bryony's love for singing never vanished. She is now the lead singer of BC & the VCs, a Berlin-based band comprised of tech investors and founders including Christoph Raethke and Julius Bachmann.  Tune in and find out: 🎤 What singing and being a CEO have in common 🛫 How to transition from a creative field to founder to VC 📅 What the communications milestones of a startup are The links to the apps and the book Bryony talks about in this episode: Headspace: www.headspace.com Balance: www.balanceapp.com Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller: https://buildingastorybrand.com Find Olivers books here: https://oliveraust.com/books/

How do you write four books in four years? Should you write a book? Welcome to a special episode in which Oliver gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how he managed to write and publish 4 books in 4 years, the last two of which became Amazon bestsellers. Oliver not only shares why he did it, but also shares his process and hard-won insights on writing, building an audience, publishing and marketing. Tune in and find out: 🗓️ How to write a book in a year 🖨️ Why you don’t need a publisher 💸 How much financial gain to expect from your book ✏️ The five surprising truths about book writing and publishing. Enjoy the episode and support the podcast by sharing it and posting your review on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dvyxVVtt Find all of Olivers books here: https://oliveraust.com/books/

To shape the mobility of tomorrow, “you need to adapt your messaging, depending on who you are talking to. You need to put yourself into the shoes of the respective audience, be it the users of our service, the team, shareholders, or even politicians.“  Our guest knows what he is talking about. John David von Oertzen is the CEO of Mobimeo, a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider that aims to change the way we move. He heads a highly international team that hails from 44 countries and works in a hybrid fashion. Mobimeo is owned by Deutsche Bahn and operates in a B2B, B2C and B2G (business to government) environment. This brings plenty of communications challenges. As a partner of regional mobility providers, Mobimeo connects existing public transport systems, sharing and on-demand options, making these accessible to users. Mobimeo’s digital products aim to change people’s behaviour from car ownership to new and shared mobility, by providing access to mobility as an integrated system that offers more options than traditional public transport apps. Changing our mobility behaviour is necessary to stop climate change and reduce congestion and land consumption. David is an expert in the mobility industry and a pioneer in the field of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) solutions. Tune in and find out: 🎭 How to persuade different audiences like shareholders, customers & politicians 🌍 How to foster a great company culture in a hybrid setting with members from 44 nations 🪢 How to merge the teams of two seemingly similar companies 🎨 How to create and grow a B2B brand Enjoy this episode and support the podcast by sharing it and posting your review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/speak-like-a-ceo/id1441419535

2023 prediction: companies will relentlessly focus on revenue through storytelling, marketing and communications. Because cost cutting only gets you so far. Sherilyn Shackell has a clear view on the importance of marketing: "The CMOs should be present in every boardroom." They are the ones who feel the pulse of the customers, hear their heartbeat and can make all the difference. Sherilyn is the Founder & Global CEO of The Marketing Academy, a unique non-profit organisation that turns the marketing, media, advertising and communications talents of today into the leaders of tomorrow. She took money off the table to create a priceless experience that money can’t buy. The academy is highly selective and provides more value than a Harvard MBA - yet it is free. Its coaches and sponsors are leading CEOs, CMOs and Agency Heads from some of the biggest brands in the world including Salesforce, BT, KFC, Mars Wrigley, Accenture, ITV, Google, and Facebook. In this wide-ranging conversation, Oliver and Sherilyn discuss how she changed her life and abandoned a successful career in recruitment to follow her calling, why generosity is key and why ethics feature prominently at the Marketing Academy. Tune in and find out: 📣 How to convince a global network of leaders to give up their time for free 🎻What CMOs need to learn to be exceptional leaders 📌The purpose of communications ☀️ Why you should "live the story" Enjoy this episode and support the podcast by sharing it and posting your review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/speak-like-a-ceo/id1441419535 Episode mentioned in the podcast: # 167: Marketers make good CEOs. Phil Rumbol https://open.spotify.com/episode/18yuzZk2oNM3j2fpKVbtt7?si=1c1e70d1aa7041ba Check out Oliver Aust & Jag Singhs newest book: Message Machine - How Communications will make you an unstoppable founder. https://hub.messagemachine.io